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Photo: Samsara athlete Amanda Hankison
Experience the
Outer Reaches of Your
Athletic Potential
The Samsara Athlete Team is where everyday humans and Olympians both strive to become the best athletes they can be. Our formula? Custom training plans tailored to your life, an accessible team of coaches, and a supportive athlete community.
We help you develop every facet of your performance—and deliver life-long results.
Break free from boom-and-bust fitness
Resolve injuries
Embrace community & accountability
Every Human is an Athlete.
The Samsara Method is rooted in the evolutionary journey of our species. The sports we play and the passions we chase simply reflect the diverse ways our bodies have evolved over millennia to tackle the natural world around us.
We consider every human to be an athlete, independent of each person’s background, training history, or accomplishments.
Online Coaching + Training System + Athlete Community
Online Coaching
Train anytime, anywhere, around your own schedule. The Athlete Team is fully remote so you can be, too. We’ll integrate your passions into your training schedule, and we use minimal equipment so you can workout from home, your local gym, or on the road without skipping a beat.
Training System
Start with our athlete assessment and goals worksheet. Then our coaches will design a custom 12-week training plan for you, with an accompanying digital training log and video exercise demonstrations. Attend weekly coaching calls, and chime in on team chats, to fast-track your progress.
Athlete Community
In the age of internet anonymity and faceless training apps, we do it differently. We believe in the power of community to enhance every aspect of life—including training! Athletes become teammates, and teammates become a tight-knit support network on this journey together.
“Performance training is the ultimate adventure, which is why we don’t just coach you—we train with you. We are athletes ourselves. Through tailwinds and headwinds, athletic gains and life setbacks, we are on this journey with you.”
– Zahan Billimoria, Founder & Head Coach
Founder & Head Coach
Coach & DPT, Cert. MDT
Athlete & Coach
Photo: Samsara athlete Ken Etzel
Steady-State Endurance | Maximum Strength | Athlete IQ
As a human being you are endowed with a suite of physical qualities that make you capable of diverse athletic feats, from split-second explosiveness to all-day endurance.
Our full-spectrum training method enables you to develop the whole gamut of your physiology for year-round athletic performance. You’ll be able to take on any challenge that comes your way.
Our three pricing tiers are defined by level of coaching support, not athletic performance. You decide what you need, and together we’ll create a plan to meet your goals. We train in four 12-week cycles per year, and each season is a three-month commitment.
MANDALA
MOMENTUM
MATRIX
Each season is limited to 50 athletes (returning athletes get priority), so sign-up today to reserve your spot!
-Free Gnarly Nutrition sample pack
-20% off Gnarly Nutrition subscription
-40% off Julbo Sunglasses
-20% off Modern Alpinism Course
-20% off Non-Textbook Anchors Course
-Free race entry into any Cirque Series event
-Discounted spot for annual Hawaii Samsara Athlete Summit
Athlete Team Calendar
Winter Season: January 17 to April 10
> Registration Deadline: January 3
Spring Season: April 18 to July 9
> Registration Deadline: March 18
Summer Season: July 18 to October 8
> Registration Deadline: June 24
Fall Season: October 17 to January 7
> Registration Deadline: September 29
No! Whether you’re new to structured training, recovering from an injury, or already in great shape, we will meet you where you are and help you get to where you want to be. We do work with a number of professional athletes and mountain guides, but we also have a strong cohort with full-time jobs and families at every stage of the journey. Meet the community here.
Our athletes train anywhere from three to seven days a week. Our coaches will work with you to program a training schedule around your work, family, and life responsibilities, along with your personal preferences.
To get the most out of the experience, plan on attending a 45-minute coaching call at least every other week. There are more opportunities each week to join coaching calls and learn via Deep Dive education sessions. Coaches also lead a live 30-minute workout one day per week throughout the season. If you can’t make a Deep Dive or Live Dojo for whatever reason, we send out the call recording afterward.
All of our live coaching and training sessions are done online via Zoom video conferencing. We use Google Groups and GChat to communicate within the athlete community, as well. You can meet and train with athletes from all over the world and have access to top coaches without ever leaving your house (or van). Read more on the Athlete Team Formula.
Mandala is group coaching between all Mandala athletes and all coaches, who alternate calls each week, with the most flexible schedule. Join a coaching call weekly or come sporadically if your schedule is unpredictable. This level is best for those who like flexibility, variety, and being surrounded by a larger group of driven athletes!
Momentum is a team of three to four athletes with a dedicated coach. Before the season starts, we’ll do our best to match athletes based on their goals, passions, and personalities. You’re also welcome to come to us with your own group, if you already have a crew you’re psyched to train with!
Momentum teams meet as a small group with their coach every other week (usually on Tuesdays, but we’ll find a time that works best for everyone). If you can’t make a coaching call one week, we offer an optional one-on-one check-in call with your coach at any time that fits both of your schedules. Momentum athletes are also welcome to attend any Mandala coaching calls for convenience, to hear a different coaching perspective, or to meet new people.
This tier is best for those who prefer smaller, more intimate group settings and consistency, or need a little more support and accountability.
Matrix is private one-on-one coaching. You’ll meet biweekly on your schedule with a dedicated coach. This option is the highest price as the focus is exclusively on you.
The beauty of online coaching is that you can train from your local gym, living room, or on the road.
While you have the option to workout anywhere, we do encourage athletes to dial in their own home gyms, a.k.a. dojos, to reduce the barriers to training. And for that, we recommend a basic equipment list, including:
If you don’t have any of the equipment above, don’t let that prevent you from signing up for the team. Part of our onboarding process is to learn about your setup, and our coaches will program your workouts around the equipment you have access to, even if you’re living in a van!
You’ll hear from our Athlete Team manager within two business days about whether the information you provided appears to be a good fit for joining the Athlete Team. We prioritize current athletes who want to continue each season, so you’ll receive confirmation about your acceptance the Monday after the last registration day. Mandala team spots tend to be more available, but Momentum and Matrix team spots are very limited each season. If you’re open to different coaching tiers, you’ll have more options to join the team.
Register today to get your name on the waitlist for the next training cycle (we accept sign-ups on a rolling basis)!
Even better, join Basecamp, our digital training platform, to get a head start on the onboarding process—and begin training. As a Basecamp member you will get the highest priority in the selection process for the Athlete Team because you are already integrated into our method.
Got training questions? Need to adjust your schedule for travel? Wonder if you’re doing an exercise well?
While you’re training from home, you’re never alone. At the heart of the Athlete Team is dedicated coaching support. Our team of coaches, including an in-house physical therapist, is here week after week to help you adjust your training plan, resolve injuries, and provide support to fast-track your progress.
Training should add more to your life than it takes away. When a routine becomes a burden or a source of guilt, there is a serious imbalance—and that’s not the point.
We try to remove as many barriers to training as possible so you can make it a habit, not a grind, and spend your time pursuing your own passions.
Whether you’re returning to sport after an injury or you’re already in fighting shape, we’ll meet you where you are today and help you get to where you want to be.
— Step 1 —
We learn about your:
— Step 2 —
We write a customized training plan for you:
— Step 3 —
Attend weekly coaching calls or ask questions via chat:
Tired of training on your own? High performance is a journey—and it takes a team.
If you are reading this, it’s probably not your first go at training. You’ve driven down this road many times—you’ve trained hard, you’ve performed, you’ve had breakout moments. And then your motivation waned. Life got the better of your time. Your performance stalled.
If you’re on a journey to harness the full power of your athletic potential, we’re here to support you every step of the way. To be a Samsara Athlete is to be a member of a team. We are on this journey together and we strive to build a supportive community driven by accountability and the relentless pursuit of our passions.
Team Challenges
Every training phase is accompanied by an optional challenge to push yourself, test your limits, and celebrate everyone’s progress and breakthroughs as a team.
Athlete Chat Groups
We have themed groups (Climbers, Endurance, Women Only) and regional chat groups so athletes can connect and make plans to train or adventure together.
Annual Summits
Annual Athlete Team Summits give us all the opportunity to meet in person, strengthen relationships, and accelerate our training progress.
Z is a lifelong athlete and student of the human body. His passion for training stems from his connection to the mountains—and desire to go bigger and higher.
When he began training for mountain endurance events in 2005, he hired his own coach. After three dedicated years of work, Z qualified for the U.S. Ski Mountaineering Team, and represented the U.S. at the World Championships in Switzerland.
Z’s experience of training for the World Championships highlighted just how adaptable the body was, how much control humans have over their physiology, and how an understanding of human biology can give an athlete the tools to transform their performance. If the aerobic engine was so responsive to training, what other systems could be trained, and how?
In the 19 years that have followed, Z has pursued the study of human physiology through the lens of modern science, ancient martial arts, and human evolution. It is his constant pursuit of a deeper understanding of the human system that fuels the Samsara Method.
Follow coach Z @zahanbillimoria
Esther Smith is a climber and a skier based in Jackson, Wyoming. She is the founder of Grassroots Physical Therapy and selftreatment.com.
As a coach and a physical therapist, she helps keep us in one piece so we can pursue our training and our passions with 100 percent effort.
“I’ve never been a part of anything else like this team at Samsara, including our Athlete Team and community,” she says. “The depth of purpose and curiosity is limitless, the quest for high performance has no ceiling, and the support of one another feels like a vital, seamless fabric that only gets stronger with stretch, stewardship and remodeling.”
Follow coach Esther @esthersmithdpt
Photo: Michael Clark