The Human Performance Manifesto
With the advent of new biological discoveries and the era of rapid technology advancements, analytics and AI, we have reached a point in human health where we can go down to cellular and neural level to optimize humans to their peak. And yes, Genetics is not a limitation any more.
The quest to push mental and physical boundaries to achieve greatest heights of excellence is mankind’s evolutionary need. Excellence can be in sport or work. There is a growing global community of performance hackers who consume heavily marketed supplements, exercise regimes and what not. Lets get down to the basics and try to understand the various components of human performance what works, and what does not.
The four components of human biology and performance are-
- Neural and Psychology
Our brain and the invisible mind control almost every function of human body. Understanding both has been a long laborious effort, but we have enough knowledge and intelligence now that we can apply to performance enhancement. Fine tuning the brain requires keeping the brain in the alpha and theta state most of the time and ensuring that the neural networks are always challenged beyond the profession. Resilience is built through meditation and breath works. Now, a Brain computing interface (BCI) device can be used to train the brain to achieve these states quicker, especially after training and workouts that are very stressful on the brain/mind. Similarly, athletes and individuals can use BCIs to achieve meditative state faster. There is absolutely no doubt that energy practices such as Yoga and Taichi and/or similar martial arts do help in fine tuning our neural networks. Here the BCI headsets can be used to monitor how quickly an individual is able to return to their alpha/theta state after training, or even during a game rest time. Simulating game periods and monitoring the return to Theta/Alpha can be a good way to enhance the cognition side of performance. Similarly, semi-pro, recreational athletes and executives can adopt this methodology.
2. Gut and the microbiome
Very recently, we have moved our attention to the Gut. It is now well known that the Gut and Brain are connected through the vagus nerve and there is synergy between the two. In fact the gut is now being called the second brain. Most number of serotonin receptors are located in the gut. So, if we modulate the gut we can modulate the brain and vice versa. Research has shown that certain diets do help in enhancing cognition and performance. So if we could sequence athlete microbiome, define the diet, define the Dos and Donts and modulate the gut with personalized supplements we should see enhanced performance. As we modulate the gut we can modulate the vagus nerve itself by stimulating it with an FDA approved device. Vagus nerve stimulation promotes proper signaling between brain and gut, improve blood circulation and enhance electrical activity in the brain. It would be interesting to see how the above methodology enhances performance
3. Cellular and Mitochondrial (including (epi)genetics)
Cells are like factories that generate energy and all the work that keeps us going. The mitochondria, is the centre of energy production via the ATP pathway. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy enhances the respiratory oxygen needed for ATP production. More ATP in the cells means more energy. Now intermittent fasting allows for conservation of energy within cells as there is less food to process. That stored energy can then be used in training and game time. There are supplements such as NADP+, Urolithin A+, Co-enzyme A, MCT and more that have been proven clinically to enhance ATP production and cellular energy increase. It is very important to source them carefully and consume based on needs and through guidance. The combination of lifestyle and these additional treatments should start to change the DNA at the post translational level. These epigenetic changes are seen as methylation and/or acetylation marks on the DNA by well defined diagnostics. The quantification of these PTMs allow us to get the wholistic health picture of an individual. Telomere length analysis is a useful tool to understand health span extension but it can be misleading sometimes. Also too much increase in Telomere length is now shown to cause certain diseases. Breathwork has now been shown to enhance blood oxygen availability and fine tuning of neural chemistry and neural networks. Breath, the most fundamental human asset can be used to calm the CNS and also enhance cognition. There are certain techniques offered by professionals that when used for a long period of time can be very beneficial.
4. Biomechanics or skeletal framework
Each one of us is born with a different musculoskeletal framework. This is what makes an individual excel at sports from a pure physical point of view. Mountain climbers and sprinters have different built. Same applies to swimmers and weight lifters. These major or subtle differences in the skeletal framework can not be changed but techniques such as Yoga can help in myofascial release and extension of nerves and fibers regardless of the sport. Hand-eye coordination which is key for most of the sports is enhanced through cognitive enhancement regimens as discussed earlier.
Feedback exoskeletal suits can help identify the errors in technique that an athlete may have. These suits are connected with sensors that give a feedback to help improve a certain motion. They are also used for physiotherapy for more targeted rehabilitation.
Every athlete and individual is different with different genetics and epigenetics and will require personalized performance enhancement regimen. These regimens are intense and can get costly depending on the level of enhancement. This allows for the creation of a business model that can offer performance enhancement to recreational, semi-pro and sponsored pro athletes to help them achieve their goals. Professional athletes entering their mid 30s will see a natural decline in the cellular efficiency that starts to affect everything from gut to neural. You become slower and less efficient in your output as you head from 35 to 40 and 42. My vision is to see if all of the biological methodologies defined above can help high achieving athletes nearing their retirements to extend their careers by at least 3 to 5 years. This is very much possible and doable.
