Fundamental Force: How Core Principles Propelled a Record-BREAKING Global Cycle

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Project: Cycle Around the World in Under 80 Days
B-LD KITCHEN Founding Member: Laura Penhaul

Laura was the performance manager for Mark Beaumont when he set out to pedal the globe in less than 80 days. It wasn't just a triumph of endurance; it was a masterclass in prioritizing fundamental gains over marginal ones.

Observers and spectators of any sporting or endurance endeavor are often captivated by the minutiae — the sleek aerodynamics of a helmet, the skin-tight efficiency of a racing suit, or the power-to-weight ratios that speak to an athlete's sheer force. Yet, for Laura and Mark, success hinged on the sport's core tenets, tailored to his unique capabilities and the calculated risks involved.

To circumnavigate the globe, the core principles
were clear-cut:

• Maintain 15mph for 16 hours each day, no matter what.




• It had to be done in 80 days, with a mere
3 days reserved for flights and an allowance of 4-6 hours of sleep nightly.




• Endure temperature fluctuations from a balmy 28°C to a chilling 2°C, all while keeping a steady output of 190 watts per hour.




• He would need to climb 149,871 meters (equivalent to climbing Everest 17 times).

In order to achieve this, Laura created a strategy based on four fundamentals:

• 1. Comfort
and Injury Prevention

  Choosing sustainable comfort over ephemeral speed was crucial. It meant favoring a higher posture over an aggressive, low aero position that could cut each day short through pain and power loss.

  It's about the right gear for the conditions, ensuring that saddle sores or wrist strains don't derail the journey. This is more than just avoiding the immediate aches. It's the safeguard against tendon wear and the cognitive decline that comes from fatigue.

• 2. Consistency Across the Board

  Every element demanded uniformity, from training to power output to routine adherence. Wasting five minutes post-break could culminate in losing a whole day over the long haul — unacceptable when chasing a sub-80-day record.

• 3. Hygiene as a Non-Negotiable

  Skincare, oral care, clean apparel, meticulous food preparation — they weren't just routines; they were non-negotiables.

  With illness posing a significant threat to the mission, hygiene standards were paramount for the entire team.

• 4. Optimal Fuelling Strategies

  The right nutrition at the right time wasn't just about energy; it was about maintaining the necessary power to keep the wheels turning.

  It encompassed everything from macro and micro-nutrient distribution to gut health and the psychological well-being that comes from satisfying meals.

Mark and Laura's story isn't just one of physical prowess; it's a testament to a holistic approach where big-picture thinking trumps the allure of marginal gains. It's about the wisdom of working with what you have and recognizing that the strength to push through doesn't start with a single pedal stroke — it begins with a mindset geared toward the foundational elements that drive success in the face of global ambition.

What are the fundamentals
 for your own projects?
Are you focusing on your fundamentals or the marginal gains of so-called performance culture behaviors?



It is an interesting topic we have been exploring through our B-LD KITCHEN conversations.

ABOUT TIGNUM’S B-LD KITCHEN

Ever wondered how top performers reach success? It’s not luck; it’s their boldness and constant readiness to face challenges in a complex, uncertain, and volatile world.

We get it—nowadays it’s tough to stay on top of things without the right energy or tools. That’s why our TIGNUM experts have created the B-LD KITCHEN. Packed with constant inspiration, ongoing conversations, and expert-designed human performance tools and strategies, we aim to significantly impact your work and life, no matter the challenges.

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.

Redefining What it Means to be Human

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Project: The Institute for Moral Imagination
B-LD KITCHEN Founding Member: Deb Bubb

Deb is a trailblazer in
the human resources realm, celebrated for infusing genuine humanity back into the corporate world. Respected for her deep experience in leadership development and talent management within the tech industry, she's held influential positions at UnitedHealth Group, Optum, IBM, and Intel—steering the course of leadership, diversity, talent management, and organizational vitality.

Deb's approach is unique. Throughout her career, she's turned to the fascinating insights of neuroscience and evolutionary biology to deepen our understanding of what it truly means to be human – and how that humanity plays a critical role in our professional performance. She's dedicated to the premise that art and creative self-expression are fundamental to our human experience, shaping our understanding of the world and ourselves.

This insight led her to a profound question: How might we leverage our innate creativity to envision and build the future we aspire to?

So, Deb founded The Institute for Moral Imagination. Centered on the idea that every life is a creative act, the Institute is dedicated to nurturing the artist within us and deepening our moral clarity, imagination, and courage to create a world where we can all flourish. The Institute is a generative resource to build a world where our workplaces, communities, and day-to-day lives are a canvas for creative and moral thought—a future shaped by a collective humanity.

“We're being saturated today with messages and experiences that come out of an echo chamber and keep us in a narrower and narrower slice of our brain. Art and creativity invite us to experience and use all of our brains, many different ways that our brains are designed, to sense and experience the world.”

Deb Bubb, B-LD KITCHEN Founding Member and
Co-Founder of the Institute for Moral Imagination

CEO of the kyu collective, Michael Birkin, co-founder of SYPartners, Keith Yamashita, and Deb are undertaking a powerful initiative cut from the same cloth.

The movement is called “20 Summers” and asks: If you had 20 good summers left, how would you live your life? The effort has two major offerings:

1) A group-based, in-person set of experiences where we work with people in “cohorts” to plan for and flourish throughout their next twenty years and

2) An online and digital platform designed to serve millions with tools, experiences, and learning solutions to facilitate their growth and development into elderhood

Through 20 Summers, the team hopes to:



- Help people explore, reckon, and contend with the life they have built so far—taking the best elements of their life and building a new collage


- Forge new mindsets and beliefs that will sustain people through their elderhood—this often means reshaping one’s identity, self-image, self- esteem, and relationships within groups 


- Help people define their purpose, direction, and approach


- Unleash people to experiment, practice, and build new rituals to create this preferred future and life

Deb is embracing a new chapter, moving beyond the corporate sphere to wholeheartedly devote herself to The Institute for Moral Imagination and 20 Summers. Her journey and this significant transition were the focal points of her B-LD KITCHEN Roundtable session, which marked the first time she spoke openly about her shift in focus.

The exchange she had with other members wasn’t just informative—it was a galvanizing experience that reinforced her conviction in the Institute’s mission. This kind of exchange is precisely what the B-LD KITCHEN aims to foster: an environment where dialogue ignites innovation and emboldens the kind of thinking that leads to breakthroughs.

“We can only answer questions we have the courage to ask.”

Keith Yamashita,
 co-founder of 20 Summers

ABOUT TIGNUM’S B-LD KITCHEN

Ever wondered how top performers reach success? It’s not luck; it’s their boldness and constant readiness to face challenges in a complex, uncertain, and volatile world.

We get it—nowadays it’s tough to stay on top of things without the right energy or tools. That’s why our TIGNUM experts have created the B-LD KITCHEN. Packed with constant inspiration, ongoing conversations, and expert-designed human performance tools and strategies, we aim to significantly impact your work and life, no matter the challenges.

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

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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

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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.