Blog

João Pedro Neto João Pedro Neto

Visceral Fat - The Risk Within

We live in an age where concern with the body is almost omnipresent. Body composition is scrutinized and muscle mass is highly valued. Yet there is a silent marker  (with a profound impact on health and longevity) that is rarely monitored with proper attention: visceral fat.

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João Pedro Neto João Pedro Neto

Heart Rate Variability - A Guide To Our Days

In the world of performance, some metrics tell us what we did; but others tell us what we can do. Heart Rate Variability (HRV) belongs in the latter category, offering not just a snapshot of how our body is responding to life, but a guide for how we might best navigate the hours ahead.

If we’re someone seeking better energy and resilience throughout the day, understanding HRV can shift our approach from reactive to responsive.

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Miguel Damas Miguel Damas

Burnout Is Not a Mental Failure. It’s a Metabolic Problem

Burnout is not a mental weakness — it’s a metabolic condition rooted in hormonal, neurological, and cellular breakdown. This article challenges the World Health Organization’s outdated definition and reframes burnout as a loss of metabolic storage. It explores the biology behind burnout, including mitochondrial dysfunction, cortisol collapse, neurotransmitter depletion, and chronic inflammation. Using lab testing, wearable data like Whoop, and CGMs such as UltraHuman, the article outlines a precision medicine approach to diagnose and rebuild. Nutritional strategies, supplementation, and nervous system recalibration offer a real path to recovery. This is not mindset work — it’s biological restoration.

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Miguel Damas Miguel Damas

Comrades 2025: Running My Race

An honest, reflective account of running the 2025 Comrades Marathon—from pressure and pain to presence and peace. Discover how letting go of expectations turned a grueling ultra into a life-changing experience.

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João Pedro Neto João Pedro Neto

Optimize Responsibly

In a context where individual performance plays a central role in the contemporary wellbeing narrative, it is crucial to make a critical distinction: optimizing is not the same as following trends.

The former requires clarity, consistency and commitment. The latter is often distraction disguised as enthusiasm.

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João Pedro Neto João Pedro Neto

Fasting & Sleep: Allies Or Enemies?

In the high-performance health world, fasting and sleep are usually hot topics. But rarely do we explore how these two foundational practices interact. We are not about one-size-fits-all protocols but about stacking synergistic habits, and so, we ask a better question: are fasting and sleep working for, or against each other in our routine?

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João Pedro Neto João Pedro Neto

Smart Recovery For Demanding Days

We live in the age of mental exhaustion disguised as productivity. Back-to-back meetings; constant notifications; rapid decision-making, etc. By the end of an intense day, our brain feels like it wants to shut down. And yet, the next day, we’re expected to perform at the same level (or even better).

In cognitive performance, just like in sports, it’s not just about constant training. Progress also depends on how well we recover.

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João Pedro Neto João Pedro Neto

Off The Grid, Into Life

The sun was setting, and we were calling it a day. It should always be like this, we thought. And why isn’t it?

I go back to the day of the widespread blackout that affected Portugal and Spain earlier this week, lasting around 12 hours. I recall the end of that day lived in peace: dinner was early, lit by the sunset; and afterwards, there was still time to play with our daughter while my wife and I chatted.

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João Pedro Neto João Pedro Neto

Optimizing Health Together: A New Kind Of Doctor-Patient Bond

Interest in the field of individual performance has grown exponentially in recent years.
The explosion of easily accessible online content has fueled this phenomenon and nowadays it’s common to hear spontaneous conversations about it among groups of friends with no professional connection to healthcare.

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João Pedro Neto João Pedro Neto

Nature For The Brain

A systematic review published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (2022) took a deep dive into the connection between long-term exposure to greenspaces and cognitive function. The results were encouraging, but like most things in science, they come with caveats

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João Pedro Neto João Pedro Neto

Modern Convenience

Evolution built us to endure (to move, solve problems, and handle adversity). But in a world where everything is effortless, we’ve lost the ability to do hard things. And that loss has consequences: weaker bodies, declining mental endurance and a culture increasingly incapable of handling stress.

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João Pedro Neto João Pedro Neto

Posture & Success

Most people think of success as a product of intelligence, hard work, and maybe a little luck. But what if something as basic as our posture played a role? It sounds trivial (almost silly), but the way we carry ourselves physically can influence both our internal state and the way others perceive us. And in a world where perception often shapes opportunity, this isn’t something to ignore.

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João Pedro Neto João Pedro Neto

How Processed Foods Fuel Burnout & Mental Fatigue

Burnout is a modern epidemic, affecting professionals, parents, students, and nearly everyone in between. While we often attribute it to excessive workloads, lack of sleep, or chronic stress, one major but overlooked contributor is our diet, specifically, the processed foods that dominate modern eating habits.

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João Pedro Neto João Pedro Neto

Cortisol, Genetics & Stress

Stress resilience varies dramatically from person to person. Some individuals remain unshaken in high-pressure situations, while others struggle with even moderate stressors. Why? The answer largely comes down to cortisol regulation, and at the core of that regulation lies genetics

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João Pedro Neto João Pedro Neto

Connecting With Ourselves (In A Hyperconnected World)

In today’s fast-paced and always-online culture,stress and burnout have become an almost inevitable part of modern life. We are constantly bombarded with notifications, emails, social media updates, news cycles, and endless streams of entertainment. While technology has brought incredible convenience and connectivity, it has also created a society where true rest and introspection are rare. This is why intentionally disconnecting from the digital world (stepping away from social media, news, streaming, and work) can be one of the most profound ways to combat stress and reconnect with ourselves.

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João Pedro Neto João Pedro Neto

Ashwagandha: A New Tool To Combat Burnout

In today's fast-paced world, burnout has become a common issue affecting professionals, students, and even stay-at-home parents. Chronic stress, long work hours, and emotional exhaustion can take a toll on both the body and mind. While lifestyle changes like sleep, exercise, and mindfulness are essential for burnout recovery, many people are turning to natural supplements for extra support. One of the most popular and well-researched herbs for stress management is ashwagandha.

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João Pedro Neto João Pedro Neto

The Link Between Exercise And Burnout

Burnout is becoming an increasingly prevalent issue, especially in high-pressure work environments. It is often characterized by three key symptoms: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization (feeling detached from work and colleagues), and reduced personal accomplishment. As people seek solutions to mitigate the effects of burnout, one promising intervention stands out: physical activity.

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João Pedro Neto João Pedro Neto

The Sleep-Performance Connection

Research has consistently shown that sleep directly impacts cognitive function, decision-making, creativity, and physical performance. Those who sacrifice sleep for extra hours of work may see short-term gains, but over time, their productivity, focus, and even health suffer.

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Burnout Miguel Damas Burnout Miguel Damas

Burnout Is Not What You Think: Challenging the Status Quo for High Performers

The WHO’s definition of burnout as a workplace issue limits the conversation. It reduces a complex, multifaceted condition to something that can be solved with better work-life balance or time off. While these factors are important, they are only a piece of the puzzle.

Burnout in high achievers often results from the convergence of several interrelated mechanisms

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