Sneak Peek
On TIGNUM’s B-LD KITCHEN Hub, our world-class Performance Specialists share their latest insights on human performance and discuss real-life experiences and best practices with industry leaders.
Here is a limited selection for you to explore:
You are unique and so is your Sustainable Human Performance
In many ways, our individuality is both in and out of our control. By being curious about what works and doesn't work for you and taking ownership of your bio-individuality, you can positively impact your Personal Readiness.
Have you ever felt you were odd because what works for someone else doesn’t work for you? Whether it’s a nutritional strategy, an exercise regime, tips on leadership style, or managing your team, what works for one person often doesn't work for others.
We see people get super fit with one type of workout routine and falsely believe that if it worked for them, it must be good for everyone. Similarly, this same thing happens with personal growth, leadership, and so many other things. The problem is, we are all unique, and one size never fits all. Propagating this misconception even more, when we collect data on a group, the myth is that the average describes everyone in that group. As Harvard professor Todd Ross describes in his book The End of Average, not one person actually fits the average.
Many factors influence our individuality. First, we have our genetic makeup (our DNA coding) and our epigenetic factors (which genes are turned on). And then there are all of the things that impact our billions of experiences that make up our life (culture, family, society, social media, education, etc.).
In many ways, our individuality is both in and out of our control.
Performing at your best is about knowing your individual needs
Recently, I (Laura) was working with a female tennis player who was experiencing repeated low-grade injuries that were taking much longer to return to play than expected to heal. Her mood was constantly up and down, she found it difficult to make decisions in key moments, and she would report times of low energy, diminished motivation, and a sense of ‘brain fog’.
On the surface, the player appeared to be doing all the right things regarding her training and recovery balance. She appeared to be eating all the right foods and was naturally frustrated with the constant injuries stopping her from playing.
The performance team was perplexed, but through an insatiable curiosity, we kept trying to figure out why this was happening. What could be hindering recovery and causing all of these nagging injuries?
After turning over every stone, we noticed the player only having episodic menstrual cycles, which made us look at her hormone profile. Interestingly, two key hormones, estrogen and progesterone, were not at the levels they should be. Again we asked, "Why?" Knowing that what an athlete eats can influence their hormone profile, we assessed her energy expenditure and energy consumption. The findings were fascinating – she was at a 1,000-calorie deficit both during her training and competition days. In sports, this is known as Relative Energy Deficiency (RED-S). After addressing her energy balance through increasing how much and how often she ate, she started to feel more energized. As her hormone profile normalized, her mood, cognitive ability, motivation, and injury status all improved over time. Finally, she was experiencing the performance she deserved.
For us, there were many learnings. It took a lot of digging to understand her individual issues and needs, but, once again, we were reminded about just how different we all are. This experience reminded us of how crucial the sex hormones, male and female, are to our performance, both physically and cognitively. Interestingly, “normal” hormones levels can differ from person to person and differ within daily and monthly cycles.
Sex hormones are an aspect of human performance that is often overlooked, especially in the corporate world. Estrogen promotes the growth and repair of our neurons. Progesterone is involved in calming the nervous system and promoting deep sleep phases. Testosterone is key for motivation and energy, as well as bone health and muscle repair. Sometimes, when you are doing everything right (according to what is working for others), but you aren't feeling the energy and performance you want, it may be time to go deeper.
Take ownership of your performance by being curious
Is there a perfect audit to discover your own unique bio-individuality? Probably not, but increasing your awareness and asking more questions is a great way to help understand your own physiology. Looking at your performance from all angles can require experts from many different fields, but ultimately, what feels right to you is critical.
At TIGNUM, we are embarking on a journey to better understand the impact of sex hormones on the brain and physiology. Our experience shows the huge impact they have on our personal readiness, and ultimately, on our Sustainable Human Performance.
If you are feeling below optimal in any area of your performance, these questions can help initiate an individuality audit:
Is this my normal?
Are there patterns (daily, weekly, monthly, annual) to how I feel?
Why is this happening?
Where can I seek more information that will help me understand this?
By being curious about what works and doesn't work for you and taking ownership of your bio-individuality, you can positively impact your personal readiness.
So, is our individuality in our control? Yes, it is. Our habits play a big role in how that is expressed. Taking ownership is key if we are to fully step into our potential. Our hormones are a prime example of this. Over the coming months, we will continue to explore how our habits influence hormones in relation to our human performance. Stay tuned.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Laura Penhaul // Chief Innovation Officer
As TIGNUM’s Chief Innovation Officer, Laura explores the latest science and innovation to support the performance of our clients. As a double world record holder from leading a team to row across the Pacific Ocean, combined with 15 years experience working in Olympic and Paralympic sports as a Physiotherapist, Laura is passionate about supporting teams and individuals to achieve their personal best.
ABOUT TIGNUM
TIGNUM is the major performance building block for business professionals, designed around a skill- and data-based approach that respects the individuality, focuses on the brain, evolves constantly, and creates lasting impact. Its international team comes from a wide range of fields, including human behavior, elite athletics, special forces, performance medicine, executive coaching, change consultants, and more.
Leveraging Hormonal Changes Across Life's Cycles to Sustain High Performance with Dr. Emma Ross
Dr. Emma Ross (Co-Founder and Co-CEO, The Well HQ) advocates a better understanding of how hormones impact our performance. In this episode, she shares how important it is for us to know and expertly navigate through our individual hormonal rhythms.
Dr. Emma Ross, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, The Well HQ
“The body literacy piece is so important in our mid-life as women because it’s critical for helping us understand what we can do; what works and what doesn’t.”
As a lifelong athlete, mother, and highly-respected sports scientist, Dr. Emma Ross has made it her mission to tackle the taboos that exist not only within sports, but business and society, around women’s health, menstrual cycles, mental health and the impact hormones have on our ability to perform at our best. In this conversation with Scott Peltin, Dr. Ross discusses:
How our hormones ebb and flow and how this affects our mental and physical performance at different phases of our hormone cycles
Why understanding our individual rhythms is key to creating an optimal performance state
Why breaking the taboos around the natural female life cycle is imperative to creating psychological safety and effective leadership environments
Bio-individual awareness is critical for every human. Have a listen to discover how you can manage your mindset, movement, nutrition, and recovery strategies during your unique phases to maximize your impact.
ABOUT TIGNUM THOUGHTCAST
TIGNUM ThoughtCast is a series of short interviews in which TIGNUM co-founder Scott Peltin sits down with friends, clients, and human performance experts to explore the application of Sustainable Human Performance.
The most neglected performance factor: hormones
It's time to change the narrative around hormones—they don't control us or just bring negative symptoms. Instead, we can manage our hormones and leverage their impact to enhance our performance.
Business professionals, specifically female leaders, can significantly benefit from understanding hormonal patterns, gaining body literacy, and learning strategies to navigate hormonal fluctuations.
TIGNUM Performance Specialists Laura Penhaul, Angela Walker, and Scott Peltin
In this roundtable, our TIGNUM performance specialists share their insights into the impact of hormones on performance, and specifically brain performance. Business professionals, specifically female leaders, will greatly benefit from understanding the impact of hormones, gaining a new sense of body literacy, and learning strategies to deal with hormonal fluctuations.
TIGNUM offers a program designed for female leaders and their teams to help them harness the power of hormones and be their best throughout all life stages: The XX Factor.
ABOUT TIGNUM
TIGNUM is the major performance building block for business professionals, designed around a skill- and data-based approach that respects the individuality, focuses on the brain, evolves constantly, and creates lasting impact. Its international team comes from a wide range of fields, including human behavior, elite athletics, special forces, performance medicine, executive coaching, change consultants, and more.