Purple Patch Podcast

Welcome to the Purple Patch podcast! A few weeks ago, we began a special series on case studies of Purple Patch athletes. In this series, we share their stories and insights to help you learn how they have benefited from the Purple Patch methodology. Our goal is to help you understand how this methodology and mindset can facilitate better performance in your own life. Our first athlete in this series was Mike Kane. Mike initially focused solely on fitness, but with some guidance, shifted his perspective towards health and habits and unlocked effectiveness in his training and how he showed up as a leader. This week, we are excited to welcome two Purple Patch athletes, Jeff Lipschultz and Marcel Lopez. They both have inspiring stories to share about how they used sports to improve their lives, shift their perspectives, and achieve better results. Jeff's story is about his journey from a childhood that didn't include many sports to using sports to enrich his community. He talks about the lessons he learned from

On this week's episode of the Purple Patch podcast, IRONMAN Master Coach Matt Dixon delves into the topic of stress. Dealing with stress is crucial for personal growth, but it can also negatively impact your daily performance.  In this episode, Matt highlights the role of stress in nutrition and eating habits and emphasizes three key areas where your approach and the role of stress can determine your success or struggle.  Matt explains how different stressors can affect athletes' eating habits. He describes how stress can create weaknesses by disrupting regulatory processes that help us maintain healthy eating habits, which can derail adherence to a smart eating plan. Matt offers guidance on how to adjust your mindset and approach to the quantity, quality, and timing of your meals to better cope with stress, develop a strategy, and improve your overall health. He also discusses supportive habits in other areas of performance, such as sleep and training, that can complement your nutritional approach. Additiona

It's race season, folks! The season is beginning in full swing, especially in the northern hemisphere, and we have some exciting races to look forward to. It’s a perfect opportunity to test your limits, skills, and abilities, but most importantly, it’s an opportunity to have fun. IRONMAN Master Coach Matt Dixon explores performance readiness and the racing mindset to help you perform your best on race day. The aim is to provide a fresh perspective to show up for your important events and focus on the things that will result in the best performance possible. Matt discusses the importance of training and developing physiological race-readiness, refining skills, and race craft, and devising strategies for fueling and hydration, to understand the demands of racing and the role race preparation plays in setting up an approach to define the race in your favor. On race day, many athletes face negative and distracting thoughts. However, Matt delves into the underlying reasons and outcomes of such negative thinking an

This week on the Purple Patch Podcast, Ironman Master Coach Matt Dixon discusses high performance with Purple Patch athlete Mike Kane. Mike is the Chief Manufacturing Officer at Framebridge, a framing company based in New Jersey. He has been training with Matt as a Purple Patch athlete for a couple of years. Mike is the epitome of a time-starved athlete. He's a busy senior executive who travels a ton while trying to integrate sport into life by competing in athletic events such as marathons and Ironman competitions. In this episode, Matt and Mike detail the challenges and struggles they faced while attempting to decode Mike’s athletic success in his first year with Purple Patch. However, they explain the shift in perspective that eventually transformed his performance. By chasing a platform of health rather than fitness, Mike was able to unlock dramatic results. He saw significant improvements in his body composition, energy levels, training efficiency, fitness, and overall sense of control.   Instead of sole

In the latest episode of the Purple Patch Podcast, IRONMAN Master Coach Matt Dixon talks about the world of coaching and the importance of establishing a strong foundation of trust and commitment in your coaching relationship. Your perspective, mindset, and actions are key factors in creating a successful coaching relationship. When done correctly, this relationship can lead to positive outcomes. However, if not done properly, it can easily become stuck. Matt breaks down the discussion into three main parts: The value of being coached, the role of a coach, and how to make the most of your coaching relationship. Although the discussion mainly focuses on sports coaching, the principles Matt shares apply to almost every aspect of our lives, including business. This week's episode is a must-listen if you are in a leadership or managerial position. Even if you are seeking to improve your relationship with a mentor or manager, the details of the discussion will help you frame your approach. In this episode, Matt ch

Swimming can be a frustrating sport, especially for those who don't start early. With 90% of your body weight displaced, it's like competing in the weightlessness of space. Moreover, finding pool times, commuting, and improving technical skills can be quite challenging, especially for amateur triathletes. However, as a triathlete, swim training is essential for overall improvement. You need to minimize the time spent swimming to go faster while limiting physiological costs and fatigue. Swimming also has a cross-pollination effect on other sports, such as improved cardiovascular conditioning.  If you're time-starved and already have much on your plate, how do you get the returns on your effort to optimize swim readiness and splits? To help you unlock your swim potential, we invited Purple Patch Swim Coach John Stevens to the podcast. John is a world expert in open water swim coaching and technique, a former Division 1 swimmer, and has worked with many leading swimmers in open water and triathlon racing. During

We recently received a question from a Purple Patch Tri Squad athlete, asking if the Purple Patch Coaching Team keeps up with recent trends and scientific advances when it comes to developing and evolving Purple Patch training. He was particularly interested in factors such as Zone 2 training, blood lactate testing, keto or fat adaptive diets, and the methods of Norwegian athletes in endurance performance. He also wondered why the Purple Patch Tri Squad doesn't add forced rest days each week when prescribing training. At the core of his curiosity was a broader question: Does Purple Patch consider advances in training methodologies? We realized this was the perfect opportunity to frame this episode as one big Q&A session, with that being the only question. In this episode, Ironman Master Coach Matt Dixon provides an answer. Using examples of his coaching approach for various athletes, Matt illustrates the dynamic lens that must be applied to each athlete while simplifying the training process by relying on

This week, on a special edition of the Purple Patch Podcast, Ironman Master Coach Matt Dixon is celebrating his 50th birthday. To commemorate this significant milestone, Matt reflects on the past 50 years of his life, sharing 50 valuable lessons he learned from his experiences as an athlete, coach, and entrepreneur. These lessons are not only beneficial for athletes looking to enhance their performance but also for anyone who wants to improve their approach to work and life. Whether you are a coach, athlete, work leader, or parent, Matt's insights are sure to provide you with valuable perspectives to help you navigate your journey, no matter where you are in life. Episode Timestamps 00:00 - 03:10 - Welcome and Episode Introduction 03:17 - 05:15 - Matt's News-ings 05:21 - 52:11 - The Meat and Potatoes - Episode 303: 50 Lessons of 50 Years -  Reflections of a Personal Journey Purple Patch and Episode Resources Purple Patch Video Podcast and More Click here for the SPECIAL Fuelin Landing Page 2024 Purple Patch P

Throughout our coaching journey, we have shared numerous stories of success in training top-tier triathletes and C-suite executives who strive to achieve and maintain high performance in their personal and professional lives.   Over two decades of coaching both groups, we have observed strong parallels in the challenges they face and the solutions to those challenges that are universally applicable. In this week's episode of the Purple Patch Podcast, Ironman Master Coach Matt Dixon highlights those elements by focusing on executives and CEOs. He delves deeper into the reasons why many of them choose to take on the Ironman Triathlon, one of the world's most challenging sporting events. How have so many been successful at adapting to the demands of training and preparation while maintaining efficiency in their professional roles? (11:27) Let's consider the typical executive - massive competing demands at work, the requirement for each of them to show up their very best every single day. All of them requiring c

We continue to kick off the year with our on-location podcasts from the 2024 Purple Patch Kona Camp. This year, we have 25 athletes who have put in some hard work and learned some valuable lessons. In this week's episode, IRONMAN Master Coach Matt Dixon talks about the importance of training camps and what athletes gain from coming together with like-minded individuals to be coached through the experience. Matt highlights three often overlooked components every athlete and coach should consider, as well as the main reasons why we have so many people returning to our training camp experiences year after year. Matt emphasizes three often overlooked components that athletes and coaches should consider. He also explains how these three components are part of the main reason athletes choose to return to our training camp experiences year after year. While training camps seem to be a retreat where athletes simply hammer their way through a training program, an effective training camp experience is much more nuanced

Over the last two decades, IRONMAN Master Coach Matt Dixon has coached athletes of all levels, from world-class to beginners. One of the most common aspirations he hears from athletes is the desire to compete at the Ironman World Championship. However, what does it take to qualify for this prestigious event? Is there a secret to success? As it happens, Purple Patch Fitness has significant knowledge and experience with the Ironman World Championships. We have achieved over 15 top-10 finishes at the championship and have helped nearly 1500 Purple Patch athletes qualify for the event. Some of these athletes have even won amateur and age group titles. As a result, we have a wealth of experience and expertise when it comes to the Ironman World Championship. In this week’s episode of the Purple Patch Podcast Matt wants to help set you up for success in your journey toward qualifying for the Ironman World Championships. Drawing from over two decades of coaching experience, Matt distills his lessons into ten essentia

Last week's Purple Patch Podcast discussed how organizational effectiveness maximizes the talent and hard work of high performers. Organizational effectiveness, which includes planning, organization, and prioritization, can help remove mental clutter, provide control, and ultimately lead to faster goal achievement. However, it seems that only a small percentage of the show's listeners currently have a habitual practice to drive effectiveness and manage competing demands. Based on feedback we received from the audience, it seems that most people find it difficult to plan their nutrition and hydration effectively. Whether you're an athlete striving to achieve optimal performance in sports or an individual looking to enhance your daily performance at work and in life, the nutrition aspect of your journey can be daunting. Figuring out when and how to fuel your body to meet life's demands and your athletic goals can be overwhelming. Knowing what, how, and when to eat may be challenging, especially for those who ar

Talent, ambition, and a strong work ethic are crucial for achieving high performance in any field. It is also essential to follow a program and adopt daily practices and habits that promote readiness and teach lessons to develop necessary skills. However, none of these elements alone can lead to optimal results. Organizational effectiveness, which includes planning and structure, brings all of these elements together and is the key to high performance in any field. In this week's episode of the Purple Patch Podcast, Ironman Master Coach Matt Dixon talks about organizational effectiveness and how it can help you optimize your talent, intelligence, and effort to achieve your goals. Matt emphasizes its significance and reflects on how he transformed organizational effectiveness into a vital tool that he now employs for all Purple Patch athletes and the entire Purple Patch team. He explains the importance of creating a framework to help organize, prioritize, eliminate distractions, and ultimately provide control

This week, we're revisiting one of the most insightful interviews we've done here on the Purple Patch Podcast. With a fresh year just beginning and more athletes than ever logging miles on their trainer, we felt this conversation with Robbie Ventura was worth sharing again!   If you want to experience the benefits we discuss around speed and performance, come check out our training programs:

Welcome to the first Purple Patch podcast of 2024. With a new year ahead, we aim to help you improve your focus and concentrate your energy on the things that will significantly enhance your performance in the most critical areas of your life. At Purple Patch, the theme for the upcoming year is transformation. Regardless of your goals, mission, or purpose, we are here to help you transform. Our experience in high performance has taught us that personal transformation is not a quick fix, and there is no fixed start and end date for it. Whether you are looking to achieve specific race goals, improve your performance at work or as a leader, or simply invest in your future self, this is an excellent year to transform how you approach your performance. True success is not achieved by merely thinking about the upcoming year as a temporary starting point. Instead, it requires a continuous evolution of one's approach towards performance. In this episode of the Purple Patch Podcast, Ironman Master Coach Matt Dixon sha

As we approach the holiday season, it's a great opportunity to reflect on the past and plan for the future. We can take time to review the year that has passed and think about what worked well and what didn't. At the same time, we can set goals for the future and create a roadmap for transformation and self-improvement.  In this episode of the Purple Patch Podcast, IRONMAN Master Coach Matt Dixon takes a look back and reviews the progress we have made during the “offseason” training phase while providing a practical plan for navigating the coming months, which we at Purple Patch call “Q1 - the build phase.” Matt highlights what success looks like on a performance journey, regardless of your skill level or goals, and provides important strategies to employ during the build phase. These strategies aim to help you have a successful first three months of the year and help establish a foundation for achieving your goals and becoming a higher-functioning human being throughout the year. Episode Timestamps 00:00 - 0

Welcome to the final episode of the Purple Patch Podcast's 5-part series on the Performance Base Layer. This series focuses on building a solid foundation for high performance. Your performance base layer consists of positive habits that promote good physical and mental health and enhance your physiological readiness. The essential elements of the performance base layer are the Purple Patch pillars of performance: endurance, strength, nutrition, and recovery. In this week’s episode, we tie it all together by discussing the high-performance mindset. Whatever your focus and goals are, having the right mindset is essential to achieving your best performance in any arena. In this episode, Ironman Master Coach Matt Dixon provides a toolkit to develop a high-performance mindset and methods for leveraging those strategies to increase readiness and resilience for a stronger performance. Matt focuses on five key concepts for building your high-performance mindset: Commitment, consistency, and toughness Focus and p

Welcome to the 5-part Performance Base Layer Series on the Purple Patch Podcast. This series emphasizes the importance of building a foundation for high performance. Your Performance baselayer consists of positive habits that promote good physical and mental health and foster physiological readiness. The Purple Patch pillars of performance, endurance, strength, nutrition, and recovery are the core elements of the performance base layer. In this series, every episode revolves around one of the four pillars of performance. Endurance and movement, strength and resistance training, and proper nutrition have already been covered. Now, let's shift our focus to the fourth pillar: recovery. We will discuss this pillar from two different perspectives. The first perspective is "life performance," which is aimed at anyone who wants to improve their longevity, performance, or overall functioning in daily life. The second perspective is focused on endurance athletes and highlights the specific needs of competitive sports.

Welcome back to the 5-part Performance Base Layer Series on the Purple Patch Podcast. This series aims to emphasize the importance of the foundational aspect of high performance, which is the performance base layer. It's built on the foundation of positive habits that foster a strong physiological readiness for good physical and mental health year-round and for years to come. The Purple Patch pillars of performance, which include endurance, strength, nutrition, and recovery, make up the core elements of the performance base layer. Each week of the series, we have focused on a different pillar of performance. We started with endurance and movement, followed by strength and resistance training. Now, we move on to the third pillar: nutrition. Similar to the previous episodes, we will discuss this pillar from two perspectives. The first perspective is called "life performance," which focuses on anyone who seeks to improve their longevity, workplace performance, parenting skills, or anything related to their daily

Welcome to Part 2 of our 5-part Performance Base Layer Series on the Purple Patch Podcast. A solid foundation of physical and mental health - a strong Physiological ready-state - is essential to succeed in any arena, whether at work, as a parent, or as an athlete. This is what we call your performance base layer. Over the next few weeks, we will showcase important episodes, each focusing on one key element of the Performance Base Layer. In our previous episode, we talked about the importance of endurance. In this episode, IRONMAN Master Coach Matt Dixon emphasizes the significance of strength training and explains how to incorporate it correctly into your routine. Matt sheds light on common misconceptions about strength training and the mistakes many athletes make when adding it to their training regimen. He also discusses the numerous benefits of strength training, such as avoiding major illnesses and improving your health span. This includes metabolic health, cardiovascular health, body weight management, b