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Triathlon seems to attract a certain sort of athlete. Or perhaps it just brings out a certain trait in the athletes it attracts. Either way, triathlon seems unique in the number of athletes who are willing to experiment on their bodies and their equipment in search of improved performance. The number of Tour de France pro cyclists who would take a hacksaw to their bike is quite small, yet I can think of countless bikes I've seen in transition areas with low race numbers that have been hacked and cobbled in search of improved fit, aerodynamics, comfort, or ergonomics. In honor of this creative spirit, I'm undertaking a series of articles entitled "Thinkers and Tinkers" focused on those individuals who have taken their experimentation to the next level and actually turned it into a business, bringing their mad scientist ideas to bear upon the rest of the triathlon world. While having your own company ultimately means you reap the rewards of your own success, it also means that success in one area may have to prop up a lack of success in another. There are no performance bonuses for winning a race if product isn't selling. You can't wave a contract in the mirror and demand more money from yourself. And if you mess up, on the race course or in the office, there's no one to blame but yourself.
The focus of the first article in this new series is Chris Lieto and his sports nutrition company BASE Performance. While there are companies run by athletes that are bigger in the industry than BASE, there are no companies run by athletes who are as successful competitively as Chris. Managing a very full time athletic career with a seemingly full time business presents a challenge. And that challenge is even more intriguing when you consider that Chris's athletic performances rely on his companies products, and his companies products are reliant on Chris's athletic performances, although less so now with the addition of athletes like Ryan Hall, Brent McMahon, brother Matt Lieto, and others to the BASE roster. For a fledging company, and one run by a "competitor" in some cases, it's a testament to BASE's growth that it has gone from being a company centered around Chris to a company that now seems to stand on it's own two feet, though it certainly benefits from the support of one particularly enthusiastic ambassador.
The name BASE Performance comes from what Chris calls a focus on "base health." If your body was a house, BASE products would support the foundation. They aren't designed to fuel your workouts, as only two of the products even have any calories, albeit a minimal and incidental amount in both cases. It's a relatively small product line consisting of five products – a multivitamin, which is designed to address the specific needs of an endurance athlete better that a brand like Centrum or One-A-Day will; an electrolyte salt blend, which comes loose and which you add to drinks, gel flasks, etc. with the included scooper; an amino acid blend, available in both flavored and unflavored versions; a recovery "acivator," which is designed to help your body replenish glycogen stores after long workouts; and a water concentrate, which is one of the more confusing products in the line-up, as it is water that you add to other water to make "better" water.
The idea behind this article is not to try and evaluate these products, though I have tried them all and at the very least am still around to write this article. I set out with the goal of evaluating the products, but I just didn't feel confident writing an article praising or skewering the products based off my own "N=1" experiences with them. Instead, I thought it would be more interesting to talk with Chris about what it was that led him to start BASE and to take responsibility for not only his own training and racing from the traditional fitness standpoint, but also for supplying the products that would keep him healthy and keep him performing well. There was certainly a level of risk associated with this, though he did and does still rely on his relationship PowerBar for his caloric needs, and I wanted to know why he was willing – and seemingly eager – to shoulder this risk.
After reading this, I hope you might be interested enough do some research on the BASE products and decide for yourself whether you think they are – or are not – worth trying.
ST: What made you decide to start a supplement company? Did you want to start a company and this just seemed like the best area? Did you perceive a void in the products that were/are out there? What was the genesis of BASE?
CL: I had been racing in triathlon for 6 years and had some success, but was always looking and researching areas to improve my performance. I had built some great relationships with doctors and nutritionist throughout the years and kept in touch. I started talking to them more and asking about some things I thought were missing in sports nutrition and supplements. In 2005 some of those people brought to me a powder mix very similar to what the BASE amino is today. I started using it just before my first big Cycling Tour, Tour of Utah. I immediately noticed a difference in my energy, strength and endurance during this race, and I was recovering better day to day.
During the Tour of Utah I would only take my bottles from the team car that had my Amino and salt mix in it taking 2 to 3 servings in my drinks throughout each stage. As the Tour went on I felt like I was getting stronger and everyone else was getting more tired. The last day of the tour was the Queen stage that finished on top of Snowbird after climbing over a couple other passes; I had a great last day and finished 4th. I knew we were onto something, but I didn't want to share the new “secret” with many people because it worked so well. That year I went on to win Ironman Canada, and then Ironman Japan the next year. We refined the mix to make it even better and after 2 years decided I needed to not keep it a secret anymore. I enjoy helping and sharing things with others and I wanted to share what I found to everyone.
BASE Performance is all about your foundational health, which most companies do not focus on. If we can give athletes what they need to build a strong, healthy, and clean body; then their bodies will be more efficient and function at a much higher level. Building a strong foundation will allow people to get the most out of their training and have a healthier body to recover quicker. Just like you need to do base training to be able to build speed and strength; the same is true with your health and what you put in your body.
ST: You aren't a biochemist, but you do have a good sense of your own body. Talk about the role you play in the development and testing of products. Besides you, who else makes up the BASE team? Talk about how a product, like your new multivitamin, goes from concept to product within BASE.
I am not a biochemist, but I am very in tuned with my body, and I am very careful with what I put in it. BASE Performance is built with a solid Research and Development team that spends months and even years coming up with what is really missing in the market and what athlete can benefit from. First, we look at what are the biggest issues athletes are having in their performance and health and look at ways to address it.
Almost every athlete is deficient in amino acids and it is imperative that you get all the essential amino acids and in the right ratio to get the best result. This is why we created the Base Amino to give athletes the amino’s and herbs they need to perform at their best, limit fatigue, build lean muscle and burn fat for fuel instead of muscle, which will help increase their power to weight ratio.
Athletes have difficulty processing and absorbing all the carbohydrates we eat, which is essential in getting glycogen into our muscles to recover. This is why we created the Recovery Activator, which does just that, and allows you to bounce back each day because your muscles are getting fueled instead of starved.
Electrolytes and salt pills have been the way everyone has done it in the past. But sodium is not the only mineral the body needs. We are made up of and need all minerals. We took a natural mixture of earth salts that has all the needed minerals, and we kept it in a salt base so you can easily add it to your drinks or gels, as well as replacing it with the harmful white table salt. It makes it so much easier and better to do it this way; I have not taken a pill in a race in over 3 years.
Everyone needs a good Multivitamin, but athletes need more than the basics. We made sure we covered everything an athlete needs to fight off excess free radicals and strenuous aerobic exercise, something a one a day multi can’t do.
ST: Is BASE where you future lies after you stop racing full time? Or do you think a big part of your passion for BASE comes from the fact that you are, to some extent, responsible for more of what goes into your body than pretty much any other athlete (at least from a supplement perspective)? How much of your passion comes from the idea of the BASE business and how much of it is tied your racing?
I am very excited about BASE and its growth potential. I will always be involved with the sport after I stop racing and BASE will be a huge part of that. I am passionate about everything I put my heart into. I am very passionate about my racing and part of that comes the importance and need to focus on my nutrition and supplements. I have always been someone who would research what I put in my body, why I would and what it would do for me. I noticed so many products out there promising improved performance and faster times. I tried a lot of these products in the past and some had some benefits and some had no change in my performance.
I wanted to know why and what is the best for someone to take to improve performance. Talking with experts in the field found out that most athletes are depleted in so many of the basics items we need to perform at our best. Focusing on my base health and keeping my body clean allowed for my body to function more efficiently and with better performance without all these other so called race performance enhancers. If you put some of these products into a healthier cleaner body those products will actually work or work even better. You have to focus on your foundation first before you put all the finishing touches on top. So the real passion comes from realizing what we really need to be healthy and perform at our best and having the opportunity to share this with everyone.
For more on BASE Performance, you can visit their website at www.BasePerformance.com.
