The South African Performance Expert Who Blends Biohacking, Biomechanics, Body, Mind, Relationships, Environment & Beyond To Optimize Human Performance.

Ben Greenfield Life

My guest on today's show is a man I met in India and immediately became intrigued with when he sat down to dinner with me and a friend, and began to delve into unlocking flow states in athletes through breath work. It turns out he had over two decades of experience in coaching professional athletes towards not only cultivating a winning mindset, but also customizing their training loads to their biomechanics and physiology, then optimizing body, mind, relationship and personal environment to skyrocket the careers of the Indian professional teams and athletes he was working with.

His name is Shayamal Vallabhjee, and he describes his new book Breathe, Believe, Balance: A Guide to Self-discovery and Healing as an "out-of-the-box approach" to performance enhancement. It is one part memoir and one part guide to self-discovery - an intimate account of the lessons Shayamal learned while growing up during South Africa's apartheid era, from living the life of a monk and traveling the globe with professional athletes. Using his knowledge and experience from the worlds of science, spirituality, and psychology, in this book, he takes you through this introspective and self-healing journey. From understanding the importance of self-love to decoding the science of healthy relationships; from learning to be emotionally present in every conversation to engineering your environment for success, Breathe, Believe, Balance helps you take a deeper look at your life. Offering a scientific analysis of the human psyche and packed with useful questionnaires, his book is your guide to self-transformation and personal mastery.

Shayamal is a South African born Sports Scientist, Psychologist and High Performance Coach. He hold two masters degrees in Clinical and Organizational Psychology. He grew up in apartheid South Africa, where his dream of wanting to play sports for the country faced an insurmountable opponent in institutionalized segregation. Not quite ready to quit sport, he studied Sports & Exercise Science. After returning from the Cricket World Cup in 2003 (Technical Analyst of Indian Cricket Team), he realized that irrespective of one’s academic qualifications and experience, racism was going to be a barrier to growth for people of color. To escape the pain of discrimination, he lived a monastic life for just under four years at the Hare Krsna Temple in South Africa. During that time, he discovered the close parallels between modern psychology and ancient vedic philosophy. Shayamal has since studied the various spiritual philosophies and worked to bridge the gap between spirituality and psychology in an attempt to guide his clients - the worlds best athletes and CEOs.

Shayamal is a 4x TEDx speaker, a recipient of the INK Fellowship, the Australia India Youth Fellowship, Men’s Health Trainer of the Year, and Wellness Guru of the Year 2019. He serves on the Global Advisory Board of Herbalife Nutrition, Adidas Running and the UK Risk Management Forum. He has authored four book on Sports Science and Motivation and lectured at academic institutes globally for more than a decade. As a motivational speaker, Shayamal has delivered more than 350 keynotes addresses.

Shayamal has served as a consultant to the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa , Kenyan Athletics Team, Indian Olympic Association, United Nations Youth Forums, and on the peer review board of numerous academic scientific journals. He has been a High Performance Coach or Sports Scientist to the South Africa High Performance and Women’s Cricket Team, 2003 Indian World Cup Cricket Team, South Africa Davis Cup Team, Indian Davis Cup Team, Kings XI Punjab (IPL), Bengaluru FC (3 x Winners of Premier League in India), Jaipur Pink Panthers (Inaugural Kabaddi Champions), St Lucia Stars (Carribean Premier League). He has been the Sports Scientist with the Indian Contingent at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, London 2012 Olympics, Delhi Commonwealth Games, and 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games. He has worked on the ATP Tennis Tour for six years with individuals like Mahesh Bhupathi (12 x Grand Slam Champion), Sania Mirza (6 x GS), Max Mirnyi (10 x GS), Gael Monfils, Marin Cilic (US Open Winner), and more.

In 2012, he founded the HEAL Institute - Mumbai’s first Sports Science and Rehab practice. He exited the business in 2018 after it was acquired by Centrum Capital. He is currently the founder of QSV Inspiration Media - a digital content start up, seed funded by AR Rahman, Shekar Kapur and Samir Bangara. Shayamal has been featured as an expert on four National Geographic Documentaries, and has had his own shows on Star Sports and ESPN.

During our podcast, we explore many concepts in the book and beyond, including: -Shayamal's journey to being a high-performance coach...09:55

• Grew up during apartheid era of South Africa
• Wanted to play cricket at the national level, but was unable to due to his race and public policy
• Cricket Union paid for scholarship in sports science
• Went from a cricket player to a member of the medical staff for the national team
• Being a person of authority on the team forced Shayamal to "fast-track" his learning and growth
• In 2003 was hired as a technical analyst for the Indian national cricket team (analyzing biomechanics of team and opposition players)

-How Shayamal analyzed biomechanics of athletes to strengthen his team, and exploit weaknesses of the opposition...14:22

• High-speed digital cameras and patches to analyze movement
• Looking for changes in technique, managing chronic injury such as stress fractures
• This technology has changed professional sports, both competition and training
• Silicon Coach
• Pro Zone camera system

-A victim of blatant racism, Shayamal reorganizes his life's priorities...18:20

• Was short-listed for a position on the South African national team, only to realize it was to fulfill a minority quota
• Bitter with life, Shayamal moved into a Hare Krishna temple where he stayed for 3.5 years
• Suffered lack of sleep due to the temple's 3 am wakeup, forcing him to adjust his sleep schedule
• "Discipline is sticking with something long enough to break you before it makes you"

-How systemic failure in the Indian athletic scene led to Shayamal's first entrepreneurial endeavor...22:43

• Received an invite to work with the Indian national tennis team in preparation for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing
• Discovered indifference toward athletics
• Almost no resources were invested into the athletes' training, medical knowledge, etc.
• Poor decisions regarding logistics, coaching, etc.
• Shayamal views this as a more subtle, albeit real form of discrimination
• Founded the Heal Institute in 2012
• Professor Tim Noakes from the University of Cape Town
  • Episode #138: Tim Noakes Tells You How You Can Use The “Central Governor” To Tap Into Your Muscle’s Hidden Potential.
  • Episode #173: Double Interview Super-Special with Tim Noakes: How To Use Your “Central Governor” and Electrolytes During Exercise.
  • Episode #157: The Death of Gatorade – Should You Stop Using Electrolytes During Exercise? with Tim Noakes
  • How You’re Being Manipulated By The Sports Drink Industry And What You Can Do About It – Audio Interview Transcript
  • Lore of Running by Tim Noakes
• Central Governor Theory: the brain tells the body to slow down
• Need to understand the power of the mind to understand peak athletic performance
• Lessons learned as a monk in the temple (meditation, visualization, etc.) became useful
• Heal Institute opened 10 centers around India; Shayamal left in 2018

Why Shayamal hesitates to call himself a "biohacker"...28:35

• The word "hack" has somewhat dubious origins
• Not trying to "hack" anything; trying to understand the best way to work with the body
• Respect the body, rather than "hack" the body
• "Hack" is thought of as a shortcut
• Understanding the Five Elements to keep the body in balance
  • Water:
    • "Eat" your water through water-rich foods
    • Quench by Dr. Dana Cohen
    • Quench: The Big “8 Glasses A Day” Water Myth, Why Water Isn’t The Best Way To Fully Hydrate & Much More! with Dr. Dana Cohen
  • Air:
    • Breathwork
    • Stimulating parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems
  • Space (fasting):
    • Fasting is the primary form of detoxification and cleansing
    • One of the only principles that are uniform in every religion and faith across the world
    • If sick, food takes energy that could be used to heal the disease
    • Hippocrates used fasting as a form of therapy
  • Fire:
    • Every life form on earth needs the sun to grow
    • Draw energy from the sun via sun gazing early in the morning, or at sunset
    • Sun-ripened foods absorb energy
    • Cooking the food in earthen pots
  • Earth:
    • Eating plant based foods
• Understand what you're taking in, and how it affects the acid-base balance
• Understand the impact of sound on sleep
  • Each room has an ambient sound (35-45 db)
  • If sound is consistent, the brain will eventually block it out
  • Niosh sound level meter app
  • White noise machine in the room, slightly louder than the ambient noise in the room
• To understand the impact of a supplement on the body, take one at a time; check PH of urine 7-8 hours after

-How to analyze and then optimize your personal environment...

• Two environments:
  • External: Everything you see, taste, touch, hear
  • Internal: your mind
• The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Sri Swami Satchidananda
• 5 states of mind:
  • First two are a direct result of one's environment (external and internal)
  • Third, aware of environment, but awareness he can transcend it if he chooses to do so (cannot sustain for long times)
  • Fourth
  • Fifth, so enlightened they change the environment around them
• Novak Djokovic on beating Federer at Wimbledon: "There was a moment in the game...where if I had any chance of winning, I had to remove myself from that environment."
• Standardizing conditions while athletes are traveling
  • Pillow [ology]
  • Pluto Pillow
  • Game Ready machine
  • Norma Tec boots
  • App that analyzes movement while athletes are performing
  • Standardizing air quality is difficult
  • Use a single floor for the team
  • Stay away from exits or elevators
• Take away as many excuses from the athletes as possible

-Testing blood and internal biomarkers...58:45

• Lactic acid testing once per month
• Anaerobic threshold (Dr. Peter Attia)
• Quantify the physiological ceiling
• Psychology kicks in once the physiological ceiling has been hit

-Optimizing circadian rhythmicity and beating jet lag while traveling...1:02:25

• Lumos Tech sleeping mask
• Compression socks and other garments
• Fast while on the plane
• Liquid ketone esters
  • Ketone Aid
  • HVMN

-The importance of relationships when optimizing the environment of a high performer...1:05:22

• Relationship between athlete and coach makes all the difference
• The better an athlete is, the harder it is to push him out of his comfort zone
• Help them understand who they are, then what it takes to get the most out of them
• Coach's job is to keep them pushing when the brain tells the body to slow down
• The environment inside a locker room is everything for a team's performance
• Two mental states in which an athlete works: Confidence bordering on arrogance and humility
• The coach is crucial to finding the proper balance

-What new technologies and practices Shayamal is excited about right now...1:11:36

• Next 1-2 decades will see massive shifts in human physiology not seen before
• Understanding human physiology in a non-invasive way
• Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectrometer (tells muscle fiber types)
• Taking testing from the lab to the field
• Challenge whether the difference between 4th place and gold medal is purely psychological, or if there are physical elements to consider
• Sweat analyses
• Personalized nutrition, supplementation, understanding of the body
• Dermatoglyphics test
• Shayamal's supplemental info sent via email mentioned at the end of the podcast

-And much more! Resources from this episode:

- Shayamal Vallabhjee:

• Breathe, Believe, Balance: A Guide to Self-discovery and Healing
• Other books by Shayamal

- The Handbook of Cricket Drills

- Lessons from the Wild

-Goan cuisine / Goan cookbooks

-Niosh sound level meter app

-GameReady compression/ice device for recovery

-LumosTech Smart Sleep Mask

-Dermatoglyphics Multiple Intelligence Test

-Shayamal's supplemental info sent via email mentioned at the end of the podcast

Episode sponsors:

-Kion Omega

-JOOVV

-Paleo Valley Beef Sticks

-Ra Optics

Do you have questions, thoughts or feedback for Shayamal or me? Leave your comments at https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/shayamal and one of us will reply!

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