21. Will Ahmed — Unlocking Human Performance
Play • 48 min

"The cool thing about finding a way to manage through difficult times is that when times are good, it's like you've been training with weights on." - Will Ahmed

  • How can tracking your own body's data unlock your peak performance?
  • How does stress manifest differently in entrepreneurs and elite athletes?
  • Does blocking blue light really help you get better sleep?
  • Can a health tracker predict COVID-19 in asymptomatic patients?


Unlocking Human Performance the WHOOP Way

Will Ahmed, Founder and CEO of fitness tracker & lifestyle brand WHOOP, is on a mission to unlock human performance. Created for and used by world-renowned athletes, WHOOP wants to give everyone the chance to operate at their peak and understand their bodies in a profound way.

What is heart rate variability and what can it tell you about stress? How much sleep do you really need? When should you hit the high-intensity workouts and when is it best to hold back? Will Ahmed lets us in on some of WHOOP's most intriguing insights.


It's a Marathon, Not a Sprint: Entrepreneurial Health Hacks

Entrepreneurs take on more stress than most people are willing to endure, but they're not superhuman. Instead of easing off of stressful activities, entrepreneurs often have to establish methods to withstand high-stress situations on a regular basis. Will experienced this first-hand while building WHOOP, and he's keen to share his findings.

Sleep is paramount, but you might not be getting the right kind. We talk REM, cognitive repair, and the small lifestyle changes that can add up to make a huge difference.


Detecting COVID-19: What Really Happened at the PGA Tour

With a huge dataset provided by WHOOP wearers who signed up to participate, the company started to track health and fitness parameters during the pandemic. Will talks us through the insights they've uncovered and how they're collaborating with academics and healthcare professionals to help predict new cases and offer insights into the effect of the virus.

Plus, we reveal how WHOOP was instrumental in detecting Nick Watney's asymptomatic COVID-19 — a game changing save that would have otherwise had dramatic effects on the world of professional golf and the health of its athletes.


Key takeaways:

  • There's no one-size-fits-all when it comes to health. Will Ahmed isn't against paleo or keto diets, but he believes that our physiology and nutrition requirements are highly individual. To optimize your personal health, there's no substitute for self-study.
  • It's not about parameters. It's about performance. When it comes to tracking fitness, we shouldn't view specific figures as goals to hit. Instead, Will argues the case for a personal-best and performance-orientated view, particularly in the workplace.
  • The future of personalized healthcare. Will Ahmed believes that in the near future we'll be able to have individual recipes that make up our ideal health plans, from how and when we work out, to our diets, to which supplements we take.


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