A personal research protocol has layers: training, nutrition, sleep, labs, and — where the labs allow — the compound layer. Therapies are a sixth layer that people ask about constantly and that most sites either sell or ignore. We do neither. A coach can point to a sauna, a cold plunge, a hyperbaric chamber or a clinic session as something that fits a particular week of a plan; the session itself is performed by a licensed provider, and the decision to have it is yours and your physician's.
Each page below follows the same shape: what the therapy is, what the research actually shows (graded — randomised trial, meta-analysis, cohort, case series or mechanism-only), the protocols that have been studied, who it suits and who should avoid it, where it fits next to the rest of a protocol, an honest section on what is hype, and the questions we are asked most.
The eight therapies
Hyperbaric oxygen (HBOT)
Pressure, oxygen, 20–60 sessions. Strong for wounds, early for ageing, and the contraindications are real.
Therapy · recovery & skinRed light therapy
630–670 and 810–850 nm, 3–10 J/cm², before training not after. Good for skin and soreness; weak for everything else.
Therapy · regenerativeExosomes
Cell-free vesicles from stem cells. Promising preclinical data, almost no approved use, and a product market that runs ahead of both.
Therapy · regenerativeStem-cell therapy
Autologous or donor MSCs for joints and inflammation. Modest trial results, high prices, a regulatory map worth reading first.
Therapy · recoveryCryotherapy & cold plunge
10–15 °C water or −110 °C air. Real for soreness and mood, counterproductive after a hypertrophy session. Timing is everything.
Therapy · metabolicNAD+ IV & injections
Hours on a drip versus seconds with a pen. The precursor trials are real; the drip has one pharmacokinetic study and a lot of testimonials.
Therapy · regenerativePRP
Your own platelets, injected. Good for tennis elbow and knee pain, useless for Achilles, promising for hair. Preparation decides.
Therapy · cardiovascularSauna & heat
80–100 °C, 15–20 minutes, four or more times a week. The strongest association with living longer of anything here — and still an association.
How we grade the evidence
| Grade | What it means | Example on these pages |
|---|---|---|
| Strong | Multiple randomised trials or a meta-analysis, consistent direction, clinically meaningful size. | HBOT for diabetic foot ulcers and radiation injury. |
| Moderate | Randomised trials exist but are small, short, or from one group; or a large cohort with plausible mechanism. | Sauna and cardiovascular mortality; PRP for knee osteoarthritis. |
| Early | Pilot trials, case series, or a mechanism that has not yet been tested in people for that use. | HBOT and telomere length; NAD+ infusions for "energy". |
| Hype | The marketed claim outruns anything that has been measured. | Exosomes for ageing; cold plunges "burning fat". |
The rule every page shares
- A therapy is never the plan. It is an addition to a plan that already has training, nutrition, sleep and labs in place. If those are not in place, the therapy is the wrong first spend.
- Timing matters as much as the therapy. Cold after a hypertrophy session blunts the adaptation; sauna after it does not. The pages say when, not just whether.
- Contraindications are not fine print. An untreated pneumothorax and a hyperbaric chamber is an emergency; a cold plunge with an unstable heart rhythm is one too. We list them up front.
- Licensed providers, your physician's word. Nothing on these pages is sold here. A coach can tell you where a session fits; a physician tells you whether it is safe for you.
Where to start
If you want the cheapest, best-evidenced lever first: sauna. If you are recovering from a hard block or a soft-tissue injury: hyperbaric oxygen and PRP, read next to the Wolverine page. If you are deciding whether a clinic's exosome or stem-cell offer is worth the money: read those two pages before you book anything, and bring the questions at the end of each to the clinic.
Want these built into a plan for you?
Fifteen minutes of intake, a human-reviewed protocol within about 24 hours, three documents, a free coach call and check-ins through the cycle. €399, follow-up included. If a therapy on this page belongs in your plan, the protocol says where — and your physician says whether.
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