John Underwood, creator of the Life of an Athlete Human Performance Project and an instrumental designer of the Human Performance Program for the US Navy SEAL Teams, spoke to Upper School students and faculty on Thursday, October 12.
Underwood, a former NCAA All-American, International-level distance runner, and World Masters Champion, has coached or advised more than two dozen Olympians including World and Olympic Champions. He has served as a human performance advisor to many high level sport federations including the NCAA, NHL, NBA, NFL, the U.S. Olympic Committee, Sport Canada, and the International Olympic Committee.
Drawing on years of experience in human performance optimization in Olympic sport, professional athletics, and military special operations, Underwood spoke about developing tools and habits that can be employed by any individual or organization to boost performance.
Optimum physical and mental performance — in sport, in academics, in combat, in life — can be traced to inputs that are physical, behavioral and neurobiological, he said. These inputs, in turn, can be traced to lifestyle choices and habits, all of which can have outsized impacts on performance.