Elite Performers and Stress

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One of reasons Elite Performers are different is because they are brilliant at building performance awareness by measuring and monitoring their performance. Why guess when you can measure and know! Measuring and monitoring the salivary cortisol stress responses of business performers is a key aspect of our work at KPA in partnership with Soma Bioscience.  

 

In this way, business performers can scientifically understand the effect stress has on their performance in the workplace and in other aspects of their lives. This is turn allows us at KPA to put in place the physical, mental and lifestyle changes with you the performer to build your performance capacity – the ability to work harder and longer with greater ease.

 

Understanding Stress

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Stress comes in all shapes and sizes and varies through time and with your environment. In essence there are two types of stress, firstly chronic stress, which is the ever present day-to-day life stressor like working long hours, constant work pressures, financial worries and relationship challenges. Then secondly is acute stress, which is ‘short term’ stress caused by events such as pressing deadlines, presentations, important meetings and critical business and life events. Chronic stress in particular has shown to suppress your immune system and affect your sleep, thus causing mores stress and a vicious cycle of decline.

 

Using Cortisol as a Stress Biomarker 

The Science Bit!

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Research shows that chronically elevated cortisol has many varied health effects ranging from increased body fat (particularly abdominal fat), decreased immune response and libido, decreased bone density and muscle mass, alongside decreased memory and learning. Cortisol is also a biomarker of fatigue, burnout and exhaustion. So at KPA, working with Soma, we use cortisol to measure the stress responses of corporate performers to help them understand how cortisol is impacting their health, wellness and performance – especially when used alongside other key monitoring tools as part of the Elite Performer Experience.

 

By simply taking 5 samples throughout a given day with a quick saliva swab, we can very accurately measure the impact of both chronic and acute stress on performance.  We  can then use a number of interventions – physical, mental, lifestyle and cultural to ensure that both the peak performance and the performance capacity of you as a performer, is maximized.