Pro Athlete on Ultrahuman Blog

Ultrahuman-powered smart pillow shown to transform pro-gamers' sleep

Wed, 17 Sep 2025 13:03:14 +0000

A new smart pillow that leverages Ultrahuman Ring AIR sleep insights to transform the sleep of pro-gamers and athletes has been unveiled at the Dubai Esports Arena.

Developed by Cambridge Sleep Sciences in partnership with Tech Co, Achieveminds, and Ultrahuman, the Tech Co Performance Pillow is powered by CSS’s SleepEngine™ technology and tuned in real time by data from the Ring AIR.

In a trial presented at the launch, Achieveminds gamers recorded 28% more REM sleep, 31% less time awake, and higher sleep efficiency, with feedback from the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) confirming that athletes not only slept better but also felt more rested.

Why sleep is the hardest Tour De France stage to win

Tue, 08 Jul 2025 20:27:21 +0000

As the 2025 Tour de France kicks off in Lille, the mountain stages and breakaway sprints will grab headlines – but the hours between the finish line and the start line are where the real recovery happens.

Former elite rider Rigoberto Urán lives by the motto, “Bike races are won in bed.” That rings true because sleep isn’t a luxury during the Tour de France – it’s a performance tool.

Famous athletes' resting heart rate – and why it's so low

Mon, 16 Jun 2025 14:07:38 +0000

Elite athletes often have resting heart rates that seem abnormally low by general standards, and there are some very famous examples.

Professional athletes’ heart rates often dip into the 30s or even the high 20 bpm. It’s a sign of extreme cardiovascular efficiency. Years of high-volume endurance training strengthen the heart, allowing it to pump more blood with each beat and requiring fewer beats overall.

In contrast, a high resting heart rate, typically defined as above 100 bpm, can be a marker of chronic stress, poor fitness, or underlying health conditions such as hypertension or heart failure. For pro athletes, low is normal and often optimal.

H.S Prannoy: Story of the Thomas Cup Champion

Tue, 04 Apr 2023 19:24:00 +0000

Whether it was his performances at the Youth Olympics in 2010, the Bahrain International Challenge in 2011, or his outstanding contribution to India’s historic win at the 2022 Thomas Cup, Prannoy has always been in the limelight with his remarkable talent.

But being a top athlete is no cakewalk. It takes discipline, hard work, and dedication, not just on the court but also off it. Nutrition, mental focus, and recovery all play a crucial role in shaping an athlete’s performance. And who better to talk about it than the man himself?

Impact of Keto Diet On Pro Athletes

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 17:23:00 +0000

A keto diet is generally defined as a high-fat, moderate-protein and very-low-carbohydrate diet, consisting of 75 per cent fat, 25 per cent protein and 5 per cent carbohydrates. It was first used as a medical, nutritional therapy to control epilepsy, but over the years, it showed a difference in body composition by reducing weight and body-fat percentage and has been increasingly used in this regard.

Highlights

A ketogenic diet has shown to reduce weight by causing a reduction in fat-free mass and lipid synthesis and increase in lipolysis and fat metabolism,
Being on ketosis leads to low insulin levels and promotes fat oxidation by allowing fats to move from the cell to the circulation. This process of breaking down fats to provide energy leads to a state called ketosis, which happens in 3–4 days,
With a keto diet, there is an increased ability to preserve glycogen stores from depleting during exercise.

Incorporating 75 per cent fat in your diet can be a challenge due to its high percentage. To sustain ketosis, include more saturated fats such as butter, bacon, olive oil, fatty fish, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, cheese, cream cheese, etc. Keep protein intake at moderate levels as high levels of protein can convert to glucose, interfere with ketone production, and alter ketosis. Include slow-digesting carbs that are majorly fibre-rich to reduce calories and not cause a glucose spike.

Adapting To Stressors

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 17:20:00 +0000

The effects of stress and anxiety on athletes are of paramount concern to coaches and instructors as most sportspersons grapple with the issue on a daily basis. Competitive sport is a thrilling, strenuous and progressively fast-paced world.

Players and coaches alike are frequently working long hours to identify ways to improve individual skills, achieve maximum squad talent and develop mental toughness in order to remain one step ahead of their competitors and achieve success.

The Key To Unlocking The Door To Restorative Sleep

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 17:19:00 +0000

Sleep hygiene is often considered the key to maintaining the body’s circadian rhythm. Yet, athletes often find sleep hard to come by, with them having to combat the weight of expectations, deal with jet lags, go through intense training sessions and participate in gruelling tournaments. In order to get sufficient sleep amid all this, athletes should aim to maintain stable sleep hygiene. The article serves to reveal how regular sleep hygiene habits are the essence of restorative and quality sleep.

Elite Athletes: Dangers of Doping

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 17:18:00 +0000

Doping is the use of a prohibited substance (eg: a steroid/erythropoietin) or a prohibited method (eg: blood/gene doping) aimed at increasing athletic performance and concealing or attempting to conceal such use of substances/methods. Possession/trafficking of prohibited substances and evasion of/tampering with a doping control process are also considered doping offenses.

Highlights

Doping is the use of a prohibited substance (eg: a steroid/erythropoietin) or a prohibited method (eg: blood/gene doping) aimed at increasing athletic performance and concealing or attempting to conceal such use of substances/ methods,
The global regulator for anti-doping in sport is WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency). Every year, WADA publishes a prohibited list of substances and methods,
Doping includes the use of steroids/anabolic agents, blood doping and erythropoietin, stimulants, human growth hormone (HGH), peptide hormones and their analogues, opioids and masking agents.

Why is Doping wrong in Sports?

Doping is considered to be wrong in any sport due to the following reasons:

Mental Imagery: Learning, Problem-Solving And Performance

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 17:17:00 +0000

Mental imagery represents sensory states such as visual, auditory, olfactory, taste, and proprioceptive states (state of being connected to movement and posture of the body and its physiology).

It is a mental training technique used by productive people to prepare for action by repeating and training their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours to improve their performance and well-being.

Highlights

Mental imagery is the mental representation of sensory states such as visual, auditory, olfactory, taste, and proprioceptive states (state of being connected to movement and posture of the body and its physiology),
It is used effectively in a variety of settings, including psychology, sports psychology, psychotherapy, and remedial education. Mental imagery is used in cognitive-behavioural therapies in psychiatry, particularly for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and social phobia,
You can learn to use mental imagery by practising it every day. Begin by visualising yourself in a specific situation. For example, imagine you’re participating in a sport like football. Visualising yourself playing before each game can help you improve your performance, confidence, control, and mental awareness while injured.

It is used effectively in a variety of settings, including psychology, sports psychology, psychotherapy, and remedial education. Mental imagery is a scientifically proven technique that uses images to maximize the brain’s potential. Imaging has an impact on more than just the muscles, causing cardiovascular and respiratory responses.

Mental Skills That Successful Athletes Possess

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 15:45:00 +0000

When Australian Open 2022 runners-up Daniil Medvedev found himself two sets and a match point down in the quarterfinal, he said to himself, ‘What would Novak do?’ He went on to win the match with an impressive display of physical and mental skills. And anyone familiar with tennis would agree that Novak Djokovic is synonymous with mental strength.

It is natural to associate this skill with elite athletes. Now, what exactly makes an athlete successful? Ranking or number of trophies, to an extent, yes. But these aren’t the only determinants of success in sport. A 14-year-old golfer who hasn’t won a trophy yet, a 34-year-old tennis player whose goal is to play an entire tournament with the same energy and a marathon runner aiming to finish in 24 hours are all successful athletes.

Priming For Athletic Training: Psychology Framework

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 15:32:00 +0000

Mental training or priming for toughness and endurance has been underestimated by many athletes and coaches. However, one has to only look at the careers of Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant to see the massive impact priming has on honing the mental strength and competitive attitude of sportspersons and helping them to perform at their best.

In the field of psychology, priming refers to a technique in which the introduction of one stimulus influences the response of people to a subsequent stimulus. In the process of priming, just before another stimulus or task is introduced, an association/representation in memory is activated.

Does Cold Water Immersion Help?

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 14:44:00 +0000

Cold water immersion (CWI) has gained popularity among a diverse group of people, including athletes, for its effects in reducing inflammation, exercise recovery, improving overall health and even weight loss. Wim Hof’s popularity in recent times has only helped the cause and more and more people are using CWI or ice baths.

Highlights

Claims of health benefits from cold water go back centuries. Hippocrates said water therapy allayed lassitude and Thomas Jefferson used a cold foot bath every morning for six decades to ‘maintain his good health’,
High intramuscular pressures, sustained release of calcium from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, and strain contribute to mechanical stress during high-force skeletal muscle contractions,
Cold water immersion is used to reduce hyperthermia by bringing down the core temperature after exercise.

Intense exercise causes physiological stress that results in energy depletion, hyperthermia, muscle damage, oxidative stress, inflammation and nervous system fatigue. The consequence: reduced performance, soreness, decreased muscle function, stiffness and swelling that may last several days.

Warm Ups And Cool Downs For Different Sports

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 14:28:00 +0000

Performing an effective warm-up and cool-down protocol can aid in reducing the risk of injuries from physical activity, improving performance, and promoting longevity. There are various warm-up and cool-down methodologies that you can employ to maximize your training sessions. Some of these are discussed below.

Highlights

When it comes to warming-up, a method based on scientific practice is the RAMP (Raise, Activate, Mobilize and Potentiate) protocol,
It was developed by Ian Jeffreys and is used by several elite coaches around the world,
There are several cool-down strategies that can be employed at the end of a training session to relax the body and return from a state of high activation.

When it comes to warming-up, a method based on scientific practice is the RAMP (Raise, Activate, Mobilize and Potentiate) protocol. It was developed by Ian Jeffreys and is used by several elite coaches around the world. It is a sequence that provides a time-efficient option for addressing several factors of performance that can provide long-term benefits. Let’s break it down:

Relationship Between ACE2 Receptors And COVID

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 13:26:00 +0000

ACE2, short for angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, is a protein present on the surface of many cell types, including in the lungs, the heart, blood vessels, the kidneys, the liver and the gastrointestinal tract.

ACE2 can also be found in epithelial cells, which create protective barriers by lining specific tissues. Oxygen (O2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) are swapped between the lungs and blood vessels within this very epithelial lining that is present in the lungs. ACE2 is abundantly found in the lungs on type II pneumocytes, which is a crucial cell mechanism seen in the alveoli, where O2 is absorbed and waste CO2 is released.

How Does Environment Impact Health And Well-Being?

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 13:13:00 +0000

The environment we live, train or work in can have positive as well as adverse effects on our health and well-being and, of course, on our performance in a sport as an athlete. Environmental factors—like the temperature, air quality, humidity, allergens, the pollutants present in the air and water, and so on—all contribute to our overall sense of well-being in one way or another. Athletes especially need to pay close attention to these factorsas they have the potential to negatively affect their performance, particularly closer to the date of a competition. When athletes travel to different locations for competitions, they can be inadvertently exposed to unknown stressors that can affect them both physiologically and psychologically.

How To Train During Off-Season From A Performance Perspective

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 12:58:00 +0000

The competitive season for sport can be demanding and fatiguing as athletes find themselves firing on all cylinders for the entire time. As the season progresses, the athletes inevitably end up performing repetitive movements and actions in their respective sport, which may predispose them to certain injury mechanisms (also referred to as the “inciting event”).

Highlights

The off season ensures that athletes get to rest and recover, enables the rehabilitation and strengthening of tissues/joints affected by injuries and allows one to prepare for the upcoming season,
While under-training will result in poor adaptations in the given span of time, on the other hand, chaotically pushing beyond one’s limits (or overtraining) may result in potential injuries, which is counterproductive and takes away time from training and sport,
Each individual adapts differently to stimulus and it is important to find and hammer that sweet spot for maximal adaptations, minus the negative side- effects.

The off season

Upon completion of the season, and before moving on to the next, the athletes usually get some time off in the form of an off season. This is important for several reasons:

Mental Recovery And Performance

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 12:05:00 +0000

Recovery can be defined as a restorative process of the mind and body over time. It involves the rehabilitation of an individual’s psychology, physiology and biopsychosocial balance. When this balance is being disturbed by certain external or internal sources of stress, the condition of fatigue sets in and a blanket of tiredness shrouds the mind and body. Efforts to change this physiological and psychological state by stimulating them and once again establishing the allostatic balance is one way to get rid of the fatigue state through recovery methods and techniques.

Methods Of Facilitating Recovery

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 11:20:00 +0000

Recovery, one of the pillars of high performance, is essential to the process of adaptation to the various stressors that an individual is subjected to—exercise, competition, practice, work stress, and so on.

It is crucial to implement methods in your daily routine to facilitate the recovery and restoration of the multiple systems in our body, mainly, the neurological, musculoskeletal, endocrine and immune systems.

Finding a balance between the stressors and recovery strategies is important to maintain a consistent and sustainable active lifestyle as well as to perform at the highest level in sport. Due to the complex and multifaceted nature of the recovery process, there is no magic pill or a single way to enhance it.

Is CrossFit Beneficial For Pro Athletes?

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 10:58:00 +0000

Over the past couple of decades, CrossFit® training has grown exponentially, with the number of CrossFit centres or “boxes” increasing each year. The origins of CrossFit date back to 1995, when the founder, Greg Glassman, opened a gym in California, where he had been hired to train a police department.

This created the perfect platform to train individuals. And being a youth gymnast, an avid bicyclist and a believer in weightlifting himself, Glassman brought all of these aspects of physical training together and formally established CrossFit in 2000—rooted in the essence of cross-training.

Inflammation And Athletic Performance: What Is The Connection?

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 09:10:00 +0000

Inflammation is our body’s normal response to any stressor, injury or foreign invaders, such as bacterial or viral infections. Inflammation is necessary, since it is our immune system’s defense mechanism for protecting and helping the body heal. It could be acute and chronic.

Highlights

Exercise-induced inflammation, which is a natural recovery process after exercise where the body compensates for the stress of the workout helps with recovery, muscle repair, recovery and adaptation to new exercises,
An athlete breaks down muscle and their body attempts to repair it as fast as possible through nutrition and rest. This is so that the body is ready for activity the next day as well,
When dealing with inflammation, it is important to know about cytokines, which are proteins that set off the immune system.

Acute inflammation is short-lived. For example, when you cut your finger, your immune system sends white blood cells to heal the area, which in turn creates swelling and redness. Chronic, or systemic, inflammation lasts longer, as it results from persistent damage to tissues, which keeps the inflammatory process going on. This could be because of a poor lifestyle, a diet high in inflammatory foods, stress, smoking, alcohol consumption, inadequate sleep or exercise and autoimmune conditions.

Benefits Of Having A Support System

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 07:19:00 +0000

How do you judge an athlete? Often, it is by their win-to-loss ratio. Failure is as much a part of sport as winning, and how an athlete copes with failure speaks volumes about them. Further, knowing how to deal with a loss can help sportspersons reclaim control over their lives during low periods. This involves understanding the importance of a support system, which could be family, friends and even perfect strangers.

Off Days: What to Do From A Physiology And Nutrition Perspective

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 06:54:00 +0000

Athletes understand the importance of exercise and training for optimal performance and improvement. However, rest and recovery are also a crucial aspect of an exercise program because they allow the body to repair and strengthen between workouts. They also allow the athlete to recover psychologically. Rest and recovery are underappreciated and underutilised training variables that are critical to achieving optimal performance and injury prevention. They’re as valuable as training for peak performance.

How Low Fuelling Causes Performance Issues

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 06:04:00 +0000

Sports nutrition is crucial when it comes to optimising training and performance and the prevention of or recovery from injury. Nutrition for athletes can be compared to fuel for a car. A car must have sufficient fuel in its tank to reach its destination. Moreover, optimal performance requires the right kind of fuel. Adding the wrong fuel can lead to the car breaking down.

Highlights

Sports nutrition is crucial when it comes to optimising training and performance, and the prevention of or recovery from injury. From a fuelling point of view, the right balance of macronutrients, micronutrients and water is essential,
Low fueling or low energy availability (LEA) refers to the body’s inability to support regular physiological functions for ideal health due to lack of energy. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) now identifies RED-S as a condition that affects athlete performance,
As per IOC standards, healthy eating habits with appropriate EA, normal hormonal and metabolic function and healthy bone density are factors that ensure low-risk participation in sports.

From a fueling point of view, the right balance of macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, fats), micronutrients (minerals, vitamins) and water is essential for peak performance. Inadequate fueling can impact the body’s ability to optimise resources, thereby affecting performance.

Attentional Focus: How this can help move away from the crowd

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 05:48:00 +0000

Right after winning the five-hour long 2019 Wimbledon final, Novak Djokovic famously said, “When the crowd chants Roger, I hear Novak.”

I am where my attention is.

Focused attention is the brain’s ability to concentrate its attention beam on a target stimulus for a certain period of time. Focused attention is one that makes it possible to instantly identify relevant stimuli. This means that only the information captured in the attention range will be perceived and processed. Part of it travels through the conscious pathway, the part that makes us notice that we have perceived it voluntarily, and part of the information is perceived subconsciously; we won’t be aware of it, as it is involuntary.

Sports injuries: How to cope

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 05:14:00 +0000

In 2016, this Swiss athlete was kept out of action for about five months because of a torn meniscus in his knee, only to suffer a back injury on his return to court. Later the same year, the knee injury recurred during a match, forcing the all-time favourite to miss the rest of the tennis season. Many thought this was the end of the road for him.

However, not only did Roger Federer bounce back, but he did it sooner than expected. He spent this time away to rejuvenate and return stronger. So, how did Federer beat the odds, even defying age in the process, to win more titles and set records when people had nearly written him off? Apart from medical treatment, Federer’s comeback emphasises the importance of coping strategies that an athlete can use to overcome setbacks from injury and rehab periods.

The Flow State Of Mind

Sun, 14 Aug 2022 17:21:00 +0000

You may have experienced a flow state at some point in your life—that sense of fluidity between your body and mind when you are completely absorbed by and intensely focused on something beyond the point of distraction. Time feels to have slowed down, and your senses feel like they have been heightened.

As action and awareness sync to create effortless momentum, you are one with the task at hand. Some describe this sensation as being “in the zone.” This is the flow state and is available to anyone, whether they are engaged in physical activity, a creative endeavour, or a simple day-to-day task.

Elite Athletes And Mental Health Disorders

Sun, 14 Aug 2022 17:19:00 +0000

Elite athletes are those who compete at the professional, Olympic, or collegiate levels. Elite athletes are seen as high-functioning individuals with various positive attributes such as being “focused”, “resilient,” “confident”, and “composed.”

Highlights

Elite athletes are those who compete at the professional, Olympic, or collegiate levels. But there has been in a lack of focus on mental health disorders (MHD) in the world of elite sports,
The World Health Organization (WHO) states that “mental health is an integral and essential component of health,”
Throughout their sporting careers, elite athletes face a unique set of stressors. Because they operate in very different environmental and social contexts, any of these stressors can lead to mental illness in an individual. These can be addressed through education, awareness and building a conducive environment for seeking help.

It is a common fallacy that only athletes who have no mental and emotional vulnerabilities succeed and are able to compete at the highest level. There has been a lack of focus on mental health disorders (MHD) in the world of elite sports.

Dealing With IBS As A Pro-Athlete

Mon, 11 Apr 2022 11:50:00 +0000

Irritable bowel syndrome (or IBS) is characterized by a group of gastrointestinal symptoms that happen together in a person. The symptoms as well as the severity of the same might differ from person to person. IBS is considered as a functional disorder, meaning that the gastrointestinal tract functions abnormally on account of receiving mixed signals from the brain.

Common symptoms of IBS

The common symptoms of IBS include abdominal pain, bloating, flatulence, altered bowel movements and constipation/diarrhoea.

Emotional Fatigue Is Real for Athletes

Thu, 07 Apr 2022 11:36:00 +0000

Sport teaches people social interaction, hard work, the meaning of success and coping skills for failure. However, when recreational athletics turn to intense competitive sports, emotional fatigue is too often the result. Emotional fatigue is a state of feeling emotionally worn-out and drained due to accumulated stress from your day-to-day routines. It is one of the signs of burnout.

When an athlete or performer experiences overpowering tiredness and lack of energy from the constant training and competition sessions, they are experiencing what is known as a burnout, in which they begin to lose interest in the sport.

Rest and Recovery during off season

Sat, 02 Apr 2022 12:13:00 +0000

Off-season is an extremely important time because it lays the foundation for the next phases of training and competition. It is a time to evaluate the past season or year and design a plan to reach future goals. Going without an off-season is a little like going with too few sleep hours in your day. One may not realize the consequences in the first few years, but if athletes keep competing without a break, it will eventually lead to a decrease in performance, mental burnout and, in many cases, injuries, aches and pains.

Your Blood Never Lies: Decoding Your Biochemistry

Fri, 01 Apr 2022 12:31:00 +0000

The study of blood work has evolved over time. It is now a critical criterion that indicates the body’s capacity to function properly. Medical professionals interpret the blood’s biochemical indices to diagnose and identify existing problems and for early detection. The activity of each organ in the human body can be analyzed through singular and/or multiple biochemical indicators. Therefore, the determination of concentration and comparison of biochemical indices in blood components can help doctors diagnose diseases such as diabetes, dyslipidemia, etc. Of late, fitness enthusiasts and active individuals have taken an interest in some parameters to optimize their health and performance.

Is ‘Eight Hours’ The Golden Number For Optimum Performance In Athletes

Sun, 20 Mar 2022 14:08:00 +0000

Gruelling training sessions, physically demanding tournaments, long haul flights, societal expectations. The stressors that an athlete faces on a daily basis certainly take a toll on them. Finding some hours of shut eye in the midst of all the chaos can be a challenge for many. A majority of athletes face severe sleep issues as a consequence of their busy lifestyle. Once they do fall asleep, the question remains as to how many hours athletes should sleep. The national sleep guidelines suggest that young adults and adults, who make up a majority of the athlete demographic, are advised to get around 7-9 hours of rest a day. This article serves to reveal whether the eight-hour sweet spot is the optimum duration for attaining better performance.

The Role Of Massages In Sports Performance And Recovery

Thu, 17 Mar 2022 15:03:00 +0000

Often thought to enhance performance in sports and serve as a critical aid in recovery, massages remain a popular go-to for athletes. However, significant studies have revealed the contrary and shown that sports massages do not directly improve sports performance. This article seeks to debunk the idea that sports massages are beneficial for sports performance and recovery.

Highlights

Sports massages have minimal impact on sports recovery and performance,
As elucidated in the article, massages have a negligible impact on performance and recovery but may motivate athletes to perform better,
Active recovery, good sleep, water immersion and cryotherapy are some alternatives to massage therapy.

What is a sports massage?

A sports massage refers to a more intense form of a regular massage, which involves the techniques of effleurage (sliding, circular movements), petrissage (tissue kneading and pressure), friction (pressure application) and the application of vibrations.

How Positive Visualization Plays A Role In Performance Anxiety

Wed, 16 Mar 2022 15:15:00 +0000

Performance anxiety refers to one’s fear or apprehension about their ability to perform a particular task. Affecting people of all ages, from kids to senior citizens, each with their own issues to be anxious about, performance anxiety can feel like the game is over before it even begins. This manifests in athletes too and is referred to as ‘choking’ due to high amounts of perceived stress, though some use the nerves to pump themselves up during competition. Overall, if one’s interpretation of the adrenaline rush is anxiety, leading to irrelevant thoughts taking over, it will most likely interfere with your ability to perform the task.

Importance of Hip Mobility and Exercises to Improve Form

Mon, 14 Mar 2022 17:06:00 +0000

‘Hip mobility’ is a term that has come to be often used in modern society. This is due to the countless hours we all spend sitting at our work desks and living physically inactive lifestyles, which are all leading to the rising prevalence of back pain.
Today we will delve deeper into the importance of hip mobility, the factors that influence it as well as provide you with some exercises that you can include in your routine to keep those hips strong and supple.