In the fast-paced world of sports, even the most experienced athletes encounter health and wellness concerns during their careers and beyond.

Recognizing this reality, Thorne has positioned itself as a reliable partner for individuals seeking to optimize their performance at every level. Thorne products are not made just for elite athletes. Everyone has a performance goal; and it isn’t always physical or athletic in nature. Performance goals can range from running your first 5K, to learning a new language, to being active with your grandchildren later in life.

At Thorne we bring the same level of methodology and scientific rigor to our products as biotech and pharmaceutical companies do, which extends to our commitment to produce the best quality nutritional supplement for our customers.

I’m Joel Totoro, RD, Thorne’s Director of Sports Science. I contribute to Thorne’s Take 5 Daily blog, and I also host the Performance Edition episodes of The Thorne Podcast. (You can subscribe to The Thorne Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.)

Pushing the boundaries of human performance – and how I found Thorne

I started my career in the clinical world, specializing in trauma and surgical medical nutrition therapy in the intensive care unit. I transitioned to athletics in 2004, becoming the first-ever full-time sports dietitian in professional sports while working with the NFL’s New England Patriots. 

After eight years and three Super Bowls, I transitioned to the University of Michigan to help design their Performance Lab, which combined physical and biometric data to better inform decisions on training, performance, and student-athlete health and wellness.

During my time at Michigan, I came across Thorne while looking for a quality, efficacious magnesium supplement for athletes – one that checked all the boxes by being researched-backed, free of substances banned from competition by major athletic organizations, and manufactured with the highest quality standards.

At the time, Thorne was in the process of compiling its NSF Certified for Sport® line of supplements for athletes. NSF Certified for Sport is a big deal not only for a supplement company like Thorne, but for the athletes who take supplements. The NSF Certified for Sport seal means a supplement has been third-party tested – by NSF International – to verify label claims, as well as the absence of almost 300 substances banned from competition by major athletic organizations, giving peace of mind to athletes and sports medicine staff at the collegiate, professional, and Olympic levels. 

Thorne’s NSF initiative motivated me to make the move from working with sports teams to joining Thorne. After I made that move, we launched the NSF Certified for Sport line in 2015. Since then, Thorne has become the official supplement provider for more than 100 professional and U.S. national teams. 

You can read more about the story of Thorne’s development of our NSF Certified for Sport lineup from Wes Barnett, Vice President of Athletic & Corporate Business Development, and from Amy Caplette, Vice President of Quality.

A focus on fundamentals

Throughout my career, my passion has always been applying the concepts of clinical care to the performance space. 

My experience working in the intensive care unit profoundly impacted my approach to sports nutrition. I realized that training and competing are essentially "intentional traumas" and planned infliction of bodily damage.

Traditionally, sports performance has relied heavily on medical research to uncover insights into optimal fueling, recovery, and health management practices. But as sports science has continued to evolve, discoveries and revelations from the world of athletics are now informing new areas of research in clinical and rehabilitation settings. For example, we’re learning valuable lessons from esports athletes and drone pilots that are being applied to the study of brain health and cognition in a clinical context.

In my two decades immersed in human performance, I have explored how we can apply what we know about making injured and ill people feel better and how to apply that to optimizing health, wellness, and human performance.

The body's primary objective is survival; only when its fundamental needs are met will the body prioritize peak performance. Too often coaches and sports performance professionals obsess over squeezing out that extra second or achieving a 1-percent improvement, instead of considering the body’s fundamental needs. This approach leads to pursuing a 1-percent improvement when the body is operating at only 60-percent capacity. 

By focusing on the complete well-being of individuals who strive to perform at the highest level, we can still achieve that 1-percent improvement, but this time on an athlete who is performing at 80-percent capacity.

In acknowledging the interconnectedness of an individual's physical, mental, and emotional health, Thorne empowers athletes and individuals alike to reach their true potential – both on and off the field.

Strategic partnerships, extraordinary results

One of the many reasons why Thorne stands out is because we take pride in educating those who use our products. With that education comes empowerment – which leads to what good health truly means, whether that’s peak performance or just feeling good every day.  

Recognizing the importance of disseminating health, wellness, and performance knowledge, Thorne partners with elite training facilities that leverage cutting-edge data and biometric analysis to push the boundaries of human potential. By supporting these institutions, Thorne contributes to advancing sports medicine and developing best practices that elevate performance to new heights.

Thorne's ability to collaborate with experts across the field of human health provides the company a distinct advantage – it enables Thorne to offer its partners access to top-tier experts who are tirelessly exploring the human body and unlocking its full potential. 

With a diverse range of partnerships, Thorne delivers a comprehensive ecosystem dedicated to holistic well-being.

Our partnerships span the spectrum of human performance: From individual athletes to professional and national teams, and from high-octane NASCAR teams to the adrenaline-fueled world of mixed martial arts and even the rapidly growing realm of esports, Thorne's presence is felt across diverse arenas of competition. 

Each partnership that Thorne engages in represents a unique collaboration that is specific to the team or individual, with the goal of enhancing performance and maximizing potential at the highest level.

Thorne has joined forces with renowned athletes and teams to support their quest for excellence. Whether it's a professional basketball player seeking to dominate on the court or a national rugby team striving for glory on the global stage, Thorne's commitment to empowering athletes is unmatched, and we’ve become allies in the pursuit of victory by offering tailored solutions and science-backed products.

However, Thorne's influence doesn't stop at the boundaries of the sports arena. Our partnerships and products are made for the individual consumer who is looking to improve their health and wellness journey through supplementation and lifestyle changes. 

To support this effort, in addition to supporting partnerships with performance and athletic teams, Thorne also extends its support to the tactical and first responder communities. Acknowledging the immense demands faced by these brave individuals, Thorne has become their steadfast partner, providing the necessary resources and expertise to optimize their physical and mental well-being. By collaborating with those who selflessly protect and serve, Thorne reaffirms its commitment to positively impacting society as a whole.

Much like our partnerships with athletic/sports performance organizations and teams, Thorne also has a storied legacy of collaboration and partnerships with leaders in the medical field. 

Institutions like Mayo Clinic and Medical University of South Carolina recognize the value that Thorne brings to the table. Our commitment to quality thought leadership and research gives sports medicine departments a sense of reassurance. Our partners and clients rest easy knowing that Thorne's values and vision align perfectly with organizations striving to compete at the pinnacle of their respective sports.

Through these strategic collaborations, Thorne continues to reinforce its mission of enabling individuals to unlock their full potential and achieve extraordinary feats.

Sports performance for the athlete in all of us

Most of aren’t training for Olympic glory or pursuing championship titles. But we all have our own performance goals in mind. Athletes, with their laser focus on health and wellness, are privileged to have a team of medical professionals, elite coaches, and even award-winning chefs catering to their every need. Within this tightly controlled environment, we gain valuable insights into the human body and its response to its extreme demands. And from these insights, we begin to understand how they can be applied to benefit everyone.

As a non-athlete, I don’t undergo rigorous drug testing, but I still want the same level of assurance and protection when it comes to the nutritional supplements I consume. 

There is a biological cost whenever we push our body beyond its usual limits, whether it's embarking on a new workout routine, conquering a Grand Canyon hike, or even learning a new language or skill. 

Athletes recognize the importance of identifying these increased nutritional needs, ensuring they are met before a competition, fueling their performance during the match, and then replenishing what was lost to set themselves up for success the next day. 

This level of planning and knowledge should be accessible to everyone, empowering them to perform at their best while optimizing their health, wellness, and longevity.

Whether it's a NASCAR driver racing at speeds up to 200 mph, an esports athlete processing rapid inputs, or even someone like me reading research articles and engaging in back-to-back video calls, we are all performers in our own right. 

Thorne empowers everyone to fuel their personal performance goals by borrowing insights from high-performing individuals in various arenas. The lessons learned from elite athletes extend far beyond the realm of sports. 

Thorne's commitment to translating these insights into practical solutions benefits individuals from all walks of life. As we strive to unlock our full potential, the wisdom gained from the world of elite athletics guides us toward optimal performance and overall well-being.

This article is part of an ongoing series from Thorne HealthTech’s Medium blog, where we showcase the individuals behind Thorne’s approach to developing and delivering health and wellness solutions.