HERMOSA BEACH, Calif. – It was only eight or so months ago when Tri Bourne and I inked a test sponsorship deal with Athletic Greens, the health drink brand heard so ubiquitously on podcasts around the world – Tim Ferriss, Joe Rogan, Michael Gervais.
Now it was coming to SANDCAST.
How much value we bring to sponsors is always difficult to tell. But our audience at SANDCAST, which has been growing – and listening or viewing – at a record rate late in our fourth year of existence, must have delivered. When our six-week trial period with Athletic Greens finished, they wanted to extend the sponsorship for the remainder of the year. A few weeks ago, when Athletic Greens began finalizing its advertising budget for the upcoming 2023 season, we received the most delightful of emails: They wanted to sign on for another year.
Want to join the AG1 club? Athletic Greens is going to give you a FREE 1 year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase. Click here to get your Athletic Greens today!
We love Athletic Greens, truly. We say this not because we’re partners with them, and we’re semi-contractually obligated to give glowing reviews. It is, rather the inverse: First came our glowing reviews, then came the partnership. I’d personally enjoyed Athletic Greens for a year before we partnered with them, getting Adam Roberts, my partner at the time, on board as well. Bourne, too, knew it was good stuff, perhaps the best health drink on the market that also lends itself to our mobile lifestyles.
We never know what kind of food will be available when we hit the road. In certain countries where the water is notoriously bad, eating vegetables is a risky affair. It’s what makes Athletic Greens so valuable for us: A single scoop of the stuff packs in 75 high-quality vitamins, minerals, whole-food sourced superfoods, probiotics, and adaptogens. While we might not be able to crush broccoli, asparagus, and spinach everywhere we go, we get the next closest – and dare I say superior? – thing: A scoop of Athletic Greens.
It’s easier to pack than all those vegetables, anyway. I keep 10 packs of Athletic Greens in my USA Volleyball backpack at all times. At home, I have two bags of powder. Every single day, when I break my fast – I am an intermittent practitioner of intermittent fasting – the first calories that go into my body are Athletic Greens. While I can’t speak for Bourne, I’ve certainly reaped its benefits: My second straight year of being fully healthy, despite pushing my body and mind beyond any reasonable limits.
It almost boggles the mind to think about just how healthy both of us have been, considering what we put our bodies through. In 2022, I again surpassed the 60,000-miles-flown threshold. I increased the number of tournaments I played, into the mid-20s – and counting – despite swearing off such a thing after a wild 2021 season. I played the best beach volleyball of my career.
And I didn’t so much as sneeze.
There are many variables, of course, but in my mind, the most important one was the regular, habitual intake of Athletic Greens.
Does it make you invincible? No, of course not. A few listeners poked fun at us when Bourne came down with a case of COVID during the World Championships and had to withdraw, finishing ninth. But within a few days, he was negative and felt virtually no side effects, even when he was testing positive. The rest of his season speaks for itself: Three AVP wins – the most in any single season of his decorated career – another Manhattan Beach Open title, and the honor of being named the VolleyballMag Team of the Year alongside his partner, Trevor Crabb.
Is Athletic Greens going to turn you into a Tri Bourne? Is it going to make you invincible to everything our world throws at you?
No.
But we can promise you this: It’s a good place to start.
