Episode 595: Dr. Jonathan Schoeff: Biohacking for Longevity: What Works, What's Overhyped, and What Matters
Episode of Habits and Hustle · October 6, 2026 · 1 h 5 min
Jen Cohen and surgeon-longevity physician Dr. Jonathan Schoeff sort biohacking trends into worth it or overhyped, covering strength training, peptides, GLP-1s, hormones, and sleep.
Summary
In this return appearance on Habits & Hustle, host Jen Cohen questioned Dr. Jonathan Schoeff, a practicing surgeon and longevity physician, about which wellness and biohacking trends deliver results. Schoeff argued that costly treatments are often the least effective, singling out therapeutic plasma exchange as a legitimate medical therapy for antibody-mediated disease that is being sold at a premium for detox purposes without solid human evidence. He maintained that the biohacks that matter most are largely free: sleep, heavy resistance training, and sensible nutrition such as food sequencing.
The two discussed exercise at length. Cohen described using moderate jogging as a mental-health tool and gateway to weight training, while Schoeff emphasized muscle as the defining marker of aging, warned that deadlifts with flexion under load can raise disc-herniation risk, and argued that women should train to near failure in the seven-to-nine-rep range because strength rather than hypertrophy is the goal. He said he trains about 2.3 sessions per week, considers three to four the sweet spot, and criticized a more-is-better mindset. He described using peptides such as tesamorelin while condemning the unregulated research-use-only gray market.
In a rapid worth-it-or-waste segment, Schoeff endorsed full-body MRI, continuous glucose monitors, properly specified red light therapy, and GLP-1 drugs, which he called metabolic tools rather than weight-loss drugs; he dismissed biological age testing and suggested cold showers over cold plunges. He described pairing GLP-1s with periodic fasting, stressed baseline hormone testing, and discussed testosterone and estrogen in women. On sleep, he said high performers commonly sleep poorly and lack a health strategy, recommended prescription sleep agents and propranolol over magnesium or melatonin for most, and closed by urging skepticism of wellness claims lacking objective outcomes and of influencers selectively citing studies.
Chapters
- 0:01
Introduction and a broken operating table
Cohen introduces Schoeff as a returning guest, and he explains missing his flight after an operating room table malfunctioned mid-surgery.
- 4:49
Expensive biohacks and plasma exchange
Schoeff argues costly biohacks are often ineffective, critiques therapeutic plasma exchange for wellness, and names sleep, heavy lifting, and nutrition as the real biohacks.
- 11:18
Cardio as a gateway
Cohen defends jogging for mental clarity and as a warm-up to lifting, while Schoeff discusses heart-rate zones and muscle as the core of aging.
- 18:16
Spine surgery and deadlift risk
Schoeff describes his anterior spine-access work and defends his view that loaded flexion in deadlifts can cause disc herniations.
- 23:10
Strength versus hypertrophy for women
The pair distinguish strength from hypertrophy, with Schoeff recommending near-failure sets of seven to nine reps and Cohen critiquing Pilates.
- 27:48
Over-exercising and training frequency
They discuss exercise for mental health, overtraining, and Schoeff's view that three to four sessions a week is optimal.
- 32:43
Peptides and the gray market
Schoeff explains his use of tesamorelin and criticizes unregulated research-use-only peptide sellers.
- 39:28
Worth it or waste of money
A lightning round rates full-body MRI, CGMs, biological age tests, red light therapy, and cold plunges.
- 44:24
GLP-1s and fasting
Schoeff calls GLP-1s metabolic tools, praises Lilly's direct-to-consumer program, and describes using them around fasting periods.
- 48:27
Hormone optimization
Schoeff argues baseline hormone testing is essential and discusses testosterone in men and women and estrogen loss at menopause.
- 51:32
Sleep and the missing health strategist
Schoeff says high performers lack sleep and a healthspan strategy, recommends prescription sleep aids, and both criticize concierge medicine.
- 57:56
Magnesium, melatonin, and propranolol
Schoeff questions magnesium and melatonin for sleep absent deficiency and explains how propranolol blunts the physical stress response.
- 1:01:58
Skepticism about wellness claims
Schoeff urges distrust of claims lacking objective outcomes and suggests using AI tools to critically analyze cited studies.
Key points
What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.
- Jonathan Schoeff
Schoeff says there is no solid human evidence that therapeutic plasma exchange clears endocrine disruptors or microplastics.
“The argument is for things like everything from EDCs, microplastics, right? We have nothing to support that, no solid human evidence”
- Jonathan Schoeff
Schoeff argues that plasma exchange, though life-saving for antibody-mediated disease, is now sold at a premium without translational research.
“the problem is now we're selling it at a steep premium without any translational research”
- Jonathan Schoeff
Schoeff argues that the biohacks that actually make a difference are often free.
“Biohacks that move the needle are often free. That's the moral of the story, okay?”
- Jen Cohen
Cohen says she does cardio for its mental benefits rather than for her body.
“My cardio is for my brain. And, you know, like, it's not for my body”
- Jonathan Schoeff
Schoeff says he is convinced that aging is fundamentally defined by muscle.
“The idea that aging is really defined by muscle. That's where I'm wholly convinced”
- Jonathan Schoeff
Schoeff argues that spinal disc pressure is highest under forced flexion with load, making conventional deadlifts risky for some.
“The biomechanics of the spine favor the amount of pressure on your discs is highest forced flexion under load”
- Jonathan Schoeff
Schoeff recommends that women lift weights heavy enough to reach near failure within seven to nine reps to build strength.
“My point is for a woman, the weight needs to drive pre-failure in that seven to nine rep range”
- Jen Cohen
Cohen argues Pilates trains to failure but does not build the strength people need.
“that is the problem with Pilates, right? Because Pilates is about going to failure. It's not about strength”
- Jonathan Schoeff
Schoeff claims exercise is first-line therapy for depression and anxiety in Europe.
“First-line therapy for depression and anxiety in Europe is literally exercise”
- Jonathan Schoeff
Schoeff says he averages 2.3 training sessions per week and believes three to four is the optimal frequency.
“Now, I think the sweet spot's three to four. I think the sweet spot's three to four”
- Jonathan Schoeff
Schoeff considers tesamorelin the most potent and gold-standard growth hormone secretagogue peptide.
“And then Tessa Moralin is the gold standard. It costs more”
- Jonathan Schoeff
Schoeff warns that buying research-use-only peptides online effectively indemnifies unregulated sellers.
“When you check the little box on the website for research purposes only, when it's coming from an unknown source, you're literally indemnifying them”
- Jonathan Schoeff
Schoeff rates continuous glucose monitors for healthy people as the most worthwhile item discussed because data drives decisions.
“Worth it times 50. The most worth it I've got on this list because data drives decisions”
- Jonathan Schoeff
Schoeff calls current biological age testing a waste of money and a hustle.
“The way biologic age testing is being used today is just a hustle, right?”
- Jonathan Schoeff
Schoeff says effective red light therapy needs 70 to 100 milliwatts per square centimeter, while most products he measured deliver only two to three.
“So I said 70 to a hundred, that's the magic number. Most are two to three”
- Jonathan Schoeff
Schoeff advises taking cold showers instead of buying a cold plunge.
“Don't waste your money on a cold plunge. Just take a cold shower. Move on”
- Jonathan Schoeff
Schoeff argues GLP-1 drugs are metabolic tools rather than weight-loss drugs.
“GLPs are not weight loss drugs. That's just the most disturbing misrepresentation. They're not weight loss drugs. They're metabolic tools, period”
- Jonathan Schoeff
Schoeff describes fasting one day a week for four to six weeks as his most powerful protocol.
“usually a day a week for four to six weeks. That's really like the powerhouse”
Linked moment · 48:27Skip to 48:27 using a listen link in the info box.
Jonathan SchoeffSchoeff says very low testosterone in men is a disease that raises all-cause mortality risk.
“It's an illness that actually increases the risk of all-cause mortality, death, low testosterone”
- Jonathan Schoeff
Schoeff notes that estrogen is the dominant signal for muscle health in women, which drops sharply at menopause.
“in women, the dominant signal for muscle health is estrogen”
- Jonathan Schoeff
Schoeff argues high performers assemble advisory teams for everything except a healthspan strategy.
“But there's one chair that's always uniformly empty, and that's their healthcare or healthspan strategy”
- Jonathan Schoeff
Schoeff says magnesium's sleep benefits are tied to deficiency and advises testing serum levels first.
“Okay, folks, go get your serum magnesium levels tested. Start there”
- Jonathan Schoeff
Schoeff explains he uses propranolol to blunt the sympathetic nervous system's physical response to anxiety.
“That whole feeling of anxiety is driven by the sympathetic nervous system. All propranolol does is it just disconnects the two”
- Jonathan Schoeff
Schoeff says he is immediately skeptical of any wellness claim without an objective outcome.
“Any wellness claim that does not have an objective outcome, period”
People
In the conversation
- Jen CohenHost of Habits & Hustle, entrepreneur and fitness and wellness author
- Jonathan SchoeffPracticing spine-access surgeon and longevity physician based in Denver; his label also carries a brief opening show-intro clip voiced by Tony Robbins
Discussed
- Tom DeLauerFitness and nutrition content creator, friend of Schoeff
Topics
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From the publisher
You can spend a lot of money trying to optimize your health and still miss the things that make the biggest difference. The wellness industry keeps giving us new treatments, tests, and biohacks to chase, but expensive does not automatically mean effective. We dive deeper into this in Habits & Hustle with Dr. Jonathan Schoeff. We talk about which longevity trends are actually worth your attention, where people may be wasting their money, and why strength, sleep, and metabolic health still do more heavy lifting than many of the latest wellness trends. Jonathan is a practicing surgeon and longevity physician who works with high performers on health optimization. He looks at wellness through both a clinical and performance lens, which makes him especially good at cutting through claims that sound impressive but do not have much evidence behind them. His approach is simple: look at the data, understand the outcome you are trying to improve, and stop confusing good marketing with good medicine. What's Discussed: (13:11) Why the most expensive biohacks may be the least effective. (17:07) The basic health habits that still outperform most expensive longevity treatments. (25:00) Why muscle may be one of the most important markers of healthy aging. (28:03) How deadlifts can become risky when form, load, and spine health are ignored. (33:20) Why lifting lighter weights for more reps may not build the strength women need. (39:24) Why training three days a week may produce better results than constantly working out. (48:54) Which popular longevity tools are actually worth the money and which are overhyped. (53:32) Why GLP-1s may have benefits that go far beyond weight loss. (1:02:11) Why high performers often invest in everything except a real health strategy. Thank You to Our Sponsors! Magic Mind: Head over to magicmind.com/jen and use code JEN at checkout. Momentous: Ready to try supplements that actually do what they claim? Head to livemomentous.com and use code JEN for 35%…
Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on October 7, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.