The stressors on athletes may look intense. But everyday life can be even more demanding, says Professor Greg Whyte
I’ve spent my entire career focused on one thing: improving human performance. In the early days, that meant working exclusively with elite athletes – helping them to go further, faster, and recover better. The more work I did in this area, the clearer it became that the same principles that help an athlete optimise their physiology, psychology, and recovery can help anyone perform better in their daily life. In fact, when applied thoughtfully, it can be even more powerful.
That’s exactly what led me to take everything I’d learned in elite sport and adapt it for broader use.
Take supplementation. It’s easy to assume that because a product was designed in an elite sport environment for high performers, it’s somehow not meant for anyone else. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, it may be even more useful.
There’s a misconception that elite athletes are under more pressure, more stress, and therefore have more need for advanced recovery tools. Yes, the physical stress of training for the Olympics or World Championships is intense. But let me share a model I use – a seesaw of stress and recovery – that tells a deeper story.
Why recovery matters
On one end of the seesaw, we have stress . For an athlete, this might mean intense physical training. But for the average person, stress often comes from a blend of other sources: work deadlines, family responsibilities, financial worries, lack of sleep and emotional strain.
These bricks stack up, one on top of another, and, in many cases, the total weight of those stressors can exceed what even elite athletes face. After all, most professional athletes don’t juggle childcare, bills, and corporate presentations between training sessions. Their lives are actually designed to minimise stress so they can perform. How many non-athletes can say the same?
On the other end of the seesaw is recovery . When stress outweighs recovery, we fall out of balance. Over time, that imbalance can lead to burnout, illness, or reduced quality of life. But by supporting rest, and overall recovery, the scales tip back toward equilibrium.
That’s why prioritising recovery can be more valuable for someone navigating a full-time job, family life, and daily stressors than it is for someone who spends their day training and being cared for by a performance team.
The Formula One effect
This crossover from elite performance to everyday life isn’t unique to health. Look at Formula One or the space program. So much of the innovation in our daily lives – from safety tech in our cars to the memory foam in our mattresses – was originally developed in these highly specialised, high-stakes environments.
Performance science works the same way: innovation happens at the top, but its real power is in how it trickles down and transforms lives across the board.
It’s also important to note that we can affect both sides of the stress-recovery equation. Yes, we can improve recovery with better nutrition, sleep, and supplementation. But we can also reduce stress through lifestyle changes, better financial planning, healthier relationships, and smarter time management. The goal is balance, and we have tools available to us, if we choose to use them.
Ultimately, it’s not about trying to replicate the precise standards of an elite athlete, it’s about applying the best of what we know to help us live stronger, happier and healthier lives.
The ainslie + ainslie Performance People podcast applies insights from elite sport to everyday performance. New episodes every Tuesday.
