Explosive Athletes Institute for Athletic Performance
Tucked in the heart of Tempe, AZ amidst a rapidly growing college town is an exclusive sports performance facility that has remained relatively under-the-radar for the past decade. However, it continues creating a buzz and growing primarily through word-of-mouth within the community of professional athletes. This facility, known as Explosive Athletes Institute (EAI), contains cutting-edge sensors and custom-built equipment that allows for athletes to gain a unique advantage over their competitors. EAI prides itself on the scientific nature as well as the customization of their programs for athletes.
“My motivation comes from trying to make a difference in others’ lives while seeing my science come to life,†says Siddharth Sharma, Founder and Biomechanical Engineer at Explosive Athletes Institute.
Sharma is not in short supply of athletes that look to him for his unique and customized approach. His clients range from high school to collegiate to NBA and NFL athletes. From players such as DeAndre Ayton that have been selected as the top pick in the NBA Draft, to those that have made NCAA Final Four appearances and won national championships such as Tyler Dorsey and Justin Jackson, McDonald's All-American and Jordan Brand Game MVPs including Cheick Diallo and Allonzo Trier, to NCAA Player-of-the-Year award winners such as Frank Mason, to retired players like Stephon Marbury, it’s no secret that his clientele continues to grow year over year with elite athletes from across the country.
After growing up in Arizona where he attended Brophy College Prep, Sharma decided to stay local and attend the Barrett Honors College at Arizona State University where he completed his bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering and master’s degree in mechanical engineering. While attending ASU, his love of strength training that first developed at the age of 10 continued and he became more fascinated by how the human body could adapt to different stimuli. He decided to learn as much as he could throughout his collegiate years which is what would eventually lead him to where he is today.
Sharma began sharing his philosophy with collegiate athletes while working out at the ASU recreation center and began designing programs for them that addressed their specific needs, incorporating human physiology and applied physics. The feedback was positive and he knew he could use his engineering background to enter into a career in medical device sales, but he decided to explore the world of entrepreneurship and start a business focusing on optimizing the potential of athletes using his own customized philosophy.
“The main feedback we have received that continues to attract athletes to our programs is the scientific nature as well as the customization of our programs for their bodies and sports,†Sharma shares.
The basis of Sharma’s philosophy stems from physics and engineering. He believes that each part of our skeletal system is designed for a specific purpose and by combining this knowledge with the understanding of the external factors of the athlete’s sport, he and his staff can design a comprehensive program optimizing performance and longevity.
“As opposed to simply training muscles, movements or even the latest trends surrounding functional training, we attempt to also incorporate the athlete’s sport and skill elements into training both the mind and body,†he shares.
In addition to using these physiological principles, EAI also uses data analytics and various sensors for biometrics and analyzing an athlete’s performance while also optimizing and tracking their program. Since all athletes are different, they also generate models of the various forces an athlete may experience for their specific sport and aim to mimic these as closely as possible throughout their training
Although Sharma never played sport competitively, he was a weight-room junkie, passionate about weightlifting and powerlifting and played basketball recreationally. “This certainly gave me the first-hand experience and background to be able to formulate several of the core principles for my strength training programs. It also allows me to relate somewhat to the athletes during their strength training exercises,†says Sharma. In this industry, it’s also what makes him unique.
Since he has the opportunity to work with athletes at all different levels, he has the opportunity to learn something new from each one of them. “Younger athletes are interesting for how their appreciation for the process of athletic development teaches them discipline and work ethic at a young age, and oftentimes translates to better performance in their classrooms while older, more mature athletes are interesting for their perspectives on the business of sports, and all the different challenges they deal with that the general population may not always get to see, says Sharmaâ€
Although Sharma has already found great success, he continues to dream bigger, imagining one day expanding to an organization with multiple facilities and like-minded professionals and trainers. He is constantly motivated by the success of his clients and that continues to be his driving force as he plans for the future. “I always tell my clients hearing of a personal success story or improvement of any amount is like them paying me a million dollars each, for lack of a better metaphor, although it is truly priceless,†shares Sharma.
You can follow Sharma and the Explosive Athletes Institute on Facebook @Explosive AthletesInstitute and Instagram @explosiveathletes.
