6 A.M. WITH...WHOOP'S PLAYMAKER

As founder and CEO of the billion-dollar wearable-tech brand, WILL AHMED has taken on titans like Nike and Apple. His secret? Hit, lift, chill, repeat.

- ALYSSA GIACOBBE

IN AN ICE BATH on the roof of Whoop's Kenmore Square headquarters on a frigid spring day in Boston, Will Ahmed is slowly and deliberately inhaling and exhaling, box breathing his way through three excruciating minutes. He inhales on a five count, holds it for five, exhales on five, holds it for five, and repeats. Ahmed began cold plunging two years ago to help reduce inflammation and found it helped him go harder on the squash court and in the gym—the two places he's already worked up a sweat this morning. “I also just loved the way I felt mentally-not just immediately after, but for the next 12 hours,” he says. “If I can do a hard workout first thing, followed by a cold plunge, it’ll clear my mind and make the stresses of the rest of the day easier. If you kick your own ass, no one else is going to.”

The stress level can be high running a billion-dollar company, and thanks to the technology he's developed and made accessible, Ahmed, 35, has the data on himself to prove it. Whoop's flagship product is a wearable health and fitness tracking device that monitors sleep, strain, recovery, and stress.