The Human Upgrade: Biohacking for Longevity & Performance
--% time saved
PodcastThe Human Upgrade: Biohacking for Longevity & Performance
Publisher/creatorDave Asprey
Shortcast updated
About this episode
Your jaw influences far more than your face. This episode shows you how jaw strength shapes cognition, posture, airway health, sleep, metabolism, and overall human performance. You will learn how targeted jaw training increases cranial blood flow, improves neuromuscular coordination, strengthens airway stability, and stimulates facial muscles that modern diets no longer challenge. Watch this episode on YouTube for the full video experience: https://www.youtube.com/@DaveAspreyBPR Host Dave Asprey talks with Brandon Harris, founder and CEO of Jawzrsize. Brandon developed the device after multiple severe injuries, including a shattered jaw, months of immobilization, and a 13 day coma. His recovery forced him to rebuild his jaw strength from zero and revealed how deeply the jaw affects posture, oral health, proprioception, and cognitive function. Brandon’s experience as a mixed martial artist and his early training of the masseter muscle guided the creation of a safe, medical grade jaw resistance system that now has small clinical data supporting improvements in strength, facial tone, Bruxism relief, and TMJ balance. You will hear how jaw alignment influences the nervous system, why weak jaws contribute to sleep apnea, how saliva flow ties oral health to gut health, and why resistance training for the jaw produces structural benefits the modern soft diet fails to provide. Host Dave Asprey explains how full range jaw training supports cranial stimulation, nitric oxide signaling, fascia activation, posture correction, and neuromuscular coordination throughout the body. This episode also explores how jaw mechanics connect to biohacking principles like brain optimization, sleep optimization, longevity, neuroplasticity, metabolic signaling, and strength based anti aging. This is essential listening for anyone focused on biohacking, human performance, posture mechanics, airway stability, TMJ function, oral microbiome health, anti aging, supplements that support structural function, nervous system training, and practical tools that create fast visible results. You’ll Learn: • Why jaw strength acts as a foundational marker for performance and longevity • How jaw alignment shapes posture, proprioception, and neuromuscular firing • Why weak jaws contribute to sleep apnea, snoring, and airway collapse • How jaw training improves Bruxism, clenching, and TMJ tension • What increased cranial blood flow does for cognition and focus • How saliva production supports oral and gut health • Why modern diets shrink facial structure and weaken masseter strength • How jaw resistance training improves facial tone and reduces wrinkle depth • Why athletes use jaw activation to sharpen hand eye coordination • How range of motion training strengthens bone through piezoelectric signaling • Why even five minutes a day creates noticeable results in facial tone and alignment Thank you to our sponsors! -HeartMath | Go to https://www.heartmath.com/dave to save 15% off. -fatty15 | Go to https://fatty15.com/dave and save an extra $15 when you subscribe with code DAVE. -Quantum Upgrade | Go to https://quantumupgrade.io/Dave for a free trial. Dave Asprey is a four-time New York Times bestselling author, founder of Bulletproof Coffee , and the father of biohacking . With over 1,000 interviews and 1 million monthly listeners, The Human Upgrade brings you the knowledge to take control of your biology, extend your longevity, and optimize every system in your body and mind. Each episode delivers cutting-edge insights in health, performance, neuroscience, supplements, nutrition, biohacking, emotional intelligence, and conscious living. New episodes are released every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday (BONUS) . Dave asks the questions no one else will and gives you real tools to become stronger, smarter, and more resilient. Keywords: jaw strength training, TMJ alignment exercise, cranial blood flow stimulation, facial muscle resistance training, bruxism clenching relief, sleep apnea jaw support, oral microbiome improvement, saliva flow activation, jaw posture neuromuscular signaling, masseter hypertrophy training, facial tone anti aging, proprioception jaw connection, airway stability strengthening, hunters gatherers chewing mechanics, tongue plate neck activation, molar alignment biomechanics, jaw range of motion training, piezoelectric bone stimulation, oral health gut health pathway, forward jaw positioning airflow Resources: • Go to https://jawzrsize.com/ ‘Dave15’ for 15% off! • Dave's Biohacking Holiday Gift Guide | Go to https://daveasprey.com/giftguide/ to explore the full guide. • Dave Asprey's Latest News | Go to https://daveasprey.com/ to join Inside Track today. • Danger Coffee: https://dangercoffee.com/discount/dave15 • My Daily Supplements: SuppGrade Labs (15% Off) • Favorite Blue Light Blocking Glasses: TrueDark (15% Off) • Dave Asprey’s BEYOND Conference: https://beyondconference.com • Dave Asprey’s New Book – Heavily Meditated : https://daveasprey.com/heavily-meditated • Upgrade Collective: https://www.ourupgradecollective.com • Upgrade Labs: https://upgradelabs.com • 40 Years of Zen: https://40yearsofzen.com Timestamps: 0:00 - Trailer 1:20 - Intro 2:20 - Brandon’s Accident and Recovery 5:00 - Jawzrsize Origin Story 6:16 - The Science of Jaw Strength 17:56 - Clinical Results and User Experience 22:48 - Jaw Health, Posture and Systemic Effects 27:54 - Microplastics 35:59 - Athletic Performance and Neuromuscular Strength 52:57 - Final Thoughts See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Loading episode data...
Episode summary
Monks can look slight yet display incredible power because their nervous system is dialed in, and your jaw plugs right into that system. Welcome to The Human Upgrade with Dave Asprey, where we dig into how training the jaw can align your bite, sharpen neuromuscular signaling, and even lift cognition, posture, blood flow, and nitric oxide.
You were in a coma and shattered your jaw—set the scene for us.
I crashed without a helmet, face‑planted, and wrecked my jaw and skull; recovery took years, and I kept working on cognition with meditation and yoga.
I’ve been there—took a hard hit at high speed and dealt with brain bleed and memory issues; when your jaw is wired shut, you lose the signal that tells the body where it is in space, so posture and pelvic balance go off—how did you rebuild?
After four months wired shut, my bite lost range, my masseter atrophied, and I felt like my primal drive vanished; as a former MMA fighter, I’d trained my bite before, but gum is weak stimulus and full of junk, so I built a safe, US‑made silicone device that loads the TMJ area and actually trains it.
Your device felt different from the cheap plastic stuff, and jaw strength may be even more fundamental for aging than grip—what changed beyond looks?
Hand‑eye coordination sharpened, blood flow improved, and facial alignment felt cleaner; modern soft diets mean we barely chew, which shrinks stimulus to bone and connective tissues, so this mimics the rough chewing our ancestors did and restores saliva flow that supports oral and gut health.
I learned the hard way that jaw position drives longevity, cognition, and movement—palate expansion changed my life; does your tool help with TMJ?
Think of it as TMJ exercise—motion aligns and then releases; in a small 2020 study of about thirty people, roughly nine in ten felt immediate relief from clenching and grinding, and while we don’t make medical claims, training beats going soft or freezing the muscle for many folks.
Alignment near the trigeminal nerve also calms the vagus pathway, so moving the lower jaw forward lit up my parasympathetic side; training strength at end range matters, and this loads the jaw both open and closed in a way you actually feel.
We started with a boil‑and‑bite for athletes, but the universal soft‑fit strips make daily use simple for anyone.
It may look goofy, but results trump vanity.
We tested zones—molar, canine, and incisor—to balance both sides, and once I added molar work, my resting jaw sat forward; I went from mouth tape at night to none, and now my mouth stays closed even sitting up, which helps nose breathing.
What did your clinical work show?
Imaging picked up a subtle facial lift in thirty days, jaw strength rose about four times from a basic routine, and wrinkles smoothed measurably.
About a third fewer wrinkles is what I saw reported—do faces actually look different fast?
Yes—like a gym pump for your face, changes can show within days, and a week of photos usually convinces skeptics.
How much time per day?
Five to ten minutes daily works, in one block or split into sets, depending on how strong your masseter is.
I also had a tongue‑tie release—does your tool train the tongue?
The tongue plate cues you to press with the tongue and lights up the deep neck and tongue muscles, which tightens the under‑chin area through active resistance.
Training one focal muscle can drive bodywide effects, so jaw work could help bedridden patients or older adults with blood flow, nitric oxide, posture, and even cognition; bite alignment also changes spinal mechanics, and healthier saliva kick‑starts digestion.
Saliva is underrated—think of drool as nature’s mouthwash—and if it pools, tilt back and swallow.
Okay, what matters more, triceps or jaw?
Start with the jaw—strength radiates from it, and you can’t hide your face; balanced chewing, circulation, fascia work, and boosted saliva support a more symmetrical, confident look and a healthier gut‑to‑brain pathway.
Anthropology backs it up: soft foods and grains narrowed palates, crowded teeth, and shrank airways, so kids and adults both benefit from real chewing and targeted facial exercise.
Even legends like Tyson used tough chew—leather in his case—to build bite strength.
If you’re busy, do it in the sauna or between sets; people reported feeling more attractive, and biting in alignment during heavy lifts cleans up nerve signaling so muscles fire in sync.
We’ll keep publishing data, but it’s simple, money‑back, and works from the inside out—train the jaw, restore circulation and cranial activation, and the whole system benefits.
Bulletproof Radio’s Human Upgrade is informational only. It isn’t medical advice; talk to your clinician, read labels, and use products as directed. Guests speak for themselves, ads may appear, and the show doesn’t guarantee guest credentials.
Ready to save time?
Download Shortcast and get started today