All Things Performance #14
3 concepts = thoughts I've had, things that I've seen, and ideas / hopes - all in the health & performance space. Once a week.
thinking out loud
some of my thoughts this week
Improving your healthspan. I shared this visual on socials this week, and whilst the size and height of each factor will of course vary, consider it a ‘catch-all’ for things related to improving your healthspan. Healthspan is defined as the time of your life you spend in good health, where as Lifespan is the number of years you live. Important distinction. You want healthspan to be as close as possible to lifespan.
Interpret this chart as follows — starting from now (today), and looking ahead to the future (time), are there any of these factors / behaviours that you can improve?
For example — are you currently only accumulating 4000 steps per day? Your goal should be to increase this to 8000-10000 steps per day, and maintain that. The graph shows a sharp increase, and then a plateau to represent this.
I imagine like many people, you are sleeping — but could sleep some more. Trying to get this to 7 hours on average per night, and then maintain this would contribute positively to your healthspan.
Other factors like VO2max, strength & power, lean mass — as physical parameters, and social connection, are vital to increasing your healthspan and reducing mortality risk,
Drop me a message or comment if you have any feedback on this chart!
through the lens
things that I’ve seen this week
clocks went forward in the UK! And that means more daylight — which is great. It does have some knock-on effects. I have personally noticed that I’m not as alert when my alarm goes off. Usually, I will wake either slightly before my alarm or get up straight away when my alarm goes off. The clock-change (with recent travel) has meant that I don’t feel as fresh in the mornings. It also still feels a little strange how bright it is — which I love. This usually takes about a week to dissipate, in my experience.
Data from 2024 suggests that cognitive performance decline is seen after both clock changes (Spring & Autumn) (PMID: 38300821). There seems to be some data suggesting that “Fall Back” actually can lower certain health related events in the UK (PMID: 41412603), and even reduce mortality risk in the US (PMID: 38464392). So it seems that there are positive effects of the clocks going back, versus excessive negative effects of clocks going forward. Basically — people just get an extra hour of sleep, and that helps!
the drawing board
ideas, brainstorming, etc
I’ve been doing some applied research with Advanced Sleep from MARCHON. This is MARCHON’s first sleep product. We have a number of case studies we are exploring, and a targeted trial using both objective data (Whoop) and subjective data (questionnaire). In the next 2 weeks I’ll analyse the trial data, but already I’ve seen some positive outcomes! Stay tuned for results. If you want to try Advanced Sleep check it out!
I mainly bring this example up because I strongly believe that companies need to be doing more applied research, on their product specifically. And the example I will continue with is sleep supplements, but this can be applied to any product. Most sleep supplements on the market are “evidence-based”, and their ingredients are referenced from published research. This is a good thing! However, very few — if any — have any specific research on their product, or the combination of all of the ingredients, on healthy populations.
As more and more products become available, and they all end up using the same ingredients (and same references), what is the thing that differentiates them? It will be applied research. And this research is also marketing. It’s advertising. And it can be used in pitch decks, white papers, blogs, and newsletters.
If you (or your company) want to know more about how I see applied research, message me and we can chat!
Want to buy me a coffee?
Found this cool site that I’ve seen other content creators use online that let’s people ‘buy me a coffee’. It’s a cool concept! If you want to give me a tip or “buy me a coffee” — and you know how much I love coffee — here is the LINK.