Perform Better in Life

Control Your Cortisol to Improve Your Performance

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Meet Our Scientific Advisory Board

Ioana A. Bina, M.D., Ph.D.

Integrative Medicine
Yale Trained Gastroenterologist
Ph.D. in Endocrinology

Prof. Phyllis Gardner, M.D.

Internal Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Stanford Professor of Medicine

Prof. Maria Hopman, M.D., Ph.D.

Physiologist
Radboud UMC
300+ Scientific Papers

Prof. Chris McLellan, Ph.D.

Ph.D. in Endocrinology
Griffith University
100+ Published Works

What Is Cortisol?

Cortisol is the hormone that your body produces when you experience stress. It regulates your flight-or-fight-or-freeze response, which is extremely helpful when your life is at stake. After all, it helps you make lightning-fast decisions to survive.

But in today’s society, chronic stress and overtraining are elevating cortisol levels over longer periods. This can put many crucial functions on “hold,” such as brain and muscle cell repair, and even your digestion and immune systems. Meanwhile, elevated cortisol keeps releasing energy from sugars and fats, even after the urgent need is gone. This can further damage processes in every single cell of your body.

Chronic stress is a contributing cause to muscle weakness, brain fog, ulcers, weight gain, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, Alzheimer’s disease, depression, infertility, cancer … the list goes on. It is so urgent, the World Health Organization labeled stress the health epidemic of the 21st century.

Improve Athletic Performance by Measuring Your Cortisol

Did You Know Cortisol Is the Best Way to Measure Training Readiness and Avoid Overtraining?

Here’s a surprising fact: Sometimes, training more can actually make you weaker. It sounds counterintuitive, but overtraining can set you back and increases the risk of injuries. Sometimes, it’s better to take a break and allow your body to recover. Sometimes, less really is more.

December 14, 2021, 1:33:02 AM

Busting the Heart Rate Variability Myth

Here's a Better Tool for Training and Recovery

It's time to bust a big wellness myth: that heart rate variability (HRV) is a fool-proof method of measuring training readiness. When you look at the research, HRV isn’t as definitive as you might think. Let's look behind the science and shine a light on another well-established marker of training readiness and recovery: cortisol.

December 13, 2021, 9:09:44 PM

Cortisol and Weight Loss

Here’s Why So Many Diets Fail

It’s like that Greek myth about the man cursed to roll a boulder up a steep hill for eternity. Every time he neared the top, the boulder would roll back down. And he’d have to start all over again.

December 14, 2021, 1:24:42 AM

Cortisol and Burnout

How Chronic Stress Leads to Total Exhaustion

We all know how it feels to be stressed. Stress, after all, is part of our everyday lives. It’s that feeling we get whenever we face a new demand and our body goes into high alert. It’s why we often think of stressed people as tense or on edge.

December 13, 2021, 1:49:40 PM

What Is Cortisol

How Cortisol Plays a Vital Role in Your Health

When you think about stress, what comes to mind? Looming work deadlines, financial worries, feeling overwhelmed? In today’s world, stress can take on countless forms. Sometimes, it’s even a force of good. But a key reason behind it all is often overlooked. In this article we’ll explain everything: the good, the bad, the ugly, and why controlling your stress can be a matter of life or death.