Watch out for pitfalls

On the road to longevity, many pitfalls await us. Some are obvious, others very subtle and treacherous.

The best defense against them is awareness – understanding their mechanisms and noticing them in yourself before they manage to lead you astray.

In our Longevity Protocols community I have already seen many situations that triggered my internal alarm related to the phenomenon of "longevity overkill".

Longevity overkill is a situation in which someone throws themselves into epigenetics, peptides, dozens of tests and supplements before they have mastered the most important pillars of health: sleep, physical activity, nutrition and mental health. Most often this is not the result of ignorance, but rather the effect of ambition, curiosity and the desire for rapid progress. The problem is that without foundations, advanced tools have nothing to work on. Technology then becomes a costly add-on that will change very little in our health.

As a result, people spend tons of money on methods that are supposed to “magically” accelerate their transformation… but without foundations advanced actions have nothing to rest on.

Lack of stable basics means:

• results of tests that are barely reliable,
• no real effects,
• wrong decisions,
• and quick discouragement.

At the beginning, follow a simple rule:

Build the foundations. Advanced methods will come later and will then be many times more effective.

In business there is the concept of “vanity metrics” — indicators that look great on slides, but in practice say nothing about how the company really works. In the world of longevity there is a similar problem, although in a more subtle, scientific form.

Take an example: DunedinPACE. I love the moment when I check the results of a new test that evaluates the pace of aging and see a record low score for myself — it is pure satisfaction, a pleasant boost of motivation and a sense that I am heading in the right direction. But when I am completely honest with myself, I must admit one thing: this result tells me far less about what exactly to do tomorrow than a classic strength test, a VO₂max measurement, sleep analysis or glycemia.

A good metric is one that truly helps you take concrete actions. One that shows what you can improve, allows you to monitor progress and genuinely influences your decisions about health. If a result does not push you toward any practical change, it is more of a curiosity than a tool.

This does not mean that vanity metrics are worthless. Sometimes they can provide a powerful motivational kick, let you see your progress from a new perspective and make taking care of your health more exciting.

You just have to be careful not to become their hostage — because real change does not happen in Excel or in an epigenetic result, but in the way you move, sleep, eat and take care of yourself every single day.

I have seen this countless times — and you probably have too. Instead of dealing with the basics, people escape into “advanced” actions that look like caring for health, but in practice are only an elegant form of procrastination.

Instead of:

• improving sleep,
• moving regularly,
• tidying up nutrition,
• addressing stress,

they do:

• a DNA test,
• a finger-prick epigenetic test,
• another round of supplements,
• another IV drip,
• another “life hack” that is supposed to magically fix everything.

This is procrastination disguised as growth — and it works like psychological make-up. It gives you the feeling that you are doing something important, while in reality you are avoiding what truly requires your attention and effort.

No, you are not.

It is like pouring premium fuel into a car with flat tires. It may look impressive, it may sound scientific, but it does not solve any of the real problems.

Foundations — sleep, movement, nutrition, stress — are like the laws of physics. You can ignore them, but you will never bypass them.

If the foundations are weak, no supplement, no test and no technology will replace them. And the most “advanced” biomarker in the world will not fix lack of sleep, chronic stress or a sedentary lifestyle. Biohacking can be valuable, but only when it is built on a solid foundation — not instead of it.

One of the most common traps that intelligent, ambitious and task-oriented people fall into is that the more complicated something is, the more they feel that they are “doing something serious”. Instead of improving sleep, training regularly and eating in a way that stabilizes energy, they start compensating for these gaps with increasingly complex protocols, elaborate supplementation and multi-layered sequences of "biohacks".

Complexity gives the illusion of control. It makes us feel more advanced, more “professional”, more aware — as if we were already half a step ahead of everyone else.

The problem is that this complexity has no chance of translating into real effects if it does not stand on a solid foundation. It is a bit like adding more floors to an old, unstable house — instead of strengthening it, you only increase the risk that it will collapse.

Complexity will never replace the basics.

This is a very human desire — we all want quick, elegant solutions that will “take care of” the hard part of the work for us. That is why it is so tempting to believe that there is a supplement, therapy or “hack” that will magically improve health, energy and well-being.

The problem is that no product — even the most technologically advanced — can replace the basic pillars of your biology.

There is no capsule that will fix chronic lack of sleep. There is no powder that will build muscles for you. There is no injection that can replace regular movement, a stable diet and work on stress.

Supplements can be a valuable support, but only when you stand on a solid foundation. Without it they act like adding a turbocharger to a car without an engine — it looks impressive, but it will not drive.

Advanced therapies, modern biohacking and supplement “stacks” are like a premium layer that you apply to an already well-functioning body. They can improve your results by a few to several percent, they can speed up regeneration or optimize certain processes, but they will never replace what truly determines your health at 60, 70 or 90 years old.

It is the foundations — sleep, nutrition, strength, endurance and stress — that decide everything. The rest are add-ons. If you take care of the base first, every supplement will start working better. If you try to replace the foundations with it — no supplement will save you.

The human body is the most complex biological system we know. Every day it functions in a dynamic environment in which thousands of processes, interactions, feedback loops and adaptations occur every second.

In this context, simple label-words — “healthy”, “unhealthy”, “good”, “bad” — create a dangerous illusion that there are clear-cut answers. And the truth is that in biology clear-cut answers practically do not exist.

Look at a few examples:

• Nuts – healthy?
  Yes… but if you have obesity or are struggling with excessive calorie intake, their high energy density can deepen the problem.
• Running – healthy?
  Yes… but done in the evening it can disrupt the circadian rhythm and worsen sleep quality.
• The gym – healthy?
  Yes… but if you sleep too little or eat poorly, intense training will lead you to overtraining rather than progress.

From this come a few fundamental principles:

• In health, almost everything depends on context.
• The dose makes both the medicine and the poison.
• There are no absolute answers — there are only answers that are right for a particular person at a particular moment.

That is why, if someone tells you that “X is healthy”, be cautious. And if someone says that “X is unhealthy” — be even more vigilant.

A narrative based on simple labels rarely leads to wise health decisions. Reality is more complex, but at the same time — once you understand it — it becomes much more predictable and manageable.

This is one of the most common mistakes I see in people starting their health journey. Someone decides to go to the gym — and that is great. But at the same time:

• they still sleep only 5 hours,
• they eat highly processed food,
• they function in chronic stress,
• they ignore recovery.

In such a situation something absolutely predictable happens. The training itself is a stimulus that creates micro-damage in the muscles — and this is exactly the mechanism that allows us to grow and get stronger. The problem begins when the body does not have the resources to properly process this stimulus.

• Lack of recovery → no rebuilding.
• Lack of sleep → no growth and poor hormonal response.
• Poor diet → no fuel for adaptation.

As a result, instead of progress, there appears:

• greater risk of injury,
• chronic fatigue,
• stagnation or regression in results,
• a feeling that “training doesn’t work”.

Many people are truly shocked when they learn that muscles do not grow during training at all. During exercise you only damage the fibers by creating micro-damage. Muscles grow only later, during sleep and recovery, provided that you supply the body with the right nutrients.

That is why a real longevity protocol must be systemic, not point-based. The body works like a network of communicating vessels — if you focus only on one area, ignoring the others, the whole system will eventually fall apart. Hard training without sleep, recovery and nutrition is like trying to build a house on a single pillar. Even if it stands at first, it will not last long.

It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that longevity is a race: who will do a more expensive test, who will take a more exotic supplement, who has a more complicated protocol. In practice, however, all of this matters only once the foundation is stable.

Without it, advanced interventions are like applying the latest technologies to a fragile structure — they look impressive, but they do not work.

That is why be aware and avoid these pitfalls:

• Longevity Overkill — doing too much, too early, without foundations.
• Vanity metrics — obsessing over numbers that change little in practice.
• Illusory actions — biohacking as disguised procrastination.
• Complexity without foundations — complicated protocols that have nothing to stand on.
• Shortcut — expecting supplements to do the work for you.
• Labels and simplifications — “healthy/unhealthy” that confuse more than they help.
• Point-based instead of systemic approach — focusing on one element without working on the whole.