Bryan Johnson Reviews Browney's Full-Body Health Testing Video
Bryan Johnson
Bryan Johnson reviews a video by Browney, a health and wellness creator with over 10 million YouTube subscribers and a friend of Johnson's, in which Browney spends a week putting his body through a battery of measurements. Browney says making the video turned out to be one of the hardest weeks of his life, and Johnson jokes that someone finally understands what he goes through every day. Browney's question is simple: he doesn't smoke or drink, eats healthy, and exercises daily, but is he really as healthy as he thinks? Johnson comments on each test in turn. He praises the video as an accessible introduction to self-measurement, and he flags where he would choose a different method or where he thinks Browney took unnecessary risks.
Height and Body Scanning
The first test is a laser height measurement, which puts Browney at 178. His reaction suggests he believed he was taller. Johnson sees this as an example of a broader problem: many people overestimate their height, and people generally struggle to report their own biomarkers accurately.
Next comes a 3D body scan, in which many small cameras build a model of the body and capture measurements such as arm and waist circumference. Johnson says knowing your body measurements is useful, but he treats the scan as mostly a brand promotion. For body composition he would use the gold standard, a DEXA scan, and later in the video Browney does get one.
Johnson recommends DEXA for everybody, calling it low cost and high in information. He puts particular weight on bone mineral density, which he describes as one of the more important parts of health, and says people often have no idea what their baseline is or what to do about it. When Browney's DEXA results show muscle differences between his legs, Johnson points to this as another reason the scan is worthwhile. Knowing your muscle symmetry and asymmetry matters, he says, because asymmetries can cause problems in gait and posture.
Skin Cancer Screening and Sun Damage
A clinic scans Browney's skin with a chamber that takes 2,000 photos in 2D and 3D to map moles and markings. It also uses thermal cameras to look for signs of inflammation and to compare the two sides of the body. On Browney's back, each mole is marked with a blue square, and the clinic counts 557 moles and freckles in total.
Johnson calls this a really good data point. He says he doesn't have that data for himself and would like to. More broadly, skin is the first thing he looks at when meeting someone. He describes it as "an accounting of your life": poor food and poor sleep both show up there, and you can't hide them. Johnson says he learned from VISIA, which uses multispectral imaging, that his own skin was badly damaged. He attributes this to spending his school years competing to see how tan he could get. His advice is to protect your skin with sunscreen, or to get sun exposure in the early morning or late evening, which is his own preference.
When the clinician asks about sunscreen, Browney says he uses it as often as possible, but that he does get burned during long outdoor shoots. Johnson tells him to "up your game" on skincare. He acknowledges that going shirtless is part of the game for a muscular YouTuber, but says it isn't worth risking cancer, and he tells viewers in the same situation not to get burned.
Blood Draw and Hearing the Heart
Johnson calls himself a phlebotomist nerd and uses the blood draw to share his own approach. He sets expectations with the person drawing blood up front: they get one stick. If they hit the vein, great; if they miss, they're out. He says this prevents a painful "fishing expedition" and can reduce the anxiety many people feel about needles, because you know the draw will be minimally painful. He adds that Browney has great veins and is an easy stick.
At one station, Browney hears his own heartbeat played around him. He says he has probably heard it before, but not like this. Johnson likes the design choice. Most people have never heard their heartbeat, he says, and an experience like this gives them an "emotional bridge to health" that traditional medical practice, which he describes as very cold, usually lacks.
Heart Age and Biological Age
The video then presents a heart age result. Johnson values this mainly because it teaches people that biological age exists: a 25-year-old might have the heart of a 20-year-old or a 30-year-old. He assumes the clinic is using a simplified version of heart age. He says that is fine for building intuition, but notes that biological age can be measured in far more depth for any organ, using dozens of measurements.
Sweat Testing and Electrolytes
For the sweat test, pads on Browney's forearm pass a current to induce sweating, and a tiny tube collects the sweat. An analyzer then reports how much sodium he loses. Browney says he is curious whether he loses a lot of salt.
Johnson says he recently did sweat testing himself. He had started a sauna protocol at 200°F (93°C) and, like Browney, was having fairly severe cramps at night. He attributes the cramps to not rehydrating with the right balance of electrolytes. Even so, he wouldn't use the clinic's method. He calls it a lot of work and would instead wear a Gatorade sweat patch while exercising or sitting in the sauna. In his view, the patch is simpler and gives better, more accurate results.
Sleep
The testers also discuss sleep, particularly whether crossing time zones disrupts it. Browney mentions that friends like fitness YouTuber Will Tennyson tell him he needs more sleep. Johnson objects playfully: his number one source for sleep data should be Johnson, who calls himself the best sleeper in the world.
Eye Pressure
Browney has his eye pressure measured for the first time, a test he says he never expected to do. Johnson approves of getting a baseline. He says he has had extensive eye testing himself, around a dozen different measurements, because of his internal jugular vein stenosis. He describes this as a genetic condition in which the veins carrying blood to and from his brain are narrow, and his eyes were assessed for possible damage from it.
Grip Strength and the Mid-Thigh Pull
Grip strength is measured with a handheld device while Browney squeezes as hard as he can with his arm at his side. Johnson has a similar device at home and uses it at his "Don't Die dinners," where guests get very competitive. Browney's left hand scores slightly higher than his right, despite his being right-handed, but the difference is only 2.4%. The tester calls his result one of the highest she has seen. Johnson praises the symmetry and adds that grip strength is one of the best longevity markers for predicting all-cause mortality. He calls it a good marker for gauging where you stand for your age.
The second strength test is an isometric mid-thigh pull, which the tester describes as a deadlift that doesn't move. It measures how much force the lower body can produce. Browney goes straight to maximum effort without warming up, and here Johnson becomes openly critical. He is worried Browney could be injured and says that going from cold to maximum exertion carries far too much injury risk. Johnson says the testers should not ask people to go all-out from cold, and that an older person doing the same thing would almost certainly be injured. He distinguishes between injuries that happen while playing a sport, which he understands, and preventable ones from what he calls doing "something stupid."
Browney's results were strong. The video reports a maximum of 2955 with only 2% asymmetry, and an isometric mid-thigh figure of 2971, with no units given. Johnson calls the whole setup "built for gamification" and very fun.
Johnson ties his injury warning back to the DEXA results. Browney's legs differ by about a kilogram, and Browney suggests this could come from an earlier injury to his left ankle. For Johnson, this shows why preventable injuries are not worth it: everyone will get injured at some point in life, but you shouldn't get hurt doing something avoidable.
Altitude and Lactate Threshold Testing
Browney does two 12-minute ramp tests, one at sea level and one in a chamber simulating 2,700 meters, to compare how his body performs at altitude. Johnson says he is about to start an altitude protocol himself. He has reviewed the evidence and finds the potential benefits interesting.
The testing also identifies Browney's lactate thresholds. His LT1, or aerobic limit, is around a heart rate of 150, and his LT2, or anaerobic limit, is around 170. Browney explains that the best place to train is just below the point where lactate climbs too high: hard enough to improve, but not so hard that he burns out. Johnson calls this data incredibly valuable for knowing your thresholds and establishing a baseline. He adds that the test is sophisticated, hard to access, and potentially expensive, but that it really helps performance if you can get it.
VO2 Max
The final test is a VO2 max ramp to failure. The video explains that the general population typically scores around 30 to 40, average professional athletes score higher, and players like Cristiano Ronaldo are at the top of the scale. The tester describes VO2 max as the size of the engine: how fit you are and how much oxygen your muscles can use.
Johnson calls the test brutal, because you push yourself to the point of collapse. He notes that Browney had already done the lactate testing and what Johnson calls "the IHT stuff" that day, and was tired. Ideally, Johnson says, you should start the test fresh. He also questions the equipment. He isn't sure what device the clinic is using, while his own testing uses a clinical-grade system, which he describes as a big box with pipes, so he wonders how accurate theirs is. He also compliments the tester's encouragement during the final push.
Browney's heart rate reaches 200, and he calls the test the worst thing he has ever done. Johnson cites the "220 minus your age" rule for estimating maximum heart rate. He says it puts the maximum around 195 for someone who is 25 and that it declines a little each year, and he calls Browney's roughly 190-plus beats per minute impressive "raw horsepower." The tester puts Browney's VO2 max at around 54 or 55, which Johnson notes is the same as his own. Johnson calls VO2 max one of the strongest predictors of longevity, with large predictive power for all-cause mortality. He says it can be meaningfully improved with high-intensity interval training and Zone 2 training, and he recommends that anyone who doesn't know their VO2 max get it measured as a baseline.
Verdict
Browney ends his video by saying his lifestyle is working and that he is very happy with his results. Johnson gives the video a 10 out of 10. He calls it a good entry point for people to learn that they can measure things about their bodies and use those measurements to make decisions about health and wellness, and he says Browney's scores look great. He closes with some friendly complaints: Browney visited Johnson's house in February to film a video that hasn't been released, and Browney didn't include Johnson in this one.
Poo poo poo poo poo poo poo, relax.
That was the biggest zero to 100. No warm up.
I'm really worried he's going to be injured. I think this is not a good situation.
For long shoots like this, if this would be outside, I do get burned.
Okay, Browney, we need to up your game on the skincare.
That is so painful. You guys, I hope you feel them. It is excruciating.
Hey friends, this is Bryan Johnson. Today I'm going to review Browney's video on how he measured everything about his body. If you don't know who Browney is, he's a creator with over 10 million subscribers on YouTube with a focus on health and wellness. He's also a friend and in his own words, he said making the video we're about to watch turned out to be one of the hardest weeks of his life. I'm really happy someone finally understands what I go through every single day. Let's see what he's done to measure his body.
I will find out by testing how old my heart is, measure my exact body fat percentage, see how strong I am, how my body responds to heat and heights, and even test on cancer.
I think I'm pretty healthy. I don't smoke, I don't drink, I eat healthy, and I exercise every single day.
But am I really as healthy as I think? In the first test, I will find out my real height measured by a laser.
The measurement starts now. Your height is 178.
What? Is that not your height? No. I think it is.
Okay. A lot of people overestimate their height. I think Browney is doing the same thing. I understand that this is true where people subjectively report out their biomarkers. We really struggle in saying I don't know. Let's see.
This is Alicia and she will make a 3D scan of us with some really nice looking faces.
Lots of little cameras in here is what's going to pick that up and make that model of you. When it says scan done, you can come out there.
This scan just measured everything on my body. Literally everything. And I now know what circumference my arm is or my waist.
Okay. They did a 3D body scan to promote this brand. That's cool. Like, it is useful to know your body measurements. You really want to have a gold standard DEXA scan for this. So, I think that would probably be the move I'd make on this.
Some people even say the only way to accurately measure your body fat, muscle mass, and bones. Do a DEXA scan. DEXA scan. The gold standard for body composition. Very accurate.
Wait a second. First of all, Browney, why did you not cut me in this, man? Where am I at? DEXA scan is a test that I would recommend for everybody. It's low cost and it's high information. Understanding where your bone mineral density is is one of the more important parts of your health that people oftentimes have no idea what their baseline is or what even to do about it.
Here they will use this chamber to see if I have skin cancer.
We have our body scanner. This will take 2,000 photos in both 2D and 3D to map out any moles or markings on the body. We also have integrated thermal cameras to look for any signs of inflammation and compare both sides of the body.
Skin health is really important. In fact, it is the first thing I look at when I meet someone. It really is like an accounting of your life. When you eat bad foods, it shows up in your skin. When you don't sleep well, it shows up in your skin. You can't hide it. I learned through using Vizia, which uses multi-spectral imaging, that my skin was actually really damaged. I was in the sun nonstop, baking in the sun. It was like, how tan can you get was the competition during school. So my skin has received a lot of sun damage. If you're going to be in the sun, be mindful to either protect yourselves, wear sunscreen, or be out in the sun in the morning, late at night, which is my preference where I still get the sun exposure.
The most important thing with the skin is protecting it from the ultraviolet rays in the sun. I'm curious about whether you use sun cream.
I do as often as possible, though for long shoots like this, if this would be outside, I do get burned.
Okay, Browney, we need to up your game on the skincare. You're outside doing shoots, you're getting burned. That's not good. I get it. YouTuber, shirts off. He's muscular. That's like part of the game. Also, don't pay the price. Not worth getting cancer. So, you guys, if you're in the same situation, don't get burned. It's not worth it.
Our skin scanner takes 2,000 high resolution photos of your body. And I'm going to show you that process in action. We're going to have a little look at your back.
Wow.
So, this is you. Each of these blue squares represents one of the moles that we found on your back. So, we've counted the number of moles and freckles you have and you have 557.
That's a really good data point. I wish I had that data. I don't have that data, but really cool. So, technology is amazing. The fact that we can get quantified data on these kinds of situations. Really cool.
We will do next is your blood test.
So, good job on the blood draw. I am a phlebotomist nerd. So, when I get my blood drawn, I'm really mindful of who the person is. You want to set the expectations initially. One stick they go. If they hit it, great. If they miss it, out. It's very unpleasant to get your veins stuck. A lot of people feel a lot of anxiety. So, by doing this, you can potentially reduce your anxiety by setting expectations that it's going to be minimally painful because you prevent that fishing expedition if they miss.
Good vein. Yes. Okay.
Browney also has great veins. It's an easy stick. I could do that one.
That's your heart. Have you heard it before? I probably have at some point, but not like this. It's all around me.
The thing I like about what they're doing is internalizing what is happening inside their body. Most people have never heard their heartbeat. So, I like that they're educating people and giving them an emotional bridge to health, which otherwise it's just very cold in traditional medical practice. So, cool job on the design.
Great. Let's have a look. There you are. No.
This is cool because you're informing people that there's such a thing as biological age. A person can be 25 and have a heart of a 20-year-old or a 30-year-old. I'm assuming here they're doing some simplified version of heart age, which is fine. Again, it builds intuition, but you really can go very deep in getting the biological age of any organ, including dozens of measurements.
Have you done a sweat test before? Never. It's really interesting. We're going to put some pads on you, but they attach quite tightly, and it's going to induce sweat on your forearm. Beautiful. Turn that on. Current is passing through the wires. I won't feel anything? It might sting a tiny bit. I am actually super interested to see if I lose a lot of salt or not.
Okay. So, cool that they're actually doing sweat measurement. I just did this myself. I did this because I began the sauna protocol at 200° Fahrenheit, 93 C, and I was trying to figure out how to improve my electrolyte balance because I, like Browney, was having pretty severe cramps during the night. And that is because I wasn't getting a proper rehydration with a proper balance of electrolytes. Also, I think there's something going on between Browney and the nurse here. Let's see how it goes.
When I take them off, you'll have a little ring of sweat on your forearm. And then this has got a tiny tube which is going to collect your sweat in that tube. So, all that blue is your sweat in there. What? Oh, there's a tube in there. Of course. Now, this just goes in our analyzer. And I'm just going to push it through and then your number will come up and that will be how much sodium comes out your sweat.
On this way to measure your own test, I wouldn't do that. It's a lot of work. I would just get a Gatorade patch, put it on, exercise or go in the sauna. It gets you better and more accurate results. So, I think a simpler way to do it.
Sleep, and particularly whether your sleep gets disrupted if you're crossing time zones or things like that.
I do always hear also from friends like Will Tennyson that I need to sleep more often. Thank you, Will.
Come on, bro. Who's your number one source for sleep data? It's not Will Tennyson, it's me. I'm the best sleeper in the entire world. We talked about this. Where's the love, man?
Eye pressure is something I have never tested before and also never thought I would test.
Look straight ahead. Eyes nice and wide open. I'll place my hand on your shoulder just for some stability and then you'll feel a light bar into the eye.
Yeah, eye pressure is really good. I did a bunch of eye measurements, very extensive, primarily because of my internal jugular vein stenosis where I have these genetically narrow veins that carry blood to and from my brain. So, we were assessing my eyes for potential damage of this condition. So, we did maybe a dozen different measurements, but just knowing your baseline pressure, good idea.
Very different than any grip strength I've ever done before.
This is how you're going to be measuring grip strength, just by your side. Squeeze as hard as you can. We're going to measure on the iPad to see how much you can do. Good. Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze. Relax.
That's a pretty cool device. I have one here at the house. Does not make any noises. This is a fun game. I know. I bring people over here. We do these Don't Die dinners. And when people get that in hand and it's just like all out warfare of who can get the best. So, people get really competitive on this game. It's fun.
Your left actually was a little bit more than your right for your grip squeeze. I am right-handed. I mean, it's not like a huge difference. It's only 2.4% difference.
That's really good that he has that symmetry between right and left hands.
To be fair, that is like really good. One of the highest I've seen, to be fair. Oh, okay. That's good.
She definitely has a crush on him.
Second strength exercise is a mid thigh pull or just a very painful deadlift. It's essentially a deadlift that doesn't move. We're measuring the amount of strength that your lower half can produce. Good. Pull, pull, pull, pull, pull, pull, pull, pull, pull, pull, pull, pull, pull. Relax.
That was the biggest zero to 100. No warm up.
You guys, you want to be really careful on this. Browney did this without warming up. You really can injure yourself in doing this. So, never go from cold to max effort. It just creates way too much injury risk. If you're going to injure yourself playing a sport, I get it. But don't do something stupid like going from cold to all-out exertion. It's just not worth it.
Poo poo poo poo poo poo poo. Relax.
His face is like
I'm really worried he's going to be injured. Like this is not a good situation. And like these people should definitely not ask them to do full exertion from cold. Like that's just not a good situation. So if someone who's older came through and they're doing that, they're definitely going to be injured.
Your maximum was 2955. You've got only a 2% asymmetry, which is really good. Your isometric mid thigh was 2971, which is really, really good. Wow.
This is just built for gamification, right? Like that is so fun. How strong are you? What is your grip strength? The grip strength, I should mention, is actually one of the best longevity markers predicting all cause mortality. A really good marker for someone to be aware of as you're evaluating where you're at in your particular age and your risk of all cause mortality.
The scans are done and all the information of our bodies is right here. And because a DEXA scan scans everything, you can even see the muscle imbalances you have between all three legs, for example.
Yeah, this is why DEXA is so good, is it gives you your symmetry asymmetry on your muscles around your body, which can really inform because if you've got asymmetries, it can create problems in your gait posture. So this is why DEXA really is worth it. Low cost, high information value.
Yours is about a kilogram difference. What? You as well? Yeah. Why? Might be my ankle injury on my left.
This is injury, right? So he just said that he got injured and that created the asymmetry. This is why it is not worth getting injured on stupid stuff. Now we're all going to be injured in life. It happens. But just don't do it on something that is really preventable.
What I want to look at is the direct impact that altitude has on you as an athlete. I will do two 12-minute ramp tests. The first one's going to be at sea level and the second one's going to be at 2,700 m in our chamber. So, we can compare how my body reacts to high altitude.
That's cool. This is different training in different altitudes. Very cool. Great technology. I'm actually getting ready to begin the protocol myself. So, I've been very curious. We've reviewed the evidence. It's really interesting for potential benefits. And doing a performance test in here. That's cool.
When my lactate levels are too high, my body starts to struggle. Just under that stage is the best way to train. It's the sweet spot. Hard enough to improve, but not too hard to burn out.
Here for you, your LT1 or your aerobic limit is around 150 heart rate. Your LT2, so your anaerobic limit, is up and around 170.
This data is incredibly valuable. Like knowing where your thresholds are, what your abilities are, baselining yourself. This is a really cool test. You know, it's a hard one to get. It's sophisticated. It could cost a lot of money, but if you can get it, it really does help on your performance.
That's nine, the hardest so far. We'll hopefully prove this or it will prove us wrong.
We'll get the VO2 Master on you and we're going to do a ramp test till failure. So, no Mr. Nice Guy anymore. None of this easy hard.
VO2 max is one of the hardest tests professional athletes have to train for. Cristiano Ronaldo, for example, is at the top of the scale. An average professional athlete a little bit lower. And the general population scores around 30 to 40.
VO2 max is brutal. It is so uncomfortable because you're taking yourself to absolute collapse. So, and Browney's already had a big day. He's already done the lactate. He's also done the IHT stuff. So, this is a lot. He's pretty tired. And you want to have a fresh energetic state as your starting point. But cool that he's doing it.
The way to think of VO2 max is the size of the engine. That tells us just how fit you are and kind of how much oxygen your muscles can use.
Yeah. Actually, this device, I'm not sure what the device is they're using, but we use a clinical grade system, which is like a big box and these pipes. So, I'm curious what they're using and the accuracy of the system.
It's just 10 seconds, then we're building. Looking so good. We've got it in you. Let's go. Really nice, Arian.
She's a pretty good motivator, right? Like, if you're doing your test, you want her by your side.
20 seconds to go. 20 seconds to go. 20. You got this. Jumping off. Jumping off. Let's go. Come on. Let's go. Let's go. You got this. Fight for it. Nice work. Really nice work. Really nice.
That is so painful, you guys. I hope you feel them. It is excruciating.
Your heart rate goes unbelievably high. You hit 200 there.
That's amazing. So, for your heart rate, what you should do is take 220 minus your age. So, they're 25 years old. Their max heart rate should be around 195. As you age, every year it goes down a bit. So, that's a great heart rate. That is like incredible to have 190 beats per minute as like raw horsepower. So that's cool.
You, how we feeling? That was the worst thing I've ever done. That's somewhere around kind of 54 or 55, which isn't too bad at all.
So, Browney got a 55 VO2 max, which is the same as mine. VO2 max is one of the strongest predictors of longevity. You can do high-intensity interval training and Zone 2 training and meaningfully improve your VO2 max. If you don't know your VO2 max, I would suggest you do get it. It's a really good baseline marker of where you're at, but it really has
this gigantic predictive ability in your all-cause mortality.
My lifestyle is working. I am super happy with these results and my health.
So, overall, I would say that is a really good video because it is such a nice entry point for people to understand you can measure things about your body that inform your decisions on health and wellness. So, overall, I would give Browney a 10 out of 10.
Browney, great job in the video. You're doing everyone a really big service on helping them understand how to measure health, what to do for their health profile. I think your scores are great, looking great. So, hope we hang out soon.
Also, Browney, you were at my house in February. We filmed a video. Where's it at, man? And also, you didn't include me in your video, bro. What's up? You had a beef with me?
Article published