Ben Greenfield is an American author, podcaster and health coach.
Ben is well-known as being one of the world’s leading health and fitness ‘biohackers’ and he currently hosts the very popular Ben Greenfield Fitness podcast.
As well as being a New York Times bestselling author, Greenfield is also a public speaker in the fields of fitness, nutrition and general health.
Ben is also the co-founder of supplement company Kion, which was founded in 2017.
Ben’s journey is certainly a fascinating one. But what do we know about his earlier years and what lessons can we take from his impressive journey?
This in-depth Ben Greenfield biography is going to focus on all of the key things you need to know about Ben and his journey.
We’ve brought together quotes, facts and figures from a range of different sources to deliver a unique look at Ben’s life and career.
We’re going to take a look at the earlier years on his journey and follow his progress up until today to see what we can learn from his impressive and unique story.
So, with the introductions out of the way, let’s start taking a closer look at Ben Greenfield’s life story.
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Ben Greenfield Personal Information
• Full name: Ben Greenfield
• Date of Birth: 20 December 1979
• Age: 43 years old
• Height: 1.92m (6ft 3in)
• Weight: 79kg (175lbs)
• Place of Birth: Lewiston, Idaho, USA
• Wife: Jessa Greenfield
• Net Worth: Unconfirmed
• Instagram: @bengreenfieldfitness
Who is Ben Greenfield?
Ben Greenfield is an American health coach, author, public speaker and podcaster.
He is renowned as being one of the leading ‘biohackers’ around and he has gained a loyal following thanks to the extreme measures he goes to in order to optimise his health.
Ben, who is the author of an impressive 13 books, describes himself as a “human performance consultant”.
Ben was born on 20 December 1979 in Lewiston, Idaho. He was homeschooled K-12 and he admits that the experience forced him to be very self-dependent.
His father was former firefighter and paramedic, who later became an entrepreneur.
(Photo: Ben Greenfield / Instagram)
“I had to be completely independent and very self reliant all through education,” Ben explains. “I actually enjoy the solitude, working alone, being solo, being a lone wolf.”
Ben graduated aged 15 and began college at 16 years old, playing singles and doubles for the men’s tennis team.
“I continued to teach tennis lessons all the way up through my freshman year of college. I also ran a private job as a writing tutor for high-schoolers.”
As a youngster, Ben was regularly on antibiotics because of a number of digestive issues, which possibly explains his fascination for good health.
He studied anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, pharmaceuticals, microbiology, biochemistry and nutrition. He then completed an internship at Duke University and the National Football League.
He graduated in 2004 aged 20, as the top senior in his class at University of Idaho.
In 2005, Ben began to move into the fitness industry. He partnered with physicians and opened up personal training studios, gyms, and physiology and biomechanics labs across northern Idaho and eastern Washington.
A few years later, in 2008, Ben was voted as America’s top personal trainer.
It was during his initial years in the fitness industry that Ben began to compete as an amateur triathlete. He ended up completing more than 120 races and 12 Ironman triathlons.
(Photo: Ben Greenfield / Instagram)
After the birth of his twin sons, Ben reveals that he “pivoted” his business into media, writing, speaking and consulting. He launched one of the world’s first fitness podcasts, the Ben Greenfield Fitness podcast, during that time.
In 2013 and 2014, Ben was named as one of the world’s top 100 most influential people in health and fitness.
In his bio, Ben says that he has helped thousands of people around the world achieve their goals and improve their quality of life – “from high level CEOs to soccer moms to professional athletes and beyond”.
In the media, Ben has contributed to publications such as Forbes, Men’s Health, Huffington Post and Fox News, to name but a few.
Ben became a New York Times bestselling author with his book “Beyond Training”, which was first published in April 2014.
It was during these years that Ben started to make a name for himself as a ‘biohacker’, as he tried a range of self-experimentation techniques to help optimise his health and fitness.
Ben co-founded the supplement company Kion in 2017 along with Angelo Keely. The company makes a range of different food supplements and also sells its own brand of coffee, which is “carefully selected and roasted for flavor and purity”.
Ben Greenfield co-founded Kion in 2017 (Photo: Ben Greenfield / Instagram)
Speaking about his journey in an interview with UK newspaper The Times of London in early 2020, Ben said: “We have a gratitude practice as a family every morning, completely overwhelmed and grateful for our opportunities. I work really hard, but I don’t feel like a special guy.”
Later in that same interview, he also revealed how he feels that the health and fitness industry has been changing in recent years.
“There’s this increasing shift and awareness in the fitness community towards this idea that maybe a person’s fitness is kind of meaningless in the long run. Muscles aren’t the key to happiness.”
Ben says that some of his favourite hobbies include reading fiction, playing the guitar and ukulele, spearfishing, bowhunting, plant foraging and cooking.
(Photo: Ben Greenfield / Instagram)
On his official website, Ben says that some of the topics he is an expert in include: “longevity, anti-aging, biohacking, fitness, nutrition, and cognition”.
So, now that we’ve covered Ben Greenfield’s story in a bit more detail, it’s time to focus on some of the facts and figures from his life and career to date.
Age, Height and Weight
Ben Greenfield was born on 20 December 1979. He is currently 43 years old.
Ben is 6 foot 3 inches tall (1.92m) and his weight is 175lbs (79kg).
These height and weight numbers were confirmed by Ben himself on a post on his official website back in 2009.
Wife and Family Life
Ben Greenfield’s wife is Jessa Greenfield. They have twin sons, River and Terran.
He currently lives with his family close to the riverside town of Spokane, Washington, USA.
Ben Greenfield met his wife Jessa at Sunday school when he was growing up (Photo: Ben Greenfield / Instagram)
Ben met his wife Jessa at Sunday school when they were both children growing up in the same area. They started dating in their early 20s.
Net Worth
There is no official figure available for Ben Greenfield’s net worth
There are a number of websites which put the figure at around $1.2m, but it is not known where the number comes from, so it is probably best taken with a pinch of Pink Himalayan Salt!
Biohacks
Ben is well-known for being one of the ‘original’ biohackers. Here are some of his favourite biohacks that we’ve picked out from his mentions in the media.
• Ben has long been an advocate of intermittent fasting. He has been practicing it for a number of years and says: “for women, I recommend 12 hours; for men, 16 hours.”
• He practices ‘cold thermogenesis’ by taking five-minute cold showers or using an ice bath.
• He uses the sauna regularly.
• Ben uses red light therapy devices for mitochondrial function.
• He is also regularly pictured wearing blue light blocking glasses to help with sleep and circadian rhythm.
Podcast
Ben launched his popular podcast – The Ben Greenfield Fitness Podcast – in July 2008.
With more than a decade’s worth of episodes under his belt, the Ben Greenfield Fitness podcast is generally considered to be one of the leading health and fitness podcasts around.
(Photo: Ben Greenfield / Instagram)
What Can We Learn From Ben Greenfield?
Quite clearly, Ben Greenfield’s story is a very inspirational one. But what can we learn from his journey?
If there is one thing that Ben is good at, it’s hard work. He has clearly never been one to shy away from putting in the hard graft to help him hit his goals.
Throughout his formative years, he was gaining valuable experience as a tutor and tennis coach, learning skills that he would be able to transfer into his activities later in life.
Ben has also shown a great deal of humbleness throughout his career. Listening to interviews with him, he regularly brings up the fact that he practices gratitude on a daily basis. Indeed, he even desiged and created a product called the Christian Gratitude Journal.
We could all do with some more gratitude in our lives. And Ben’s dedication to hard work and focused energy during his career is something we could all learn from.
In Conclusion – Final Thoughts
That brings us to the end of our Ben Greenfield biography.
We’ve walked you through the fascinating early years of Ben’s career as he rose to stardom in the fitness world, before becoming known as one of the world’s leading biohackers.
Ben’s journey and story is an inspirational one, and although we may not all want to go to the same extreme lengths with regards to our health, we could probably all benefit from being a bit more conscious and practicing genuine gratitude more regularly.
