Purple Patch Podcast

Where do supplements, pills, powders and the like fit in the spectrum of your performance evolution? Are they a key catalyst to performance, or a bunch of voodoo and empty promises designed only to drain your wallet? Today, Matt dives into the nooks and crannies of performance trickery and supplementation - the big promises of maximizing performance gains through supplements, treatments, and inter...

To submit a question to the podcast, visit https://www.purplepatchfitness.com/podcast and fill out the podcast question form. ---   Do you need a training intervention? While people seem to be more aware of the cumulative effects of training stress and the need to integrate training into their lives with a pragmatic approach, it still seems that confusion reigns among those who are simply checking...

To submit a question to the podcast, visit https://www.purplepatchfitness.com/podcast and fill out the podcast question form. Matt Dixon and Purple Patch were recently featured on CNN with an in-depth piece on Managing Travel. View that story HERE  and look for it at airports across the country.  --- Travel can be a corrosive experience, carrying an emotional, physical and hormonal toll that has a...

Change is hard. Most people are not naturally adaptable at thriving in a changing environment and they will lean into familiarity even if that familiarity isn't positive. Think about it. Most of us like to sink into a familiar couch or slip on a pair of comfortable shoes, even if we are allured by the concept of change. There is nothing wrong with this except that it isn't the world we live in.  I...

Matt looks back to give perspective on some of the best episodes this year related to global performance in sport, work, and life. He reviews the pivotal roles of a coach, how managers and coaches can create a culture to thrive, tips on integrating recovery into your multisport life, and presents an inspiring review of how elite performers STRIVE to succeed during his conversation with Dr. Steve I...

It is inevitable. You cannot escape failure. Ups and downs are a part of the journey in work, sport, family, and life. When things don't go well, you're no less of a high performer and, guess what? You're still the same person as you were before. Failure doesn't define you as an athlete or a human being. In fact, it's part of your complex tapestry. What happens when things don't go well? How do yo...

You are not a Swiss watch and your coach is not a watchmaker.  In this episode, Matt redefines specificity to unshackle you from the pretense of precision. In fact, a focus on precision in every session is a slippery slope that leads to obsession, paralysis of analysis, erosion of confidence, and an overreliance on metrics. You can, however, gain specificity without being precise and if it is done...

It's no secret that our muscular-skeletal health - our FRAME - takes a pounding in endurance training. In fact, there are whole companies and industries built on muscle health - bodywork, compression, foam rolling, cryotherapy, etc.   Athletes and practitioners take a lot of action in this area to promote adaptations and avoid injury, and yet, we still mess it up. How is it possible that so many w...

Today, through the case study of a Purple Patch athlete, Matt outlines a recipe for energy, success, and the ability to be the best person you can be even if you would never profess to be an athlete. In fact, you don't have to be an athlete to adopt an athletic mindset. You don't even have to aspire to be athletic. What you do need is the desire to excel, thrive, and be the best version of yoursel...

Matt returns with a bonus "Ask Matt Anything" episode where he answers your questions related to: A return to training after illness and surgery The Benefits of Attending a Purple Patch Training Camp Plus, Matt makes a special announcement about a new program that's coming soon, The Purple Patch Squad! To submit your podcast questions, email questions@purplepatchfitness.com Copyright 2019 All Righ...

Are you chronically underfed and overstressed? Most time-starved athletes are. In the context of our busy lives, the vast majority of us tend to undercut our calories relative to our training demands. Unfortunately, the cost of doing so is immense. A random approach to nutrition and fueling leads to athletes who are frustrated with energy fluctuations, a lack of portion control, and lower training...

This week, Matt has an in-depth Coaches discussion with  Dr. Steve Ingham , author of the best selling 'How to Support a Champion: The art of applying science to the elite athlete', discussing and inspiring the importance of learning and adapting to reach our maximum potential. Dr Steve Ingham is considered 'performance royalty,' as one of the UK's leading figures in sport and one of the world's l...

Many triathletes tend to be busy people with very full lives, making participation in the sport a jigsaw of time management, physical challenges, and mental stresses. With the combination of three sports into one, training is not an easy puzzle to create, especially when considering the additional components such as sleep, nutrition, fueling, equipment choices, and environmental stresses (heat, al...

As the importance of recovery has increased and the knowledge and benefits surrounding this topic have grown more popular, it has opened the door to a fleet of pseudoscience and heavy marketing that only leads to confusion and dilution of the message around recovery. Today's podcast takes on two real case studies of Purple Patch athletes who have been challenged with integrating a recovery mindset...

This episode features a special conversation with a man who is central to the success at Purple Patch. Matt Hurley is the Director of Coaching Operations at Purple Patch and he's also an accomplished athlete, becoming overall champion at last year's Ironman 70.3 Maine. He's a multiple qualifier to the 70.3 World Championships and is also making quite a name in the SwimRun race scene. In fact, last...

Chelsea Sodaro was born to be an athlete. Both parents competed in triathlon and Chelsea also remembers her Dad training for the Boston Marathon! With energy like that in your life, how could you not love sport?! And she did. Chelsea fell in love with running, which took her through college at Cal Berkeley along with a post-collegiate professional running career. She may be a superhuman on the tra...

This week, it's the story of a time-starved athlete, but not just any time-starved athlete. Cecilia Davis-Hayes is heading into her Residency into her fourth year in Medical School at Columbia and, at the same time, is still competing at the top level of professional triathlon. She is, quite possibly, the most inspiring athlete on the Purple Patch Pro Squad.  How did she discover a love for the sp...

Today is, by request, an extension on the discussion around Episode 51, The Art of Coaching and Being Coached . It's an expansive discussion into management and leadership within a corporate setting. There are many parallels between performance within a set of world-class athletes and performance within business teams. Your mission, as an effective coach or leader, is to create sustained performan...

The backbone of the Purple Patch Podcast is education around performance in both sport and life, and Matt hits it head-on this week in this conversation with Andy Blow, former professional triathlete and Founder of Precision Hydration .  The topic? Hydration in sport, work, and life. If you're a pro athlete, an amateur athlete, a fitness enthusiast, an executive or a busy professional looking for...

Welcome Back to Season 2 and our first Purple Patch Podcast of 2019! This is the time where people are choosing to be coached for the first time, transitioning to a different coach, or even refreshing their relationship with their current coach. There is a real role for coaches to play in framing the art of coaching and creating a culture of success. On the flip side, the athlete has a real respon...

This week is a special episode for Purple Patch. It's our 50th episode! We launched in January 2018. and as we approach the end of the year, we thought it was a good time to take a step back and have a little review. Today, it's Matt's picks from some of the episodes of the last few months that are anchored and channeled on global life performance and reaching your potential via an athletic mindse...

This week, we provide a little fun (and hopefully a little inspiration) for your holiday lens and gift giving! Matt and his team of coaches came together to provide you with some of their holiday performance gift recommendations centered around our Four Pillars of Performance: Endurance Training, Strength and Conditioning, Nutrition, and Recovery.  These ideas aren't quick fixes or magic shortcuts...

It's hard to argue with the concept that you will get more out of a project, workout, meeting, or book if you are fully immersed and focused in the endeavor. Being distracted or having your mind elsewhere is hardly a logical path to success and we are all susceptible to becoming distracted, especially with all the competing demands that our big lives tend to bring. For most of us, the buy-in for p...

Take a moment to revisit your childhood. Do you recall spending hours on end riding your bike around the neighborhood, exploring backyards for unknown treasures, splashing in the pool with your friends, or playing in the snow without thought or fear of the cold? Ahhh…the glory days of childs ' play. Hopefully, you engaged in a variety of activities, both structured and unstructured. You likely pla...

"If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."  - Isaac Newton The power of a mentor or coach cannot be overstated and to truly maximize the benefits of a professional coach, you, the athlete, must be a major stakeholder to ensure the relationship is fruitful and beneficial to your performance. In this episode, Matt discusses the importance of finding the right coach for y...