Hi, I’m
NICK URBAN
Every year I spend 1,000+ hours discovering, testing, analyzing, & reviewing strategies you can use to get the most out of your mind, body, and spirit.
I Approach Biohacking Differently
I design plans uniquely tailored to upgrading your life as a high-achiever. Elevating your mental & physical performance by one percent every day will turn you into an Outliyr.
I combine time-tested ancestral wisdom with the latest clinical research to deliver actionable insights that are decades ahead of conventional wisdom.
I curate my recommendations carefully. I research and rigorously test all endorsements. I turn down everything I don’t completely stand by.
Human Performance Maximization
Malcolm Gladwell famously stated that subject matter expertise takes 10,000 hours of practice. But for most things, ~10,000 hours is too long. When it comes to biohacking and living at the highest level, we care about efficiency.
Not 10,000 hours, but 10,000 iterations. It’s the repetition and constant gradual improvements that count.
How can I achieve 80 percent mastery with only 20 percent of the effort?
Taking this approach frees up precious time, energy, and mental bandwidth.
Whether playing sports with friends, crushing a presentation, or thriving in an arctic tundra for days on end — I want to perform my best anytime, anywhere.
I launched this site for you to shortcut the tedious “10,000 iterations” mastery process. Learn from my trials, tribulations, and N=1 experiments. Track, hack, and self-optimize your way to superhuman performance.
This site explores:
- Biohacking
- Peak performance
- Cognition
- Fasting
- Nutrition
- Hydration
- Supplementation
- Fitness
- Recovery
- Resilience
- Productivity
- Therapies & protocols
- Workplace optimization
- Anti-aging & longevity
- Nootropics & smart drugs
- Peptides & bioregulators
- Data & self-quantification
- Gear & tools
- Digestion & microbiome
- Gratitude & spirituality
- Purpose & motivation
- Ayurveda & Traditional Chinese Medicine
- Biosynergy & bioharmony
- … and much more
If any of these topics pique your interest, you are in the right place.
Nick Urban’s Introduction to Biohacking
My journey began with brain fog and chronic fatigue. My doctors chalked it up to high fasting blood sugar and off-the-chart inflammation.
Aside from the occasional “cheat” meal, my diet exemplified the USDA Food Pyramid. I snacked throughout the day and ate plenty of grains. I diligently avoided dietary fat, drank my morning glasses of fruit juice, and refused to salt my meals. A perfectly balanced diet — or so I thought.
I felt worse than I looked. Sports kept me fit, but eventually, my performance plateaued. Nagging symptoms worsened. My doctor couldn’t hide his worry. Specialists told me I’d need insulin soon, and gave me pamphlets on living with diabetes. Tethering myself to insulin for the rest of my life scared me and I refused to accept it.
I took my health into my own hands. I tirelessly combed through research and entertained what at the time seemed like radical ideas. I began to see patterns in their methodologies. Patterns that went against everything I thought I knew. What choice did I have? I methodically tested each and monitored myself for changes. My health steadily improved:
- Cutting out dairy completely relieved my daily congestion and occasional bouts of exercise-induced asthma.
- Replacing grains made my blood less acidic and stabilized my cortisol, which stopped the early-afternoon energy crashes.
- Finally, I could become a nose breather. I changed my training routine and within a few days improved my sleep.
9 months later, I passed all blood tests with flying colors. Equally important, I felt better than ever. These minor sacrifices profoundly improved my energy, mental clarity, and sports performance.
My rugby game improved. In my junior year, I helped lead Claremont Colleges Rugby to the NSCRO National Championships. We placed second. The very next season, we took home gold.
Questioning conventional wisdom completely changed the trajectory of my life. I realized that no one else— not even the highly credentialed experts—would rescue my health. I steeped myself in biohacking (before it had the name), health optimization, and optimal living. I compiled thousands of notes from books, podcasts, videos, lectures, interviews, and personal experiments.
Now, I’m open-sourcing some of my notes, personal research, and my favorite tools I’ve used to get here.
Today, more than ever, the natural route is gaining traction. Every day new research confirms what shamanic healers and ancient tribes have known for millennia.
Some of the most effective health optimization strategies are free (or cheap), safe, and time-tested.
The key is knowing where to look. This site will help direct your research.
Neurohacking: Cognitive Athletics of The 21st Century
Curiosity is the fuel of high-performance Share on XSince childhood, relentless curiosity has driven everything I do.
I must understand the why behind things. “Just because” never satisfied me.
In high school, I began to explore how the brain and neurochemicals influence athletic performance. I discovered certain supplements, ingredients, and compounds that could boost neurotransmitters associated with motivation, energy, drive, focus, concentration, and mental clarity. Even things like mood and movement efficiency have roots in the brain.
Perhaps intelligence and the brain are indeed malleable.
I explored one rabbit hole after another. Until I found myself supplementing with a source of choline called alpha-GPC. My memory sharpened, reaction time decreased, and I even noticed physical strength improvements.
Could the brain really be the “central governor” of the human experience?
My curiosity morphed into an obsession with cognitive enhancement for the classroom.
While my peers fueled long study sessions with neurochemistry-damaging stimulants, I found alternatives that improved the efficiency and effectiveness of my brain. Alternatives without a nasty crash or a dizzying list of side effects.
With the same (or even less) time studying, I bumped up my grades. Which freed my time to research and explore my passions.
I love nerding out in PubMed, sipping a coffee, and learning about the latest mind-enhancement research, techniques, and compounds.
But the need didn’t end after university.
In Silicon Valley’s hyper-growth workplace, the smallest edge can make a career. Here, the recreational drug market comes second to productivity-boosting nootropics and smart drugs (see my top modafinil replacements).
Friends and colleagues turned to me for help as a brain coach. I designed customized nootropic blends and lifestyle plans to get more out of their mind. Due to the vast biochemical and electrical differences between people, finding the right combinations takes some experimentation. But their results surprised me:
- Faster and larger promotions
- Concentrating with ease for an entire day
- Steady energy through the evening
- Motivation to take on passion projects
- Finishing more work in less time
- Elegant solutions to complex problems
I enjoyed it so much that I worked as a Brain Coach for a nootropics startup in New York City.
Our generation is applying the backbone and framework of athletics to perform higher at our day jobs. Using self-quantification and self-optimization to beat the competition. Some of my favorite interviews I conduct on the Mind Body Peak Performance podcast are with neurohackers democratizing this knowledge.
As much as I love quick fixes and hacks, I eventually discovered a hard truth.
Biosynergy: The Future of Biohacking
Eventually, I realized that biohacking doesn’t work long-term. Rather, it brings unexpected consequences or mediocre results. When humans “hack” nature, things go wrong. A few examples:
- Vitamin D supplements aren’t the sun in a pill. Sunlight “activates” (sulfates) vitamin D. Vitamin D supplements also require vitamin K2 to build bone. Without it, additional calcium deposits in dangerous areas.
- Genetically modified food is not transient but rather detectable in human blood after ingestion.
- Common shoes insulate us from the richest known source of anti-aging free electrons: Earth’s surface (I wear Earthing sandals to reconnect).
- Sunscreen blocks the benefits of sunlight, reduces vitamin D, and delivers potent chemicals through the skin and into your bloodstream. Sunglasses are also dangerous.
- Mouthwash kills beneficial microbes in your mouth, prevents nitric oxide production, and predisposes you to oral health problems (whereas oil pulling does not).
- Gut microbes are the middleman between you and the environment. Anything that harms them indirectly harms you. Optimizing gut health improves everything from your brain to your nervous system.
- Man-made compounds often have unrealized side effects. Decades after their introduction, researchers continue to discover “new” dangers. Lawsuits and incalculable suffering have resulted in dozens of popular drugs getting pulled off the market.
Scientific knowledge evolves quickly. Models built on yesterday’s understanding become obsolete. But humans aren’t capable of such rapid change. So we stick to irrelevant systems and teach the next generation outdated “facts”.
Instead, I propose an entirely different methodology…
Bioharmonizing is the science of achieving your maximum potential by aligning with nature instead of fighting against it #biosynergy #bioharmony Share on XHere’s how to upgrade from biohacking to bioharmonizing your lifestyle:
- Understand ancestral wisdom that our species has known for millennia. Look into Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and other forms of ancient medicine. Follow the basics that humans relied on to survive through the 21st century.
- Choose technology wisely. Recognize where modern lifestyle departs from human evolution.
- Reduce harm. Find ways to harmonize the irreplaceable but potentially risky technology.
Biosynergy is the future of biohacking and personalized wellness.
What I Am up to These Days
- I completed a 7-day water fast while maintaining my fitness regimen. Now, I’m fascinated by the superior alternative, dry fasting. Looking for a fasting buddy?
- I committed to the practice of meditation and hit a streak of 752 consecutive days. Accountability partners welcome.
- I’m constantly learning from the time-proven and prevention-based ancient medical systems like Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Korean Medicine, Germanic New Medicine, and axioms like the Hermetic Principles. What are you studying?
- I maxed out my squat for 30 consecutive days and set a personal record of 495 pounds to better understand the physiology of recovery. The body can handle more than I thought.
- I average a daily walking distance of 8 miles and sun gaze most mornings. What are your routines?
- I quadrupled my max breath-hold time using various breathing techniques to improve CO2 tolerance. My secret: I cut out mouth breathing long before mouth taping became popular and practiced the Wim Hof Method.
- I do two weeks of the carnivore (elimination) diet to start the year. Ultimately, I miss other foods too much and cave.
- I’m researching the brain and cognitive enhancement. I feel sharper today than before my decade of collision sports. Do you have a favorite product?
- I’m discovering sensitivities and “kryptonite” foods with a CGM device called Nutrisense. What biomarkers do you track?
The Abstract of Nick Urban
I’ve been meticulously studying this stuff since my early teenage years. Here are some of my more formal training, credentials, and relevant experiences:
- Bachelor’s in Neuroscience turned Economics & Computer Science
- Brain Optimization & Nootropics Consultant @ FORMULA
- Certified CHEK Practitioner – Functional Health Coach
- Certified Holistic Lifestyle Coach Level 2
- Certified Integrated Movement Scientist Level 1
- Dr. Seeds Peptide Therapy: Foundations Trained
- Telos-Certified for Dynamic Listening, Therapeutic Metaphors, & Healing Through Storytelling
- Telos-Certified for Ultimate Communication Skills for Individuals, Couples, Coaches, and Businesses
Going Forward
I consider myself a human guinea pig (or investigative journalist to sound fancy). I love testing new ideas, products, and technologies designed to upgrade the human experience.
You’ll find me learning every single day. Books, courses, videos, papers… I welcome any and all novel information recommendations!
I recently deepened my knowledge of functional health wisdom and integrated movement science by becoming a Certified CHEK Practitioner. Taught by wellness legend Paul Chek. As mentioned in my review of the CHEK Institute, I highly recommend it to anyone interested in understanding how the body and mind really work.
Viewing human biology through the holistic lens exposes the root causes of health, aging, and long-term optimal performance.
In June 2021, I began open-sourcing my knowledge and conversations with the world’s leading experts on living the high-performance lifestyle. Join the tribe and subscribe to the podcast at mindbodypeak.com.
These days I am loving life (and the community) here in Austin, Texas.
Enough about me. Shoot me a message, let me know what you’re up to, or if you’d like help designing your custom performance blueprint.
