Breath Work, Biohacking, and Cryotherapy: New Buzzwords for Modern Business Travelers

Peptide cocktails, plasma exchange therapy, infrared sauna sessions, and methylene blue drips. These are just a few of the biohacks that keep Peter Phillips feeling invincible. For the past three years, the 53-year-old tech executive has worked with doctors at Extension Health, a longevity clinic in New York City, to craft a blueprint to help him combat the declines that come with age.

“I’m on the cusp of immortality,” he says. Every six weeks, he pops into the clinic for a full body reboot that typically includes a nervous system reset and hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Even when on the road, Phillips fastidiously seeks out biohacking lounges and hotels that offer recovery modalities like IV drips and red-light therapy.

Recovery and performance used to be reserved for retreats, but high-performing executives can't always afford to catch up later. Today, it’s not unusual for CEOs to fly from NYC to Dubai or Bangkok for 48 or even 24 hours. Looking for an extra edge, frequent business travelers are turning to therapies used by professional athletes to maintain peak mental and physical health while balancing demanding work schedules.

This story is part of The New Era of Work Travel, a collaboration between the editors of Condé Nast Traveler and WIRED to help you navigate the perks and pitfalls of the modern business trip.

When you’re constantly on the go—changing time zones, eating inconsistently, navigating long workdays, and adapting to new environments—your body is in a near-constant state of stress, says Jonathan Leary, founder of Remedy Place, a social wellness club with locations in New York, Boston, and Hollywood. Today’s executives aren’t interested in traditional spa therapies. They gravitate toward evidence-based interventions, such as circadian rhythm realignment, heart rate variability-guided recovery protocols, and metabolic optimization programs that deliver measurable performance outcomes. These aren’t just long-term investments in your health, they’re powerful tools for restoring balance, reducing inflammation, supporting immunity, and improving sleep and recovery in real time, says Leary.

A new wave of luxury wellness facilities and bleisure trips now cater to business travelers who are obsessed with maintaining their health goals alongside high-powered schedules that take them all over the globe. “Business travel isn’t just about surviving jet lag anymore,” says Dave Asprey, founder of Upgrade Labs, a chain of biohacking facilities in North America. “It’s not about bouncing back; it’s about staying ahead. Recovery is no longer a luxury, it’s a strategy.”

Chip Conley, the 64-year-old founder of the Modern Elder Academy in New Mexico seeks out cryotherapy whenever he's on the road. As little as five minutes in these chambers with temperatures as low as -220 degrees Fahrenheit can provide an endorphin boost and help reduce inflammation, according to studies. “It restores me to a place of revitalization in a matter of minutes,” he says.

Rustan Panday, a 56-year-old chairman of a publishing company in Stockholm says he finds cryotherapy and infrared sauna sessions more restorative than a workout. He belongs to V Social Club, a members-only longevity center in Stockholm, and visits three times a week. Cellgym, a device that purportedly slows aging by enhancing the function of mitochondria, the powerhouses of our cells, is his go-to therapy. “I feel so happy and alive after a session,” he says. When he’s on business in New York, he books ahead at Remedy Place so he can replicate his routine.

Hotels are also attracting business executives with longevity-focused programs and amenities. “More people are looking for places they can work, relax, and get a dose of wellness, whether that’s a workout or a restorative spa treatment,” says Tammy Pahel, vice president of spa and wellness operations at Carillon Miami Wellness Resort. Busy professionals now expect to recharge between meetings at the resort’s 70,000-square-foot-spa for a 30-minute quantum harmonic sound therapy session, which helps reduce stress and sharpens mental focus. And they sleep on the resort’s AI-powered Bryte Smart beds, which have been shown to support sleep efficiency and combat jet lag.

Equinox Hotel in New York is the epitome of bleisure. The flagship property from the uber exclusive fitness club seamlessly integrates health, sleep, work, indulgence, and relaxation into the guest experience. Around 35 percent of guests are business travelers, who book not just for the 60,000-square-foot gym, but also the proprietary in-room sleep systems that create the optimal environment for solid Zzzzs and biohacking spa therapies.

The Estate, a new longevity-driven hospitality brand from hotelier Sam Nazarian and life coach Tony Robbins, takes things one step further, providing access to extensive diagnostic testing, including full-body MRIs and telehealth consultations. The first outpost is slated to open in Los Angeles by the end of 2025. Kenneth Ryan, the Estate’s chief longevity officer, anticipates that more than 20 percent of guests and members will be high-frequency business travelers. “We’re reinventing the way they live on the road,” he says. “Wellness isn’t just an amenity; it’s embedded in the infrastructure. You’ll have direct access to physiotherapists, professional trainers, and lead massage therapists.”

Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas, a pioneer in the wellness space, is also evolving to accommodate the new bleisure traveler. In 2022, Six Senses opened an outpost of London-based longevity clinic RoseBar within its boho-chic Ibiza property. The partnership was such a success that the brand is expanding its regenerative wellness clinic partnerships across its portfolio, including its forthcoming properties in Tel Aviv and Dubai.

“Business travel has become a strategic component of executive wellness routines rather than a disruption to them,” says Anna Bjurstam, the brand’s head of wellness. This demographic is pursuing “360- degree wellness escapes” that integrate performance optimization into their professional obligations, she says. The brand’s most-requested services from business travelers now include comprehensive biometric tracking and optimization consultations, sleep enhancement programs, and stress-resilience training incorporating sound baths, breath work, and meditation, says Bjurstam.

Six Senses Place London embodies this evolution. When it opens later this year, it will house a medical longevity clinic and offer AI-driven health analytics, performance nutrition counseling, and every imaginable biohack.

Experts are still undecided whether these cutting-edge therapies will actually extend lifespan. But for travelers like Conley, the point is more about feeling good when he’s on the go. “Travel wears you out,” he says. “Now, there are so many options for replenishment no matter what city or time zone you’re in.”