The Paris Olympics has just completed its closing ceremony and at the time of writing, Paralympics Paris has just commenced! Super humans are again on the global stage competing at the highest levels for the honour of securing an Olympic medal.
How do they do it? What are the support systems that drive them forward? What kind of tech innovation, AI, physical and mental props or biomechanical insights are helping humans create new world records?
Although we’re talking about individuals who have committed their lives to Olympic glory, insightful lessons can be applied to us mere mortals too!
It's a great time to reflect on learnings from these fellow humans and their training teams, who commit themselves to performing at pinnacle world class level. Olympic athletes are typically made through a combination of natural talent, rigorous training, and supportive environments.
Knowing that a journey to better health doesn’t have to be a solo or painful one is something we can all be motivated by.
Whether technology led or human, support structures are accessible to all of us. Here’s our tips for channelling your inner Olympian!
1. Remember that willpower alone is often not enough
- Automatic Behaviours: Many of our daily actions are governed by habits, not conscious decisions. Breaking old habits or establishing new ones requires more than just willpower; it requires consistent effort and often environmental changes.
- Decision Fatigue: Constantly relying on willpower to make healthy choices can lead to decision fatigue, where the ability to make good choices diminishes as the day progresses.
- Accessibility and Convenience: If unhealthy food options are more accessible or convenient than healthy ones, it can be difficult to make the right choice, no matter how strong your willpower is.
- Social Environment: Social pressures, such as family habits, peer influence, and cultural norms, can either support or hinder health and fitness goals. Being surrounded by people who have unhealthy habits can make it harder to stick to your own healthy choices.
- Emotional Eating and Stress: Stress, anxiety, and other emotional factors can drive us to seek comfort in food or avoid exercise. Willpower alone may not be enough to overcome these powerful emotional triggers.
- Self-Sabotage: Negative self-talk, low self-esteem, or past failures can lead to self-sabotaging behaviours, where we undermine our own efforts despite our best intentions.
- Gradual Adaptation: Sustainable health and fitness changes often require gradual adjustments rather than radical shifts. Willpower might help in the short term, but long-term success usually involves creating a balanced, adaptable lifestyle.
- Consistency Over Intensity: It's often more effective to focus on small, consistent changes rather than relying on intense bursts of willpower. This approach builds sustainable habits that require less willpower over time.
- Goal Setting and Strategy: Achieving fitness and health goals often requires a clear plan, including specific, measurable goals, strategies for overcoming obstacles, and a way to track progress. Willpower is just one part of the broader strategy.
- Support Systems: Having a support system—whether it's friends, family, or a fitness coach—can provide accountability and motivation, reducing the sole reliance on willpower.
So while willpower is a crucial element in the pursuit of fitness and health, it must be supported by habits, planning, environment, self awareness and sometimes professional guidance and support to create lasting change.
2. Get to know your own body
World class athletes (and their support teams) are highly knowledgeable about their own bodies.
They track their body health and performance using a combination of advanced technology, scientific methods and personalised data analysis.
When we created Ripple, we knew that tracking and maintaining a healthy balance between nutrition, activity and hydration has a direct impact on wellbeing and happiness and could be available to all of us.
And whether you’re an elite athlete or a regular human being, continuous real-time data shows how your body uses food and drink, relating this to exercise, activity and sleep.
3. Nutrition
Let's start with what we eat. Just like Olympic athletes, what we consume is critically important as it directly influences our daily energy levels and overall health.
By incorporating specific nutrition strategies and monitoring glucose levels, we can boost our energy, improve health, and enhance quality of life.
Whilst some athletes have performed well on poor nutritional choices (Usain Bolt reportedly only consumed chicken nuggets during the Beijing Olympics!), the rule of thumb for optimised performance is a diet balanced in protein, fibre and carbohydrates.
At the Paris Olympics Athlete Village, over 30% of the meals served were plant based using local ingredients with an eye to optimising sustainability and reducing food miles.
And according to Utah University “eating like an Olympian means more than just consuming the right number of calories”. Understanding what, when, and how to eat for the demands of your particular lifestyle can give your body the fuel it needs to perform at its best.
Contrary to popular belief, breakfast is not essential. But a nutritious breakfast can kickstart your metabolism and provide the energy needed to stay focused and active.
Protein-Packed: Include sources of protein like eggs, Greek yoghurt, or a protein smoothie. Protein helps stabilise blood sugar levels and keeps you full longer.
Whole Grains: Opt for whole grains such as oatmeal, whole-grain bread, seeds or quinoa. They provide sustained energy and essential nutrients.
Fruits and Vegetables: Add fresh fruits and vegetables for vitamins, minerals, and fibre. Berries, spinach and tomatoes are excellent choices.
Eat Regularly Timed Balanced Meals. Eating a few regularly timed meals is important. Your body's natural rhythms become attuned to regular meal times. Eating balanced meals is key to maintaining energy and avoiding snacking will prevent the afternoon slump. Monitoring your glucose levels can help you understand how your body regulates energy release from stored glucose in the form of glycogen, and you will be able to see how different foods affect this process in your body.
Lean Proteins: Include lean meats, fish, tofu, beans, and legumes in your meals. Protein supports muscle repair and growth and helps maintain energy levels.
Healthy Fats: Incorporate healthy fats like avocados, nuts, seeds, and olive oil. These fats support brain function and provide long-lasting energy.
Colourful Vegetables: Fill half your plate with a variety of colourful vegetables to get a range of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
Complex Carbohydrates: Choose complex carbs like brown rice, sweet potatoes, and whole-grain pasta. They digest slowly and provide steady energy.
Monitor Glucose Levels: As you age, maintaining stable blood sugar levels becomes increasingly important for overall health and longevity.
Your Ripple will display your glucose levels, allowing you to manage them through balanced nutrition and regular exercise.
4. Hydration
Drinking water is essential to a healthy lifestyle.
The warm conditions of most Summer based Olympic venues mean that plentiful hydration is key. High performance athletes will often supplement water with blended electrolytes, which our bodies lose due to excessive sweating.
However drinking water is crucial for nearly every bodily function, including regulating our body temperature, maintaining electrolyte balance, and supporting the transportation of nutrients. Water supports all of our vital organs including:
Kidneys: Water helps our kidneys filter waste from blood and excrete it through urine. Proper hydration reduces the risk of kidney stones and urinary tract infections.
Heart: Staying hydrated supports heart health by helping to maintain proper blood volume and circulation, reducing the strain on the heart.
Digestion & appetite: Water aids digestion by helping dissolve nutrients and facilitating the movement of food through the intestines, preventing constipation. Drinking water before meals can help control appetite by making you feel fuller, potentially aiding in weight management. Staying hydrated also supports metabolic processes, which can help with calorie burning and overall energy expenditure.
Drinking water also aids in nutrient absorption and the transport of nutrients through our body. Water is a vital component of blood, which transports oxygen and nutrients to cells throughout the body. Water helps break down food in the stomach and aids in the absorption of essential vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients.
Water is also essential for our physical and mental performance. Adequate hydration helps maintain energy levels, especially during physical activity, by ensuring that muscles and joints function properly. Drinking enough water prevents dehydration, which can lead to decreased endurance, muscle cramps, and reduced performance.
What’s more, water is essential for maintaining cognitive function. Even mild dehydration can impair focus, concentration, and short-term memory. Staying hydrated can also help improve mood and reduce feelings of anxiety and fatigue.
From skin moisturisation to detoxification : Drinking water helps keep your skin hydrated, which can improve its elasticity and appearance, and flush toxins from your body, which can contribute to clearer skin and reducing the risk of dryness and wrinkles.
And vital for anyone - professional athlete or otherwise, water regulates our body temperature through sweating and temperature balance. When your body heats up, water helps cool it down through sweat, which evaporates from your skin and dissipates heat. Proper hydration ensures that your body can effectively regulate its temperature, preventing heat-related illnesses like heatstroke.
Overall, drinking water is vital for sustaining life, supporting physical and mental health, and promoting optimal functioning of the body's systems.
5. Sleep
And finally, the often overlooked element to peak physical performance is quality sleep. Certainly, much of the scientific research points at how poor sleep and sleep deprivation can have a harmful effect on athletic performance. Many elite athletes work sleep into their training schedules as an essential part of their preparation for competitions.
The real time data from your Ripple will enable you to balance your nutritional intake with your activity helping optimise the quality of your sleep. By fueling your body with the right nutrients, you can promote a smoother transition into sleep and reduce the likelihood of waking up during the night due to hunger or fluctuations in blood sugar.
Engaging in regular physical activity, which produces lactate, helps regulate stress hormones like cortisol, promoting a more relaxed state conducive to sleep. While you might not associate lactate with sleep, its effects on your body's stress response can have a significant impact on your ability to fall and stay asleep.
Your Ripple will record lactate levels in real-time allowing you to incorporate exercise into your daily routine, balanced with the right nutrition and hydration levels, allowing you to effectively manage stress and improve sleep quality.
And the good news is that Ripple compliments the data from your existing favourite wearables. In effect you get the full picture on how your nutrition choices impact energy for exercise and training, while preparing you for better recovery and sleep.
Ripple allows you to eat, sleep and rest like an Olympian - without the Herculean efforts required to be an Olympic athlete!