All protocols

Log sleep quality, workout intensity, travel, interactions, and other life events daily in a calendar, then when you get sick look back at the days before symptom onset and recovery to identify patterns that may have contributed.

When actively trying to avoid getting a cold or flu, think twice before hugging someone or kissing them on the cheek.

After shaking someone's hand, sanitize your hands to reduce the chance of transferring viruses to your face.

Do not remain in a calorie deficit for many days, especially during winter, because dieting and under-eating can compromise innate immune function.

Short bouts of stress can enhance immune function provided they do not impair sleep; cortisol is beneficial when elevated early in the day rather than late in the day or evening.

Capsule form can be used to support the gut microbiome.

Upon waking, before brushing teeth, take a sip of clean water, swish it around in your mouth, and swallow it to potentially support the oral and gut microbiome.

If you feel unusual whole-body heaviness, fatigue, or a throat tickle, go home and rest rather than pushing activity; get into bed early, and even if you cannot fall asleep, remain as still and relaxed as possible.

Long-duration endurance efforts like marathon training can severely compromise innate immune function and increase vulnerability to colds and flus.

After warming up, keep most workouts to about 50 to 60 minutes, be very careful about exceeding 75 minutes in a single bout, avoid stacking two hard workouts in one day if you are prone to getting sick, and take one full rest day from exercise each week.

If you trained fasted and especially if the session exceeded 60 to 75 minutes, ingest complex carbohydrates and perhaps fruit within about 45 minutes to 1 hour after exercise.

Use sauna regularly to help keep colds and flus at bay: examples given include 3 rounds of 15 minutes with 2-minute cool-off periods between rounds, or a single 20- to 30-minute session. During breaks, you can take a cool or cool-ish shower or simply stand outside the sauna. Avoid sauna when already feeling really run down, heavy in the body, or starting to get sniffles.

He does not recommend it strongly; evidence suggests little to no benefit. If used anyway, reserve it for when feeling run down or for the highest-risk winter month, not continuously and not for more than 4 weeks.

Included as a simple supportive option one might use when dealing with a cold or flu.

He includes having a good meal among the simple supportive measures one might use when sick.

Mentioned as a simple supportive option people may choose to use when dealing with a cold or flu.

Avoid long fasting windows such as holding the fast until noon or doing very low-calorie restriction days; described as detrimental for active women unless there is PCOS or another metabolic issue.

Women should not train in a fasted state because it increases cortisol and sympathetic drive and reduces ability to hit needed intensities; especially avoid fasted high-intensity or resistance training in perimenopause and beyond.

Have a small amount of food after waking to bring blood sugar up and signal to the hypothalamus that nutrition is available, especially for women. If training within about 30 minutes of waking and appetite is low, this can be a liquid option such as a double espresso prepared with sweetened almond milk for carbohydrate plus a scoop of protein powder.

Use RIR/RPE to guide lifting; an 8 RPE corresponds to about 2 reps in reserve.

For older/perimenopausal women, emphasize heavy lifting with about 2 reps in reserve rather than high-rep fatigue work. The key when older is working heavy, not making 20-rep fatigue sets the main strategy.

Before a true strength training session, consume around 15 grams of high-quality protein. If someone prefers not to eat much before training or would otherwise train fasted, at least ingest some protein, potentially as a shake. If caffeine before workouts causes dizziness, nausea, or hypoglycemia, pair it with food.

Before cardiovascular work lasting up to about an hour, add about 30 grams of carbohydrate.

If eating a fuller pre-training meal, allow roughly half an hour before training.

Do not stay in a prolonged post-exercise catabolic state; delaying food after training is described as harmful for lean mass in women.

Consume high-quality, leucine-rich protein within 45 minutes after training. For women in reproductive years, aim for about 35 grams. For perimenopausal women and beyond, aim for 40 to 60 grams due to greater anabolic resistance.

For women, aim for about 0.3 grams per kilogram of carbohydrate within 2 hours of finishing training. If needed, carbohydrate can be added to yogurt after training.

General recommendation is at least 2 to 3 sessions per week, with 3 to 4 times per week preferred for many younger women. In women in their 40s+, aim for a minimum of 3 sessions emphasizing compound movements.

If younger women are training to failure, sessions may need to be about 45 to 60 minutes.

In the 30s, periodize training into roughly six-week blocks and build on them.