Optimum Health

By Brett Gillan · October 10, 2026

Health is YOUR responsibility and your duty to yourself! Own it! Make it a priority!!

Nobody is coming to do it for you. Not your doctor, not your gym, not your family. Your doctor can help when something breaks, but the day-to-day stuff (how you sleep, how you move, what you eat, how you handle stress) is all on you. The good news: that means you're in control. Here's what I actually do every day and why.

I'm not a doctor and this isn't medical advice. It's just what works for me. If you have a medical condition or take medication, talk to your doctor before changing things.

Become a professional sleeper

I treat sleep like it's my job. Professionals show up every day, have a routine, and protect their performance. That's how I approach my nights.

• 7–9 hours, every night. Not "when I can." Every night.
• Same schedule. Consistent bedtime and wake time, even on weekends.
• A real wind-down routine. Mine starts around 9 pm (below).
• Cool, dark, quiet room. Devices out of the bedroom. No scrolling in bed.
• Dim lights at night. Bright overhead lights stay off after dark.
• No late caffeine. On jiu jitsu days, none after about noon.
• No late meals. I try to finish eating at least 2 hours before bed. This is difficult with my schedule though.
• Short naps only. 15 minutes max so I don't steal from the night's sleep.

Bad sleep makes everything harder: cravings, workouts, mood, focus. Good sleep makes everything easier. It's the cheapest performance enhancer there is.

My daily routine

I'm working on NOT being a perfectionist about this. Some days I hit everything, some days I don't, and that's fine. The point is to have a default, and to own it.

Morning

1. Meditation. I start with a subconscious-reprogramming meditation. I treat it like brushing my teeth.
2. Hydrogen water with sea salt and lemon. I start hydrating right away.
3. Joint-by-joint mobility on a grounding mat. Wrists, elbows, shoulders, neck, spine, hips, knees, ankles. Then deep squat work, camel pulse, shinbox, cossacks, pancake, scorpion and so on. Ten to fifteen minutes a day keeps everything moving.
4. Workout. My morning lift.
5. 20-minute sauna. The health benefits are too substantial to deny.

Night (starting around 9 pm)

• Red light on my face
• Percussion massager
• An audiobook walk
• Tai chi on the grounding mat
• Abundance meditation, then an evening reprogramming meditation
• Brush teeth, bed

Sometimes

Dry brushing, massage, acupuncture, hyperbaric sessions, fasting, and comedy nights with friends. Laughing with good people might be the most underrated health habit on this list.

Move all day, not just at the gym

A workout is one hour. What you do the other 23 matters too. Two simple habits I never skip:

• Take the stairs. Every chance I get, I take the stairs over the elevator. It's free training built right into my day.
• Walk after eating. Even 10 minutes after a meal makes me feel lighter and keeps my energy steady instead of crashing.

Other easy wins: walk while you're on calls, get up and move every hour if you sit a lot, and get outside in the morning light.

Breathing

Breathing is one of the best free tools there is. Here are the practices I use.

1. Start with the out-breath

Think of each breath as starting with the exhale. Out: you give to the universe. In: the universe breathes into you. Don't think of it as "inhaling," let it come to you. It sounds simple but it really changes how breathing feels.

2. Exhale fully

Breathe in, then out, out, out. Squeeze your ribs and abs to get all the air out, then let a full breath come back in.

3. Slow-exhale breathing to calm down

When I'm stressed, I do slow belly breathing with a longer exhale than inhale, something like 4 seconds in and 6 seconds out, for about 5 minutes.

4. Breath observation

Watch your breath for about 10 minutes. Out, then in, that's one. If your mind wanders, come back to the breath. Notice where your attention goes: the air at your nose, your lungs, or your whole body.

5. Power breathing (with safety rules)

For energy, I do rounds of rapid deep breathing: about 30–40 deep breaths, exhale and hold until I need to breathe, then a full breath in and hold for 10–15 seconds. Three rounds, in the morning on an empty stomach. Tingling and light-headedness are normal.

The safety part matters:

• Only do it sitting or lying down. Never in water, in a bath or ice bath, standing, or driving. It can make you pass out for a few seconds.

My dos and don'ts

Do

• Get your antioxidants from food, not pills. Fresh fruits and veggies beat any capsule.
• Cook with extra-virgin olive oil and real butter.
• Eat salmon a few times a week. I go for salmon and sardines over a lot of tuna.
• Eat real food over meat substitutes. I used to think plant-based burgers were the healthy swap. Now I just eat real steak, chicken, eggs and fish, plus lots of plants.
• Protect your mind. Stay away from negative people and doom-scrolling.

Don't

• Microwave food in plastic. Use a plate or glass dish instead.
• Use margarine.
• Eat much sugar or artificial sweeteners. Whole fruit is different.
• Overdo white flour and processed food.
• Drink much alcohol. I keep it rare.
• Eat burnt meat. I cut off the charred bits.
• Sleep next to your phone. Charge it in another room.
• Get scans you don't need, but never skip imaging your doctor actually needs.

Know your numbers

Owning your health means knowing where you stand. Guessing isn't a plan. Here's the panel I get:

• ApoB: heart health
• Lp(a): only needs testing once
• hs-CRP: inflammation
• HbA1c and fasting insulin: blood sugar control
• Vitamin D: test, then supplement to a target instead of guessing
• Cystatin C: kidney function
• Testosterone and SHBG

The basics (glucose, triglycerides, HDL, blood pressure, waist) are usually covered at an annual physical. Go get it done.

What's next for me

• Cold plunge. I'm adding it, but at least 6 hours after lifting so it doesn't blunt my gains. About 2–3 minutes is plenty, and always with someone around.
• More morning outdoor light. A few minutes outside soon after waking is an easy add to my mobility time.

Own it

Sleep like a professional. Move all day. Eat real food. Breathe. Know your numbers. Nobody else can do it for you, and that's the best part: it's all in your hands.