My General Health Protocol for the Modern Life

Objective: From beginner to BEAST - "Always Ready"

This protocol is designed to build resilience, longevity, and readiness for life’s physical demands—giving beginners a clear structure that, over time, turns them into beasts. It accounts for real-life constraints like injuries, work, and lifestyle, while emphasizing steady, sustainable progress.

Unlike programs that mimic elite athletes and chase quick results, this approach values consistency, adaptability, and longevity over exhaustion and burnout. Intensity has its place, but not at the cost of energy, health, and motivation.

The protocol spans 12–18 months, gradually increasing training volume and effort to build lasting habits. Real change takes time—drastic shifts or “cold turkey” attempts often end in burnout or rebound. By layering progress slowly, this system ensures results that actually stick, leaving you always ready.

The Mental Challenge:

This approach demands mental toughness—choosing slower, less glamorous progress over quick wins. It’s about doing the work for yourself, and for those who depend on you, without chasing instant recognition.

Consistency without immediate gratification is hard—but it forges true resilience. Being always ready means building confidence that you can handle whatever life throws your way.

Fundamental Principles:

This protocol is rooted in the pyramid and triangle of physical health—building capacity from the ground up. It prioritizes foundations first, then adds intensity, with every routine tailored to individual circumstances.

The goal: a body that’s resilient, capable, and always prepared.

The Minimum: "Always Ready" Baseline

This baseline leans more toward a strength-focused approach, which may resonate more with males. Females, on the other hand, may thrive more with movement styles like flows, dance-based training, or less failure-oriented work.

• Daily Movement:

  • 8-10k steps per day to promote overall activity and cardiovascular health.

    
    

  • Warm-Up and Mobility: 5-15mins daily

    • Use warm-up flows to prepare the body and improve movement quality. Include rotational work, spinal mobility, and core activation to strengthen stability. Mix in skill practice (handstands, balance drills) and isometric holds

• Weekly movement

  • Start with 2 hypertrophy-focused sessions per week (progressing to 3–4 as you advance, due to time and energy), performing 4–14 working sets per muscle group per week to or near failure; beginners should begin at the lower end with slightly higher reps to build skill and mind–muscle connection before gradually reducing reps and increasing intensity, with each session typically lasting 45–90 minutes depending on level.

• 1 x "Functional HIIT Sessions" sessions focusing on cardio, carries, leg push/pull, swings, and throws, etc... Approx 20-45 minutes (depending on level)

• 1 X 45-minute "zone 2" cardio, Running, swimming, cycling, etc... if you are at a higher level 45 minutes may not be enough or you might

Wherever you’re starting from, you may not be able to recover from all this immediately—or you may need more to keep progressing. This is simply a baseline structure designed to build and maintain a resilient, capable body, adaptable to your needs and preferences.

Warm up mobility/flow example * coming soon

Strength workout example

FULL BODY 1	FULL BODY 2
2 X Squat	2 X Hinge
2 X Horizontal Pull	2 X Vertical Push
2 X Horizontal Push	2 X Vertical Pull
2 X Hinge	2 X Squat
2 X Vertical Pull	2 X Horizontal Push
2 X Vertical Push	2 X Horizontal Pull
2 X Knee Extension	2 X Knee Flexion
2 X Horizontal Shoulder Abduction	2 X Horizontal Shoulder Adduction
2 X Hip Abduction*	2 X Hip Adduction*
2 X Elbow Extension	2 X Elbow Flexion
2 X Shoulder Abduction*	2 X Shoulder Extension*
2 X Ankle Flexion	2 X Shoulder Flexion*
	2 X Ankle Extension

Supersets and giant sets can be adding to reduce time of workout. this just showcases total volume. For more info on strength training read - A Practical Overview for Building Aesthetics

Functional HIIT example: 20-45 mins

• 250m-1km run

125-500m SkiErg

25m Sled

30seconds leg raises

• 250m-1km run

125-500m rowing

30 seconds kettlebell swings

30 seconds crunches

• 250m-1km run

20-30 calories assault bike

30 seconds medicine balls overhead or slams

30 seconds Russian twists

• 250m-1km run

10-40m burpee broad jumps

25-100m farmer carries

13-50 wall balls

The bigger picture

This isn’t a rigid plan. If life calls for something different—playing a sport, hiking, or taking a trip—you adjust. That’s the point: your body is ready.

We’ve lost our connection to movement, trading it for appearance or status. This approach brings that back. It’s not about performing for others. It’s about cultivating a body that feels alive, capable, and at ease—ready for whatever life brings.

Nutrition:

The goal of nutrition is simple: eat enough to recover, fuel performance, and meet your micronutrient needs. I recommend an IIFYM&M approach (If It Fits Your Macros & Micronutrients)—hitting protein, fats, and carbs, while also covering vitamins, minerals, and digestibility. I provide more details on nutrition here.

Most people however tend to overconsume due to ultra processed foods, alcohol, or ingredients that make food taste nice especially when eating out, making it hard to track. This can cause hormones to incorrectly function effecting, energy levels, satiety, and, which makes people end up in a cycle of eating more calories than necessary.

My general Macro Targets (Example for 80kg / 176cm / ~10% BF)

• Protein: 155–200g (≈25% of calories approx. 1 gram per pound of lean body mass)

• Fats: 75–125g (≈30–35% of calories)

• Carbs: 200–320g (≈32–40% of calories, adjusted to training load)

• Calories: ~2500–3200 depending on activity (BMR ~2000, ~60–70% of total burn)

Average Male (2,000–2,400 kcal/day)

• Protein: 25% → 120–140g = 500-600 calories

• Fats: 30–35% calories → 65–90g 600-840 calories

• Carbs: remainder → 150–230g 640-960 calories

Average Female (1,600–2,000 kcal/day)

• Protein: 25% → 100–125 g = 400–500 kcal

• Fats: 30–35% → 53–78 g = 480–700 kcal

• Carbs: remainder → 130–225 g = 520–900 kcal

Note: BMR changes with body composition, health status, and nutrient sufficiency. long deficits or deficiencies can reduce metabolic rate

This is why I recommend the model IIFYM&M (If It Fits Your Macro and Micronutrients), which emphasizes a whole-food-based diet that aligns with bio-individual needs, ensuring adequate macronutrient and micronutrient intake for performance and recovery. Most of the time these will come from the foods below.

I also follow a similar concept to the vertical diet, because limiting variety may help with consistency and digestion, while still covering nutrients.

Recommended/Ideal Food Sources

• Proteins: Grass-fed meats, wild-caught fish, organ meats, pasture-raised eggs.

• Fats: Animal fats, olive oil, coconut oil, grass-fed butter, tallow, ghee.

• Carbs: White rice (Basmati), sweet potatoes, yams, seasonal fruits and vegetables.

• Other: Full-fat dairy (if tolerated), herbs/spices for flavour & phytonutrients.

More details on nutrition here - Nutrition – What Fuels Us

These recommendations are based on what’s worked for me—optimizing gut health, sustaining energy, and supporting performance. By maintaining a 1:1 omega-3 to omega-6 ratio, prioritizing saturated and monounsaturated fats, and focusing on micronutrient-dense whole foods, I’ve been able to meet my macronutrient needs with minimal digestive discomfort.

Because this protocol is less intense than traditional high-volume training styles, carbohydrate requirements tend to be lower. Most people can train effectively while fasted or on just one or two meals per day. A simple rule of thumb: eat until you're about 80% full.

I also tend to time my carbs around training, which may be more psychological than physiological. Not feeling hungry helps me perform better mentally, even though the energy isn't coming directly from the food I just ate—unless it's a simple carb or sugar source.

There’s plenty of debate around the “ideal” macronutrient breakdown, and depending on our activity level and the type of activities we do different breakdowns might be necessary.

I tend to follow a protein-dominant approach with a "earn your carbs" philosophy, if you do minimal high intensity workouts you will not need as many carbs to replenish what the body can produce from other sources.

Regarding food choices everyone responds differently. You can fine-tune this through an elimination protocol or by working with a physician or nutrition specialist. If your body tolerates a wider range of foods, feel free to include them. And if you choose to occasionally eat something that causes discomfort, it’s not forbidden—just do so consciously and be willing to accept the effects.

Overall, hyper focusing and stressing about eating health is ironically unhealthy, just make simple adjustments to your diet and create good healthy habits. If craving continually pop up or you find yourself struggling to stick to a plan there might be some deeper underlying issues triggering, you into these cravings.

Sleep

This naturally flows into sleep, as the ability to rest deeply is often impacted by what—and when—you eat. Struggling to digest late meals, especially heavy or irritating ones, can elevate stress hormones, increase core temperature, and interfere with your ability to fall or stay asleep. Things like room temperature, lighting, screen exposure, and caffeine or substance use throughout the day will also affect sleep quality. Other influences include stress, exercise timing, hormonal fluctuations, and sleep consistency. Optimizing rest and recovery involves:

• Maintaining a consistent sleep schedule

• Watching sunrises and sunsets to reset circadian rhythm

• Creating a comfortable sleep environment (dark, quiet, and cool room)

• Limiting screen time before bed to reduce blue light exposure

• Avoiding caffeine and heavy meals late in the day

• Engaging in relaxation techniques (meditation, reading, or deep breathing)

Supplements

Over the years, I’ve experimented with everything from conventional gym supplements and pre-workouts to more health-oriented vitamins, minerals, and plant-based compounds. These days, I prefer to keep things simple. What I take largely depends on how well I’m managing the fundamentals—because supplements should support, not replace, a solid foundation of training, nutrition, sleep, and recovery.

Current stack and recommendations for general health:

Whey Protein Isolate: Recommended dose

Creatine Monohydrate: 5g

Magnesium glycinate/citrate: 300mg/200mg

Vitamin D3: 3000-5000iu

Vitamin K2 MK7: 180mcg

Zinc: 15-30mg

Boron: 3-6mg

Beef Liver (when lacking liver in the diet): Recommended dose

Conclusion

Focus on the macro before the micro. Build consistency in sleep, nutrition, and training before adding extras like supplements, saunas, breathwork, or cold plunges. These tools can enhance your well-being, but they’ll never replace the foundational habits that set your body and mind into a natural rhythm.

This doesn’t mean rigidity—variety in food and movement is both healthy and encouraged. The key is to reduce stress, not create it. Novelty supports brain health and growth, but when it’s grounded in routine, you get the best of both worlds: adaptability without chaos.

Finally, to truly improve health, seek work that supports you rather than drains you. Build community with family and friends, move often, eat well, spend time outdoors, and stay curious. Read, connect, and keep learning skills that strengthen your life from the inside out.

Progressive structure: Beginner to Beast

0–3 Months — Foundation of Movement & Endurance

• 2 strength sessions/week (mostly machines, focus on form + mind–muscle connection).

• Daily steps: 8–10k.

• Mobility drills and light flows added to warm-ups.

• Goal: Build consistency, improve posture, increase basic endurance.

3–6 Months — Add Functional Capacity

• Continue machine strength training.

• Add 1 weekly functional HIIT session (simple carries, sleds, or bodyweight).

• Begin IIFYM nutrition.

• Goal: Blend strength and endurance, while improving recovery ability.

6–9 Months — Mobility + Iso-Lateral Strength

• Transition to include iso-lateral machines & cables.

• Flows and rotational mobility become part of warm-ups/cooldowns.

• Goal: Improve movement quality, stability, and joint strength.

9–12 Months — Aerobic Conditioning + Nutrition Upgrade

• Add 1 longer conditioning session/week (run, swim, cycle).

• Nutrition evolves → IIFYM&M (macros + micros).

• Add supplements if needed.

• Goal: Strong aerobic base + nutrient optimization.

12–15 Months — Strength Foundation (Barbell Work)

• Introduce barbell lifts: squat variations, bench press, overhead press, trap bar deadlift, Zercher squat.

• Still maintain conditioning + mobility.

• Goal: Build foundational strength and technical skill.

15–18 Months — Unilateral & Strength Expansion

• Add dumbbell variations: chest press, single-arm rows, shoulder press, split squats.

• Maintain endurance/mobility.

• Goal: Address imbalances, build resilience.

18–24 Months — Begin Power Development

• Add explosive movements: Heavy deadlifts/squats/bench, Olympic lift derivatives (cleans, push press), agility work

• Continue strength + conditioning.

• Goal: Convert strength into usable power.

24–30 Months — Integrated Performance

• Mix strength, power, endurance, and mobility weekly.

• Add extra physical activities (sport, martial arts, climbing, dance).

• Refine balance → health, recovery, lifestyle.

• Goal: Become “Always Ready” — resilient, adaptable, and capable in all physical domains.

30-36 Months — Extra Volume

• Add an extra physical activity (sport, martial arts, climbing, dance).

• Focus on holding quality under more volume instead of chasing novelty.

• Goal: Build resilience under higher workload, keeping the “Always Ready” base solid.

Monday	Flow/steps	Strength
Tuesday	Flow	Strength	Jiu-Jitsu*
Wednesday	Flow/Hike	Functional HIIT
Thursday	Flow/steps	Strength
Friday	Flow/steps	Strength	Striking*
Saturday	Flow	Functional HIIT	Swim
Sunday	Flow	Jog	Climbing/Bouldering*	Dancing*