Elite athletes and top-performing sales reps have more in common than you might think. Dr. Brad Bellard offers practical strategies to help readers build strength, prioritize recovery, sleep better and sustain high performance throughout the workweek.
Most Repertoire Magazine readers will never suit up for a professional sports team, but the habits that help elite athletes perform at the highest level can offer valuable lessons for anyone whose job demands long hours, constant travel and consistent results.
Few people understand that connection better than Dr. Brad Bellard. As a sports medicine physician who works with professional athletes, Dr. Bellard helps some of the world’s top performers stay healthy, recover from injuries and maintain peak performance throughout demanding seasons. Yet his philosophy extends far beyond the locker room.
Dr. Bellard’s journey into sports medicine began as a young athlete. After undergoing surgery performed by a team physician for the Houston Rockets, he found a career path that combined his passion for sports with a desire to help others.
That experience sparked a career dedicated to helping athletes perform at their best. As a team physician for the Denver Broncos, Dr. Bellard works directly with elite athletes to optimize performance and prevent injury on the field. He also serves as a sports medicine physician at The Sports Center – CommonSpirit Health.
But Dr. Bellard and his colleagues have always embraced a broader mission. “We want to treat athletes at the highest level, but also provide that same level of care to everyday people and weekend warriors who are simply trying to optimize their health,” he said.
For med/surg reps, whose days often consist of windshield time or air travel, customer visits and long hours on their feet, many of the same principles apply. In a conversation with Repertoire Magazine, Dr. Bellard shared practical insights on recovery, sleep, nutrition, exercise and injury prevention that can help readers improve their health and wellness.
Success starts with intention
When people watch professional athletes compete, they often focus on physical talent. But according to Dr. Bellard, one of the biggest differentiators between elite performers and everyone else is something much simpler: intention.
Professional athletes treat their health the same way other professionals approach their careers. Just as physicians continually develop their skills and knowledge, athletes are deliberate about every aspect of their performance.
“They treat their body with a certain level of intention in terms of workout and nutrition and recovery,” Dr. Bellard explained. “If you give that level of intention to just about anything, you’re probably going to see some level of results.”
Understand what your body needs
For high-achieving professionals, the instinct is often to push harder, work longer and keep moving. It may sound counterintuitive, but one of the most important lessons Dr. Bellard has learned from working with elite athletes is that peak performance requires strategic recovery.
“Recovery is extraordinary,” Dr. Bellard said. “Rarely is it an issue of someone not doing enough to get better. It’s really trying to slow people down so that they can get better.”
Whether recovering from a tough workout, a demanding travel schedule or a string of long workdays, the body needs time to repair itself. “If muscles are fatigued or they’re hurt or injured going into a workout or an activity, it’s one of the easiest ways to invite injury into the situation,” Dr. Bellard said.
Like athletes, many reps are wired to keep pushing forward. Yet Dr. Bellard emphasizes that recovery should not be viewed as lost time.
“We’re constantly telling our athletes, ‘We’re going to have to slow down a little bit so that we can eventually speed up,’” he said.
The key is recognizing that rest is not separate from performance. It is a critical component of it. Just as workouts, customer visits and business development activities are scheduled intentionally, recovery should be planned as well.
“We try to instill in their mind that rest and recovery is part of your workout plan. It’s not taking away from your workout plan,” Dr. Bellard said. “When people understand that rest and recovery is actually part of performing at your best, they realize that taking a step back is actually helping their overall performance.”
Create a plan
The daily routine of a med/surg rep may look very different from that of a professional athlete, but both place unique physical demands on the body. Long hours behind the wheel or frequent air travel, extended periods of standing and constant movement between customer locations can take a cumulative toll over time.
Dr. Bellard sees those effects firsthand.
“One of the things that can be an issue is spine issues from being static in one place for so long,” he said, referring to the long stretches of sitting that often accompany travel. While the discomfort may not be noticeable initially, the effects can build gradually.
“You may not feel it now, but these things accumulate over time and then eventually it turns into something that someone’s actually feeling from a symptom perspective,” he said.
The solution, Dr. Bellard said, begins with the same principle that drives elite athletic performance: having a plan.
Among his top recommendations is incorporating some form of resistance training. It doesn’t require heavy lifting or hours in the gym. The goal is simply to build and maintain strength. “Our muscles are our support for our skeleton,” Dr. Bellard said. “To be able to be strong is important.”
He also recommended regular cardiovascular exercise, such as brisk walking, jogging, cycling or other activities that elevate the heart rate for 20 to 30 minutes. Consistent movement helps offset the effects of a sedentary travel schedule while supporting overall cardiovascular health.
Finally, Dr. Bellard suggested a performance tool that many ambitious professionals overlook: sleep.
“Sleep is massively important,” he said.
Like elite athletes, high-performing sales professionals often sacrifice sleep in pursuit of productivity. But Dr. Bellard cautioned that the “go, go, go” mentality can ultimately undermine performance.
“If you can really look at your sleep as part of your performance plan, then what people recognize is that the amount of time they have to either do the workout or do their work is actually going to be much more effective if they can get good recovery in the form of sleep,” he said.
Active recovery
One of the most effective ways to stay healthy and avoid injury is through what sports medicine experts call “active recovery.”
According to Dr. Bellard, active recovery means giving the body a chance to recover while still staying in motion.
“It’s really saying I’m doing something that’s still active, I’m still moving, but it’s either rotating the body part that we’re working out or we are not going nearly at the intensity that we did on the day prior,” he said.
For athletes, that might mean following a heavy upper-body workout with a lighter mobility session or a leg workout. Similarly, after a high-intensity training session, the next day should focus on lower-intensity activity rather than another grueling workout.
“If someone has a high-intensity training session, doing another high-intensity training the following day is not wise,” Dr. Bellard said. “You’re going to risk injury and overall you’re not allowing your body to recover.”
The same principle applies to medical sales representatives. Simple activities such as brisk walking, riding a stationary bike or using a treadmill while traveling can serve as effective forms of active recovery, helping keep the body moving between workouts and reducing the risk of overuse injuries.
The beauty of active recovery, Dr. Bellard said, is that it doesn’t have to be disruptive. “You can still allow your body to be active, you can still take in some information and not be exhausted,” he said.
Fuel performance
When it comes to nutrition, Dr. Bellard keeps his advice practical and grounded. No fad diets or complicated regimens. The fundamentals, he said, remain unchanged.
“Water [is key]. Look, this hasn’t changed, never going to change,” he said. “We’ve got to drink water,” he said. For coffee-dependent professionals who rely on caffeine to power through long days, Dr. Bellard isn’t asking anyone to give up their morning cup. He’s simply making the case that water needs to be a consistent priority alongside it.
Beyond hydration, Dr. Bellard emphasizes the importance of timing meals around physical activity. The body needs fuel before a workout, whether that’s a run, a resistance session or a high-intensity training block, and the right nutrients afterward to recover properly.
“The body needs fuel prior to doing that,” he said, recommending a carbohydrate-focused meal 30 minutes to an hour before exercise. Without adequate fuel, muscles fatigue faster, and the risk of injury climbs. “If the muscles are getting fatigued quickly because they just don’t have the fuel, you’re going to risk injury simply because you didn’t have the fuel there.”
Post-workout nutrition is equally important. After resistance training, Dr. Bellard recommends a combination of carbohydrates and protein within an hour of finishing. After cardiovascular exercise, replenishing carbohydrates is the priority. “The body is literally hungry to be able to take on these fuels,” he said.
For those with a sweet tooth, Dr. Bellard even offers a guilt-reducing tip: time your indulgences strategically. Having a small treat 30 minutes to an hour before a workout isn’t unreasonable, he explained, because the body will quickly burn through it as fuel.
“If you want to have a couple bites of the Snickers 30 minutes to an hour before you work out, that’s actually not completely unreasonable,” he said. “It’s going to be used as immediate fuel to actually do what it needs to do.”
The throughline connecting all of Dr. Bellard’s advice – recovery, sleep, active movement and nutrition – comes back to intention. For medical sales representatives navigating demanding schedules, the goal isn’t perfection. It’s being deliberate about the choices that add up over time.
Sleep: More than just rest
Most people view sleep as a way to recharge after a long day, but research highlighted by Dr. Bellard shows it plays a far bigger role in overall health and performance.
“Sleep doesn’t just affect how we feel. It really affects our stress level,” Dr. Bellard said.
That matters because chronic stress can impact cardiovascular, endocrine, and respiratory systems. When sleep is consistently lacking, it’s not just fatigue — it’s a reduced ability to regulate stress and maintain normal body function.
“It’s beyond just being tired,” Dr. Bellard explained. “If you’re chronically not getting sleep, it’s likely affecting other systems in the body.”
Key Takeaways
- Be intentional about your health. Elite performance starts with making recovery, nutrition, exercise and sleep a deliberate part of your routine.
- Recovery drives performance. Rest and active recovery help prevent injury, improve resilience and keep you performing at your best.
- Have a plan for movement. Regular strength training, cardio and stretching help offset the physical demands of long hours and frequent travel.
- Fuel your body wisely. Proper hydration and well-timed nutrition provide the energy needed for peak performance and faster recovery.