In this special birthday edition of the Optispan Podcast, host Matt reflects on his personal health and longevity journey as he turns 54. He shares the major lifestyle, dietary, and medical interventions that have had the biggest impact on his biological age and overall health over the past decade. Matt opens up about how leaving academia, reducing alcohol consumption, and optimizing hormone therapy have been transformative changes, significantly improving his quality of life, physical health, and stress levels.

A central theme of the episode is the outsized role of resistance training and consistent exercise in preserving body composition and function. Matt details how his five-year journey with strength training has paid off, especially once paired with nutritional optimization and hormonal support. He also explains his cardio routine, which is more casual and centered on enjoyment rather than strict structure, showing that flexibility can still yield health benefits when combined with consistency.

Matt offers a detailed look into his nutritional evolution—from experimenting with keto to now following a high-protein, high-fiber, whole-foods-based approach. He emphasizes practical tips like eliminating added sugars, reading food labels, and embracing healthy substitutions such as keto bread and no-sugar yogurts. His strategy focuses on sustainability over perfection, including occasional use of processed foods like protein bars without letting them dominate his diet.

He also categorizes interventions into tiers based on their perceived impact. High-impact tools include comprehensive diagnostics, tracking biomarkers, and working with a preventative medicine physician. In a secondary tier, he places rapamycin, creatine, and continuous glucose monitoring, which have provided value, though not on the same scale. Lower-tier or neutral-impact interventions include urolithin A, NR, DHEA, boron, and biological age/microbiome tests, which he found either ineffective or not actionable for his personal health.

The episode concludes with a powerful reminder of the role of relationships in long-term health. Matt credits his marriage and close personal connections as the most important contributors to his well-being. Looking forward, he shares plans to experiment with the TRIM protocol (targeting thymic regeneration) and the CLEARLY coronary imaging test. His overarching message is that aging should be proactive, not passive, and that it’s possible to be in better shape at 64 than 54—if you put in the effort and remain curious, consistent, and optimistic.