Breathing work, biohacking and cryotherapy: a new buzzword for modern business travelers
Peptide cocktail, plasma Exchange therapy, infrared sauna and methylene blue drops. These are just a few biohackers that made Peter Phillips feel invincible. Over the past three years, the 53-year-old tech executive has worked with an extended health doctor at a longevity clinic in New York City to create a blueprint to help him fight his decline as he ages.
“I’m on the cusp of immortality,” he said. Every six weeks he goes to the clinic for a whole-body restart, usually including nervous system reduction and hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Even on the go, Phillips is cautiously looking for biohacker lounges and hotels that offer recovery methods such as IV injections and red light therapy.
Recovery and performance were once reserved for retreats, but high-performance executives could never afford to catch up later. Today, it is not uncommon for CEOs to fly from New York City to Dubai or Bangkok for 48 hours or even 24 hours. Looking for additional advantages, frequent travelers are turning to treatments used by professional athletes to keep peaks in mental and physical health while balancing demanding work schedules.
When your body is in a state of tension, as you keep moving forward (changing time zones, eating inconsistently, long working days and adapting to a new environment), your body is in a state of near-local stress. Today’s executives are not interested in traditional spa treatments. They tend to provide measurable performance results, such as circadian rhythm adjustment, heart rate variability-guided recovery protocols, and metabolic optimization procedures. These are not only long-term investments in health, but also powerful tools to restore balance, reduce inflammation, support immunity, and improve sleep and healing in real time, Leary said.
Now, new luxury health care facilities and wandering tours now cater to business travelers obsessed with maintaining their health goals and bringing their high-powered schedules around the world. “Business travel is more than just a jet lag for survival,” said Dave Asprey, founder of the upgrade lab for a series of biohacking facilities in North America. “It’s not about bounce; it’s about staying ahead. Recovery is no longer a luxury, it’s a strategy.”
Chip Conley, the 64-year-old founder of Modern Senior College in New Mexico, seeks cryotherapy whenever he sets on the road. According to the study, in these chambers, only five minutes in chambers with temperatures as low as -220 degrees Fahrenheit, it can provide enhancement of endorphins and help reduce inflammation. “It brought me back to a revitalized place within a few minutes,” he said.
Rustan Panday, 56, chairman of a Stockholm publishing company, said he found cryotherapy and infrared sauna sessions to be more recoverable than exercise. He belongs to the V Social Club, a longevity center in Stockholm, and is visited three times a week. Cergym is a device that slows down aging by enhancing the function of mitochondria (the power chamber of our cells), and is his first choice treatment. “I felt so happy and energetic after the meeting,” he said. When he was doing business in New York, he would book in advance at Remedial Square to replicate his daily routine.
Illustration: Alex Green
The hotel also attracts business executives with life-focused plans and amenities. “More and more people are looking for places they can work, relax and get healthy, whether it’s exercise or a restorative spa.” Busy professionals are now looking to charge 30 minutes of quantum harmonic therapy therapy on the resort’s 70,000-square-foot spa, which helps reduce stress and strengthen mental focus. They slept on the resort’s AI-powered Bryte smart beds that have been proven to support sleep efficiency and strike jets.
The Equinox Hotel in New York is the epitome of Bleisure. Uber’s exclusive fitness club flagship property seamlessly blends health, sleep, work, indulgence and relaxation. About 35% of guests are business travelers who not only book for a 60,000 square foot gym, but also book a proprietary indoor sleep system that creates the best environment for solid Zzzz and Biohackaking Spa therapies.
