Deep Dive Into Bryan Johnson’s Sauna Protocol: What He Did And What We Can Learn

Bryan Johnson has turned himself into a walking sauna experiment.

He has been consistently conducting extremely hot and frequent sauna sessions, meticulously tracking his lab results, and publishing various outcomes, including levels of toxins, microplastics, vascular “age,” sperm quality, and personal well-being.

At Simply Sauna, a mobile wood-fired barrel sauna rental based in Bedminster, New Jersey, we pay close attention to how people actually use a real Finnish-style sauna for health. Bryan’s routine is a good real-world example of serious, high-heat sauna use that overlaps a lot with what our customers experience in our wood-fired barrel sauna rentals.

You don’t need to follow the “Blueprint” lifestyle or aspire to live like him to gain insights from his experiences. This article is a straight walkthrough:

• What his sauna protocol actually looks like

• What results he’s reported

• How that lines up with what we know about sauna

• What a normal person can take from it (without moving into a lab)

1. Bryan Johnson’s Sauna Protocol, In Plain English

From his sauna articles and posts, we can piece together a pretty clear protocol. (Blueprint Bryan Johnson)

Type of sauna

• Traditional Finnish-style, hot and dry

• Heated stones, low humidity, full-room heat (not a low-temp infrared box)

This is the same general style of heat you get in a wood-fired barrel sauna, like the mobile sauna rentals we offer through Simply Sauna in New Jersey.

Temperature

• He targets around 200°F (~93°C)

• This matches the upper end of typical Finnish sauna temperatures (175–212°F / 80–100°C). (PMC)

Session length

• About 20 minutes per session is his standard sauna “dose”. (Blueprint Bryan Johnson)

Frequency

• Daily or near-daily: 5–7 times per week

• This is intentionally similar to Finnish cohorts where the highest-benefit group used sauna 4–7 times per week. (PMC)

So the core pattern is:

Hot, dry sauna at ~200°F for ~20 minutes, almost every day.

Extras he adds on

• Cold exposure: cold plunges/showers as contrast after heat

• Cooling the testicles: ice packs or cooling on the scrotum during sauna to protect sperm from heat damage (Blueprint Bryan Johnson)

• Hydration & electrolytes: measured sodium loss via sweat patches and focused on replacing fluids and electrolytes after heavy sweating (x.com)

Important context

All this sits inside “Blueprint”:

• Strict diet

• Structured sleep

• Regular exercise

• Supplements

• Other treatments

So sauna is one big lever in a larger system.

2. The Results He Says He Got

Here are the reported benefits of sauna use according to Bryan Johnson.

2.1 Environmental chemicals (“detox” markers)

Bryan has posted before/after lab panels showing changes in specific environmental chemicals. (Linkedin)

Examples he’s highlighted:

• Herbicide metabolites like 2,4-D (2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid)

• Phthalate metabolites (e.g., MEHP, MBP, MEP)

• Other non-metal toxicants

In his write-ups, he shows:

• “Before” values in ranges flagged as elevated

• “After” values dropping into lower or “normal” ranges after a block of frequent, hot sauna sessions

His interpretation: sauna-assisted sweating played a major role in reducing his burden of certain industrial chemicals.

2.2 Microplastics in blood and semen

He’s also shared numbers for microplastics in his blood and ejaculate. (x.com, Linkedin)

The broad storyline:

• Initial tests showed substantial microplastic particles in both blood and semen

• After months of frequent high-heat sauna + reduced plastic exposure (glass containers, filtered water, etc.):

  • Blood microplastics reportedly dropped dramatically

  • Semen microplastics reportedly dropped by roughly ~85% (e.g., from the mid-100s to around 20 particles/mL)

His claim: sauna is a key part of his microplastic “clean-up” protocol.

2.3 Cardiovascular and “vascular age” improvements

Bryan regularly tracks heart and artery metrics, including: (Blueprint Bryan Johnson)

• Central blood pressure

• Arterial stiffness (e.g., pulse wave velocity)

• Composite “vascular age” or “biological age” scores based on those markers

After adding intense sauna (and other Blueprint elements), he’s shown:

• Lower central blood pressure

• Improved arterial stiffness

• Scores labeled as having the arterial profile of a younger person

The story: his arteries now “look” about 10 years younger than his chronological age, with sauna highlighted as one of the major tools used to get there.

2.4 Sperm quality

High heat is known to stress sperm, and Bryan says he experienced that directly. In a post on his site archiving his X tweets, he wrote:

“Sauna heat devastated my swimmers. Seems icing the balls is a good idea.
No ice protection on the boys:

• 54% drop in motile count

• 57% drop in motility

• 55% drop in normal morphology
  Conversely, my fertility markers improved from my pre-sauna baseline after 27 sessions.” (x.com)

In his “My sperm health protocol” article, he then explains how he adjusted: he explicitly lists “avoid testicular heat: no saunas (or sauna with a testicular ice pack)” as part of his strategy, and notes that across five lab tests in three months his total motile sperm count (TMC) averaged 165 million, more than four times the WHO threshold for natural fertility, with a peak of 214 million. (Blueprint Bryan Johnson)

So his current narrative is essentially:

“Heavy hot sauna without cooling crushed my sperm metrics, but once I kept my testicles cool during sessions, my fertility markers climbed to very high levels while I kept sauna in the protocol.”

2.5 How he feels (subjective outcomes)

Subjectively, he’s said sauna helps with: (Blueprint Bryan Johnson)

• Lower stress

• Better sleep

• A strong sense of “reset” and well-being after sessions

That lines up with what regular sauna users report all the time, long before lab testing was popular.

3. What These Results Suggest About Sauna (For Normal Humans)

Strip away the extra tech and we can still learn a lot from what happened to him.

3.1 Sauna seems to be a real cardiovascular tool

Bryan’s vascular improvements line up very closely with big Finnish sauna studies:

• Men who used sauna 4–7 times per week had lower risk of:

  • Sudden cardiac death

  • Fatal coronary heart disease

  • Fatal cardiovascular disease

  • All-cause mortality (PMC)

Combine that with his own:

• Lower central blood pressure

• Better arterial stiffness

…and the reasonable takeaway is:

Frequent, hot, dry sauna is very likely a strong positive lever for heart and artery health in many people who tolerate it well.

You don’t need his exact numbers to see the direction.

3.2 Sauna probably helps move some toxins out

On the detox side:

• We have small studies and reviews showing that sweat (from sauna or exercise) can carry out:

  • Some phthalates

  • Some flame retardants / PCB-type chemicals

  • Some metals in certain cases (PMC)

Combine that with Bryan’s:

• Big drops in environmental chemical markers

• Big drops in microplastics

…and the practical takeaway is:

Sauna is very likely helpful as a support for eliminating certain pollutants, especially if you’re also cutting exposure.

Is it a magic vacuum? No. But it’s not nothing.

3.3 Microplastics: promising, but still early

Microplastic science is still young, but a few things are clear from recent studies and from Bryan’s own testing:

• In Bryan’s own tests, microplastics have been detected in his blood. (x.com)

• Microplastics have been found in the placenta. (ACS)

• Reviews suggest they can accumulate in various organs and tissues, including lungs and gut. (Blueprint Bryan Johnson)

• Emerging data also show microplastics in semen, with some papers reporting widespread presence and potential links to sperm quality. (ACS)

On top of that, Bryan has shared his own before/after testing on social and in his Blueprint ecosystem, where he reports roughly an 85% reduction in microplastics in semen (from 165 particles/mL down to 20 particles/mL between late 2024 and mid-2025), alongside a large drop in blood microplastics after combining frequent 200°F dry sauna with aggressive exposure reduction (glass containers, filtered water, avoiding plastic tools, etc.). (x.com)

So the fair translation is:

“High-heat sauna plus cutting plastic exposure might significantly reduce microplastic burden. Bryan’s case shows that kind of change is possible for at least one person.”

Not:

“Everyone who does this will automatically get an 85% reduction in a set number of months.”

3.4 Fertility: heat is real, but there are smart workarounds

Research and clinical practice both agree: (Journal of Andrology)

• Chronic heat around the testicles can temporarily reduce sperm count, motility, and quality.

• Sauna and hot tubs can do this in some men.

• Stopping the heat often leads to recovery in sperm parameters.

Bryan’s experience adds a twist:

• High-heat sauna every day + testicle cooling

• Result: he’s now reporting excellent sperm metrics

The practical takeaway for a guy who loves sauna:

• If you’re trying to conceive right now:

  • Don’t hammer 200°F daily sessions without thinking

  • Consider dialing down frequency/heat or taking a break

• If you’re not in a fertility-critical window:

  • Sauna looks manageable, especially with reasonable dosing

  • Extra caution (cooling, moderation) makes sense if you have known sperm issues

You do not need ice packs in your shorts to get sauna’s benefits, but you also shouldn’t ignore heat if fertility is a major priority.

3.5 How he feels matters too

Take the labs away and you still have:

• Better sleep

• Less stress

• A strong “post-sauna calm”

That alone is worth something. Heat, relaxation, social connection (if you’re doing it with friends/family) — those are real quality-of-life improvements, not just biomarkers.

4. How To Apply This Without Becoming Bryan Johnson

You don’t need to turn your life into Blueprint to use the useful parts of his sauna experiment.

4.1 A reasonable starting protocol

For a generally healthy adult (not medical advice, just a sane starting point):

• Type of sauna

  • Real Finnish-style heat: a proper sauna, not a lukewarm hotel “sauna room”

• Temperature

  • Aim for a temperature that feels “very hot but bearable”

  • If you have a quality sauna, that’s usually 170–190°F (77–88°C) to start, not necessarily full 200°F immediately

• Time

  • Start with 10–15 minutes per session

  • Over a few weeks, if you tolerate it and feel good, build to 15–20 minutes

• Frequency

  • Start at 2–3 times per week

  • Consider moving toward 3–4 times per week if you enjoy it and your health/logistics allow

Basic rules:

• Hydrate before and after

• Avoid heavy drinking plus intense sauna

• Get out immediately if you feel dizzy, nauseated, faint, or just “off”

• Talk to a doctor first if you have:

  • Heart disease

  • Uncontrolled high blood pressure

  • Serious arrhythmias

  • Or you’re pregnant

If you’re near Bedminster, NJ or within our delivery radius, a mobile wood-fired barrel sauna rental from Simply Sauna is an easy way to test this kind of protocol without building a permanent sauna.

4.2 If detox/microplastics are your focus

If you’re specifically thinking, “I want to use sauna to help with this junk in my body”:

Do this in order:

1. Reduce exposure

   • Less plastic food contact

   • Filtered water

   • Better air quality where you can

2. Add consistent sauna

   • Use the protocol above for weeks and months, not just one weekend

3. Optional: work with a clinician to track specific panels (toxicant tests, etc.), knowing they aren’t perfect either

Think of sauna as a supportive tool, not the whole plan.

4.3 If fertility is a concern

If you’re actively trying to conceive or know you have sperm issues:

• Consider:

  • Lower temp

  • Lower frequency

  • Avoid daily extreme heat

• You can also time it:

  • Be more conservative during a 3–6 month “trying” window, then loosen up later

• And talk with a urologist or fertility specialist if:

  • You rely heavily on sauna

  • And fertility is mission-critical

5. Where A Wood-Fired Barrel Sauna Fits (And How Simply Sauna Helps)

Bryan’s protocol is built around hot, dry Finnish-style heat.

A good wood-fired barrel sauna recreates that almost perfectly:

• High air temperatures in the same range (170–200°F+)

• Low to moderate humidity, with optional steam from water on the rocks

• Full-body heat load and deep sweating, just like the Finnish saunas most of the research is actually based on (PMC)

If you’re in New Jersey or nearby states and curious:

• You don’t have to buy or build a permanent sauna to try this out.

• With Simply Sauna (simply-sauna.com):

  • We bring a wood-fired barrel sauna to your driveway or property

  • You get a weekend (or more) of real Finnish-style sessions

  • You can see:

    • How your body responds

    • How you sleep

    • How you feel the next day

We’re based in Bedminster, NJ and typically serve a roughly 60-mile radius into parts of New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, so you can experience a Bryan-style Finnish sauna routine at home through a mobile sauna rental in New Jersey without any construction.

Then, if you want, you can build from there into a longer-term habit — either by booking us again or eventually getting your own unit.

Bottom Line

Forget the epistemology. Here’s the simple version:

• Bryan Johnson runs very hot, very frequent Finnish-style sauna: ~200°F, ~20 minutes, almost every day.

• He reports:

  • Better vascular metrics (“younger” arteries)

  • Big drops in some environmental chemicals and microplastics

  • Top-tier sperm metrics after adjusting for heat

  • Better sleep and lower stress

These results line up with what existing sauna research and sauna culture have been hinting at for years: frequent, hot, dry sauna can be a powerful tool for heart health, stress, and maybe detox — if you respect your limits.

You don’t need to be Bryan Johnson.

You just need:

• Access to real heat

• A sensible routine

• And a willingness to see how your own body responds

That’s where something like a wood-fired barrel sauna — especially a mobile sauna rental in New Jersey you can try without commitment — becomes a practical way to turn all of this from “biohacker content” into “something your actual body experiences.” If you’re in NJ, NY, or PA and want to experiment with a Bryan-style Finnish sauna session at home, that’s exactly what Simply Sauna is built to deliver.