Alex Honnold is one of the greatest rock climbers on the planet and is most famous for his daring ascent of Yosemite’s 3,000-foot El Capitan without a rope. The climb was chronicled in the Oscar award-winning National Geographic documentary Free Solo. Few athletes in the world have reached the level of mastery in their field the way Alex has. He details how visualization has prepared him for some of his most dangerous and awe-inspiring accomplishments. Alex shares how he has trained himself to control and almost eliminate fear while he makes life or death solo climbs. He discusses his beginnings in rock climbing (3:40), risk vs. consequence (9:25), judging success based on the journey, not the outcome (11:46), playing to your strengths (18:10), training for El Capitan (24:50), Free Solo (28:00), visualization (32:41), overcoming fear (37:24), REM Sleep (43:16), what’s next (55:44), staying safe while free soloing (1:02:18), his public perception as a risk taker (1:04:33), and avoiding risks in everyday life (1:05:44).

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Rich Diviney spent 20 years in the Navy SEALs, including time as a commanding officer of the famed SEAL Team Six, the unit that killed Osama Bin Laden. He did 13 overseas deployments, 11 of those to Afghanistan and Iraq. Rich details how the right mental framework can prime you for success, no matter what challenges you might be facing in your life. He discusses becoming a Navy SEAL (2:43), SEAL training (5:13), leadership (9:07), confidence and perseverance (12:54), adaptability and resilience (14:43), controlling the controllables (15:58), antifragility and how to come back stronger after being pushed below your baseline (20:31), neuroplasticity (28:08), utilizing microrecoveries (29:45), peak performance vs. optimal performance (39:24), taking care of your body (42:49), the human engine and attributes (49:12), discovering which attributes you have (51:15). 

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WHOOP is the now official wearable of CrossFit, and we’re celebrating our new partnership by welcoming CrossFit owner and CEO Eric Roza to the WHOOP Podcast. Eric shares his story and why he believes owning CrossFit is his calling in life. He explains how he’s changing the culture at CrossFit, his vision for the brand and the sport moving forward, and why surrounding yourself with good people is one of the keys to success in business and in life. He discusses making his dream to own CrossFit a reality (2:34), taking over a brand in crisis (6:36), the CrossFit economy (10:36), the WHOOP-CrossFit partnership (12:56), his vision for the sport (15:10), CrossFit’s worldwide reach (19:29), what sets CrossFit apart (31:41), elite drive and determination (39:13), improving sleep (41:50), keys to succeeding in CrossFit (46:36), and cultivating good relationships (50:58).

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Will Ahmed sits down with Joe Bullmore of the Gentleman's Journal podcast to discuss everything about WHOOP and our journey over the last decade. This conversation is a deep dive on entrepreneurship, the future of wearable technology, and exactly how WHOOP is trying to unlock human performance. Will and Joe discuss the origin of WHOOP (4:16), believing in your vision (8:58), how WHOOP leads to positive health changes (12:33), being told you will fail (13:20), building prototypes and tracking HRV (20:57), WHOOP as a coaching tool (28:37), sleep: the last frontier of health (33:24), COVID-19 and respiratory rate (35:58), how WHOOP got its name (42:16), the future of wearable technology (45:00), learning on the job (49:03), how to hire the right people (51:14), and defining success (1:01:30). 

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WHOOP is unveiling a major research effort with the U.S. Army in Alaska to better understand how soldiers are adapting to the harsh winter conditions in the Arctic. This study examines how circadian alignment impacts physiological metrics, heart rate variability, and self-reported measures of resilience. WHOOP Director of Military Teams Robert Moeller sits down with WHOOP VP of Performance Kristen Holmes and Army Chief Warrant Officer Phil Ranck to discuss helping those who serve (2:59), measuring stress in soldiers (5:45), sleep deprivation (13:06), the goals of the study (17:24), HRV and sleep quality (18:38), understanding stress (19:39), extreme Alaskan conditions (21:47), darkness and the human body (23:28), optimizing for shift work (29:12), the design of the study (35:33), keeping soldiers safe (37:55), rest and preparedness (41:21), the core principle of HRV (49:13), and the purpose of this partnership (55:31).

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This week’s episode is a deep dive on nutrition and how eating disorders can negatively affect your body and your performance. Allison Lynch, our Senior Marketing Manager of Running and Women’s Performance, details her powerful personal battle with anorexia and bulimia and shares how she overcame her eating disorders. Allison sits down with WHOOP VP of Performance Kristen Holmes to talk about her journey and just how important proper nutrition is for all athletes. They discuss the serious consequences of eating disorders (5:25), how many suffer in silence (6:43), anorexia and bulimia (7:47), the prevalence of eating disorders in track and field (11:55), addiction (16:02), the root cause of eating disorders (19:07), getting healthy (30:57), thinking about food positively (32:55), intuitive eating (36:19), increasing education on nutrition and well-being (45:43).

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Chef, businessman, and athlete Michael Chernow discusses his journey to sobriety, the importance of gratitude, and what drives him to perform in life. Michael talks about overcoming adversity and what he’s learned along the way. He also shares how he’s learned to balance being a father, a husband, a fitness freak, and a successful businessman all at the same time. Michael discusses finding his passion at a young age (2:09), getting sober (5:14), the role fitness plays in sobriety (8:24), using WHOOP (11:47), skipping workouts on red recovery days (15:12), learning patience (21:31), becoming a bodybuilder (22:21), how kickboxing helped on his road to recovery (28:47), finding work-life balance (34:34), gratitude (37:39), and learning from failure (40:41).

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WHOOP is researching how COVID-19 vaccines could affect your body. VP of Data Science and Research Emily Capodilupo breaks down our latest study, which found that the majority of 1,200 vaccinated WHOOP members did not show a significant difference in recovery, resting heart rate, and heart rate variability after getting the first shot. This study also found that those who did see a change in physiological metrics did not experience a diminished recovery for more than a day or two. Emily and Will Ahmed discuss how this research began (2:39), how vaccines work (4:18), why two shots are needed (7:07), WHOOP data post-vaccine (9:43), the quick data rebound for those who do feel the effects of the shot (11:06), why feeling sick after being vaccinated isn't a bad sign (11:56), studying the differences between the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines (13:26), how sleep can help your body build antibodies (14:41), our next research steps (16:34), and how WHOOP protects your privacy (18:00).

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Dr. Daniel Plews has been at the forefront of some of the most groundbreaking heart rate variability research over the last 10-plus years. He sits down with WHOOP VP of Data Science and Research Emily Capodilupo and VP of Performance Kristen Holmes to discuss how you can apply your HRV data to your training. They dive deep on how HRV can guide your training (4:08), why HRV is foundational to the WHOOP recovery metric (6:19), keys to excellent recovery (13:57), avoiding overtraining (14:56), looking at HRV over multiple days instead of one day (16:51), adapting to a training stimulus (20:11), working out based on recovery (25:33), understanding nutrition and eating for your performance goals (33:22), and why fasting and training don't always go hand-in-hand (39:22).

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On this week’s episode, we cover the results of Project PR, a study in the value of using the WHOOP recovery metric to guide your training. This study showed that runners who used the recovery score to help determine their daily training load over an 8-week period improved their times significantly and sustained fewer injuries than those who used a static training program. WHOOP VP of Data Science and Research Emily Capodilupo and WHOOP Marketing Manager of Women’s Performance and Running Allison Lynch talk with Mary Cain, who served as one of the coaches for the program. Mary is a world-class runner in her own right and was the youngest person to ever represent the United States at the World Championships. They discuss Mary’s New York Times op-ed on culture issues in the running world (3:38), body image in sports (7:05), optimizing performance for women (9:57), avoiding overtraining with WHOOP (12:27) , balancing green, yellow, and red recoveries (15:18), Project PR (16:28), structuring the study (18:52), key takeaways (24:04), training to HRV (30:40), becoming an elite athlete (33:50),  and sleep and performance (37:52).

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