If we’re going to be successful in the field of total human optimization, moving forward the industry must find ways to work together.
A few decades ago, very few people were talking—or even thinking—about human optimization.
There was no one looking at the various ways we could increase athletic performance, proactively enhance health and wellness, and improve our cognitive abilities. Those ideas were the stuff of science fiction.
Today, however, major advances in the human performance sphere are helping us enhance our skills beyond what’s considered the individual limit. More and more we’re seeing products and treatments aimed at improving our biological processes, each designed to make us the best we can be.
Everywhere you turn, a wide range and availability of products and services are geared at supporting a more active and healthy lifestyle. They range from performance-focused functional foods and beverages to mobile monitoring devices and advanced recovery tools.
With this growing market, however, comes the responsibility for companies to sell products that aren’t just safe but also transparent as to how and what they do to make us perform better.
When I started Amp Human with my business partner, Erica, we immediately saw a huge opportunity for more innovation and collaboration that would inspire products that are both functional, effective, and trustworthy.
If we’re going to be successful in the field of total human optimization, moving forward the industry must find ways to work together to form a holistic approach to marketing and selling products.
When we do, we’ll be better prepared to attack poor performance and become the best we can be with products that truly make a difference.
Science-backed data will drive advancements faster.
Since its inception, the human performance industry has had incredible innovation, but many of the products and solutions that come out are created in isolation. When that occurs, products enter the market with conflicting messages, leaving consumers confused about how a product works, what’s in it, or why one is better than another.
Right now, customers need to be aware of the various established regulatory frameworks out there.
Additionally, companies need to follow established guidelines to conduct research, collect data, and back claims for products sold in the human performance space. They must also work to ensure safety and quality using third-party certification programs. If not, you end up with businesses operating on the fringes of the industry promoting hype-based products with false or insufficient claims.
Most human performance product research today is nothing more than a snapshot in time. Some companies will use data generated through small, internal trials that don’t produce consistent results. Or they do research in complete isolation while relying on data from similar products.
Moving forward, valid research and third-party certification need to be part of the industry’s focus. Manufacturers should be seeking to assure consumers are educated about what their products do while ensuring they’re both safe and effective. Without these guidelines, it’s hard for consumers to know which brands are reputable, which provide the best quality, and which are nonsense.
At Amp Human, we’ve built our company culture and brand around transparency. That’s part of the reason we invested in creating a scientific team and advisory board with some of the world’s best sports scientists, health and wellness specialists, sports medicine practitioners, and exercise psychologists.
We want to be completely open about what we do, and how that translates to human optimization. With the support of our advisory board, we’re better positioned to share reliable, proven knowledge that helps us create better products while fostering clarity within the industry as a whole.
Collaboration and integration will unlock new levels.
Today, most human optimization companies are working independently, operating within fragmented and siloed systems.
But to get truly optimize the human body, you need to bring everyone to the table for an integrated solution. You need to get out of the silo.
When it comes to performance, the human body is full of feedback mechanisms. If a company is focused on making a product that works to improve one particular area—let’s say hydration—it could benefit to study other areas to inform your success. There could be a bigger solution if you tackle the idea of increasing hydration while also looking at research on things like nutrition, exercise, or physiology.
There needs to be a focus on collaboration before the human performance industry can build a cohesive framework from which to operate and embrace research-based studies.
The people at Nike and Red Bull are already doing this. They’re bringing like-minded companies together with Olympians and high-profile athletes to guide the industry forward and set the standards of how we get there.
Moving forward, we need companies that will continue to take a stand and champion to bring everyone together to decide how to collect data, use diagnostic tools, or analyze products and supplements.
It’s also important to understand where the market is going, and why. And making sure that, when building products and brands, they are all operating from a point of understanding what’s happening with other performance brands, and how they could potentially interact with one another.
By pooling resources, the industry as a whole can work towards a shared vision of helping active adults meet their unique performance goals and optimize health. When you’re able to bring technology from one sector to work in conjunction with technology from another area—or expose research from one company to help build a new product or service—the industry will be able to offer better solutions for overall human performance.
There’s no doubt the human performance industry is growing. We’re all striving to get better, live longer, and be healthier. And there are tons of companies that want to help people achieve their goals. But, despite the excitement and innovation, there’s still plenty of room for improvement.
If everyone within the human performance space worked together, we’d all be better prepared to innovate and move the industry forward. Moving ahead, the challenge will be for companies within the space to work together to expand and innovate on the best practices for optimizing the human body.
