What a longevity protocol is — and is not
A personal research protocol is a written plan for one adult and one goal, over one cycle of usually twelve weeks, built from an intake and a set of labs, written by a person, checked by a second person and released by a coach. For a longevity goal the plan has six layers, and the sequence they are written in is the point: training, nutrition, sleep, labs, supplements, and — only where the labs allow and the goal needs it — the compound layer. Clinic therapies, where they appear, are placed in a specific week of that plan and performed by licensed providers.
It is not a prescription, a diagnosis or a treatment. It is not a list of compounds with a lifestyle paragraph at the bottom. And it does not come with anything in a box: Longevity Bros writes the plan and coaches you through it, and does not sell, supply, source or ship any compound. The protocol lists what it assumes, and the sourcing, the physician conversation and the decision are yours.
The method, step by step
| Step | What happens | How long | Output |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Intake | About fifteen minutes of honest answers in the Research Protocol Builder: goal, training history, sleep, diet, medicines, medical history, budget, what you have already tried. Labs can be uploaded now or later. | 15 min | A structured intake the writer works from. |
| 2. Labs | The baseline panel: ApoB, hsCRP, HbA1c, fasting insulin, cystatin C, ferritin, vitamin D, thyroid, a sex-hormone panel, IGF-1, full blood count — plus VO2max, grip and a DEXA where the goal needs them. | Book now; results in days | The numbers the plan is written against. Without them the first version is provisional and says so. |
| 3. Safety gate | The exclusions are applied before anyone writes: pregnancy, active cancer, under 18, a history of restrictive eating for any fasting element, and the compound-specific red flags — haematocrit, IGF-1, kidney function, interactions with prescribed medicines. | Same day | Either a green light or a message explaining what must be resolved first, with your physician. |
| 4. Human-written protocol | A writer drafts from the intake and labs; a reviewer checks every threshold, dose and interaction; a coach releases. No template is pasted — the reviewer's job is to find the thing the writer missed. | Typically within 24 hours of a complete intake | The protocol. |
| 5. Three documents | A short results version for your phone — what to do this week; the full clinical document with the week-by-week schedule, the lab plan, the stop rules and the reasoning; and a physician copy written for your own doctor. | Together | The same plan at three depths. |
| 6. Coach call | Free, on WhatsApp: the plan walked through, your labs read against it, your questions answered, the first two weeks set up. | 30–45 min | A plan you understand. |
| 7. Check-ins | Week 2 (is it working in practice), mid-cycle (the lab repeat decides whether anything holds, steps or stops), end of cycle (what changed, what next). Any new labs trigger a revision. | Through the cycle | A protocol that changes when the numbers do. |
Budget first
Every protocol is written in its budget version first: the fewest moving parts — and, where the compound layer is used, the fewest pens — that can honestly move the goal. For a longevity goal that version often contains no compound at all for the first cycle, because the levers with the strongest evidence are free: three zone-2 sessions and one interval session, two lifting sessions, 1.6 g/kg of protein, a fixed wake time, and the five supplements the labs justify. The upgrade — a compound studied for sleep, recovery or body composition, a clinic therapy in the repair weeks — is written as an option and unlocked at a check-in once the labs and the first weeks have earned it. The budget-versus-upgrade guide explains the logic.
This is not austerity. It is how you find out what worked. A plan that starts with everything cannot tell you which part moved the number, and the second cycle is written blind.
What a longevity protocol usually contains
- Training: a VO2max block (zone 2 plus one 4x4 a week) and a strength block (two full-body sessions, six movements, progressive), with the week laid out around your actual schedule.
- Nutrition: a protein floor by meal, a fibre target, an eating window chosen for your training and sleep rather than for fashion, and the fasting exclusions applied.
- Sleep: wake time, light, temperature, caffeine and alcohol rules, and an apnoea screen for anyone who snores.
- Labs: the baseline, the week-6 repeat, and the thresholds at which something holds, steps or stops — written down before the first day.
- Supplements: the short, lab-justified list, at trial doses.
- Compound layer (optional, gated): the compounds studied for the goal, with the labs they depend on, the house schedule and the stop rules — the longevity goal page names the ones usually in the conversation.
- Therapies (optional): sauna, red light, a hyperbaric block — placed in a week, with the note that a licensed provider performs them and a physician clears them.
What to measure
The protocol lists its own, but the longevity set is always the same five, repeated at the same points:
- Baseline: the blood panel, VO2max, grip, DEXA, home blood pressure, a two-week sleep record.
- Week 2: nothing in blood — adherence, sleep, resting heart rate, how the week fits.
- Week 6 (mid-cycle): the markers the plan named — typically HbA1c, insulin, hsCRP, ferritin, and IGF-1 or haematocrit if the compound layer is in use. This repeat decides the second half.
- Week 12: the baseline again, including VO2max and DEXA. Not before — body composition and fitness do not move meaningfully in six weeks and testing early produces noise.
- Yearly: everything, against last year, in a single document you keep.
The how-to-read-your-protocol guide shows where each of these sits in the documents, and the twelve-week-cycle guide explains why the cycle has the shape it has.
Where peptides and therapies fit
Last, and gated. In a longevity protocol the compound layer, when it is used, is studied for three things: sleep architecture, recovery and body composition — the levers the earlier articles identify as modifiable — and each compound page in the research library lists the labs it depends on and the mistakes we see. The protocols-by-goal hub shows how the same method produces different plans for fat loss, lean mass, sleep or immunity, and the therapies section grades each clinic offer by evidence so that a protocol can say where it fits — or that it does not. The baseline-labs guide is the gate everything passes through first.
Common mistakes
- Starting the intake without booking the labs. The provisional version is a placeholder; the plan is written against numbers.
- Choosing the upgrade first. The budget version is where the information is.
- Changing three things at week 3 because nothing has moved yet. Twelve weeks is the unit.
- Skipping the physician copy. It exists so your doctor sees the whole plan, not a summary of it.
- Treating the check-ins as optional. Mid-cycle labs are where the dose decision is made; without them the plan cannot change.
- Running a second cycle without re-measuring. The first cycle's end is the second cycle's baseline.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to get a protocol?
About fifteen minutes of intake, then typically within 24 hours of a complete intake for the human-reviewed protocol. If labs arrive later, the plan is revised against them at no extra cost.
What do I get for €399?
The intake, the safety gate, a human-written and human-reviewed protocol, three documents — the results version, the full clinical document and a physician copy — a free coach call on WhatsApp, check-ins at week 2, mid-cycle and the end, and any revision when new labs arrive. No subscription; nothing in a box.
Do I need labs before I start?
The plan is written against them, so yes — book the baseline panel when you start the intake. If you upload later, the first version is provisional and says which parts depend on the results. Kidney function is always cystatin C, never creatinine alone.
Does the protocol include compounds?
Only where the goal needs them and the labs allow, and often not in the first cycle of a longevity plan, because the strongest levers are training, sleep and nutrition. Where a compound is included, the protocol describes what it is studied for, the labs it depends on and the stop rules. Longevity Bros does not sell, supply, source or ship any compound.
What happens at the end of twelve weeks?
The baseline is repeated — labs, VO2max, DEXA — and the end-of-cycle check-in reads what changed. The second cycle is written from those numbers: the upgrade if the first cycle earned it, a different lever if it did not, or a break if the plan says so.
Want a plan built on your own numbers?
Fifteen minutes of intake, your labs, a human-reviewed protocol within about 24 hours, three documents, a free coach call and check-ins through the cycle. €399, follow-up included.
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