Episode 290: Lessons of Off-Season Training So Far
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A few weeks ago, we aired a series of shows discussing the significance of the off-season period for athletes and fitness enthusiasts. We shared our innovative approach to off-season training and education, which is aimed at creating a strong foundation for future success.
Now, three weeks into our program, after completing one training cycle, we reflect on the progress we've made and the lessons we’ve learned along the way.
In this week's episode of the Purple Patch Podcast, we evaluate the areas that have shown positive growth and present opportunities for learning and improvement. We also examine areas that require further attention or potentially need adjustment. We draw on valuable insights from athletes currently participating in our off-season program, who share their feedback on the experience so far.
Our aim is to emphasize the importance and value of this block of work in building a solid foundation for a breakthrough year in the future, rather than a pursuit of immediate results.
We hope that this episode motivates you to develop new skills and tools to achieve success in your performance journey.
Be sure to sign up for our Workshop on Wheels for your access to LIVE, real-time coaching on the bike from IRONMAN Master Coach and Purple Patch founder Matt Dixon, along with a FREE 10-day trial of our live and on-demand bike sessions.
Episode Timestamps
00:00 - 03:43 - Welcome and Episode Introduction
03:51 - 08:40 - Matt's News-ings
08:55 - 12:28 - Word of the Week
12:35 - 45:04 - The Meat and Potatoes - Episode 290: Lessons of Off-Season Training So Far
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Full Transcript
Matt Dixon 00:03
I'm Matt Dixon and welcome to the Purple Patch podcast. The mission of Purple Patch is to empower and educate every human being to reach their athletic potential. Through the lens of athletic potential, you reach your human potential. The purpose of this podcast is to help time-starved people everywhere integrate sport into life.
Matt Dixon 00:24
Metabolism, recovery, heart health, cognition, endurance, fitness, gut health, hormone balance, inflammation, and sleep. These are the categories in which InsideTracker organizes the recommendations provided from assessing your biometrics, and it forms the building blocks of your own personal action plan. In order for you to excel and perform in any arena in life, you do best when you apply effort on a robust platform of health. There's no easy way, but whether you want to be a world-class athlete, a time-starved, athlete, a leader, a high-functioning executive, a busy parent, or someone that's seeking to invest in their future quality of life. This is a fundamental truth and this is why we at Purple Patch, leverage the insights and recommendations from the team at InsideTracker. You can too. insidetracker.com/purplepatch that's insidetracker.com/purplepatch, and listen to this show to get 20% off, you can just simply use this code Purple Patch pro 20, that's Purple Patch Pro two zero, 20% off everything at a store. Alright, I hope you enjoy the show.
Matt Dixon 01:46
And welcome to the Purple Patch podcast as ever, your host, Matt Dixon. And if you're a regular listener, well, you might remember a few weeks ago, we went through a series and what we labeled offseason. Step by step, we broke down the importance of this part of the year for athletes and performance enthusiasts alike. We also went through and peeled back the curtain a little bit on our approach at Purple Patch, how we were seeking to, from the ground up, completely reimagine our training and educational approach for our athletes and anyone who helps gain support from Purple Patch. Well, we are now one cycle of training through. So in other words, we just finished up with three weeks of our training and education. And it's so fresh, it's so new, that I thought well, why don't we throw one more show in here and have a little bit of a pause, a reflection, and an assessment? What are some of the areas that have been really positive, good elements to grow on and continue for you to go and learn on your journey? And are there any elements in which we need to maybe course correct a little bit, maybe shift things around? And so we're gonna do some lessons of the offseason so far. Now we've drawn in a lot of insights from the athletes that have participated. And I hope that by listening through today's show, you're gonna be further bolstered to realize how important and valuable this block of work is, for your future self. It's not about immediate results. Here, we are setting the stage so that you can excel and have a breakout year next year. And so I hope that you're going to be motivated by this. But also, you can start to develop some of the tools that you can add to your toolkit to ensure that whatever journey you're on, you can be wholly successful. It's gonna be a good one. I think it'd be insightful. But before we get going here, why don't we do some Matt's News-ings?
singer 03:51
Yes, Barry, thank you, Matt's News-ings And we edge towards the holidays. And I think we have a window, no, the window right now to set the stage for a big 2024. And if you're considering Purple Patch, then I highly encourage you please don't wait till the post-holiday timeframe, because you're going to miss out on a whole bunch of fun, it's a really entertaining block of work we're doing right now. But you're also going to miss some really important training and education that set the stage for your best performance for the year ahead. Now, don't worry, we're going to ensure that you don't feel like training is a burden over the course of this we realize that a lot of people want emotional restoration, want other opportunities to spend time with family, maybe focus a little bit more on work before the holidays. So there's plenty of time to have fun, a little bit more freedom. You've got lots of space and lots of flexibility, but it is a critical phase where you are setting the stage for next year. And so it's a wonderful time to do some foundational work and there's really not an athlete that shouldn't be thinking about that, whether it's with or without Purple Patch. And so if you're sort of looking over the edge right now you're considering one-to-one coaching, or maybe you're considering getting involved with our squad programs, we are ready to receive. Now, in one-to-one coaching, we've only got about two to three spots left. You might remember last week I mentioned we had five spots. Well, I think three of those are gone. I want to be transparent. So I think we've got two more to go here. Ready for the 2024 season. Now spots might open up, that's good. Of course, there's always potential for a little bit of turnover. But we are getting very, very tight there. So I wanted to give you the headline news. Squad, this is absolutely the ideal time for the team for you to join, and the team is absolutely ready to welcome you and set the path ahead. That team of course is the coaches as well as your teammates. Either way, head to the website, purplepatchfitness.com, or of course, you can always ping us at info@purplepatchfitness.com, we will set up a complimentary call to see if we're a good fit for you to answer any questions and provide counsel on your best path ahead. Reach out, the doors are open. Oh, and speaking of doors open workshop on wheels. I mentioned this last week, November 18th, 7 am Pacific, we are inviting you, in fact treat it like a personal introduction from me to you, inviting you to a workshop, you're going to get to experience life bike coaching, with me hanging out 90 minutes. In fact, we're going to have a little chat before. And we'll follow up with some questions and answers following. So it's a two-hour block but the ride is going to be about 90 minutes. This is a complimentary workshop on how to get more speed from whatever fitness you have right now. And we're going to achieve this by upgrading your skills and Terrain Management. You've heard me talk a lot about this on the show. And this is highly recommended for triathletes, people that love to ride bikes of any nature, maybe you're just getting into riding a bicycle, and you'd love to actually get some fast-tracking on how to get the most out of it. Enjoy what is a wonderful, wonderful sport. You do not need to be a Purple Patch athlete to get involved. In fact, this is a really community-driven event. And if you do decide to participate live, we're going to throw in some treats for you. You're going to get a 10-day free membership as a trial when you decide to join the sessions. And so that's going to give you access to all of our bike coaching. Now remember, this is video-based, it's two-way video-based, I can see you and give you feedback. And you're also going to be linked to our platform, particularly if you happen to be on a smart trainer or have a power meter on your bike. We can connect you, we can take you through a whole bunch of fun stuff. We're also going to be giving away a whole lot a lot of laughter. I'm going to be doing some pretty good tunes if and even if I say so myself and our friends at Best Day Brewing, that is the best by the way, there is absolutely no debate about the best non-alcoholic beer. Well, I'm not afraid to admit I'm proud to admit I drink it almost every night. But they are going to give away prizes to everybody all over the country. The link is in the show notes. If you want to register, it's absolutely free. It's also going to be on the website. And if you get lost at all, of course just ping us an email at info@purplepatchfitness.com and you can join for free. November 18, 7 a.m. Pacific, 90 minutes with me. We're even going to have a beer afterward. Not what's better than beer for breakfast. All right, let's now turn our heads to excellence. We are going to talk about pure excellence. Barry, it's word of the week.
Matt Dixon 08:40
Oh, Barry, I know that you are thinking after that ukulele playing that the word of the week is going to be you, Barry. But no, folks, the word of the week this week - Lucy Charles-Barkley. Yes, Lucy recently won the Hawaii Ironman World Championships, a wire-to-wire victory record-breaking in the process. And all of this after she secured no less than four races in which she got second place. Yes, this Hawaii thing has been a thing for her. Second, second, second, second, and now finally she sits on top of the podium. But out of this victory, which was highly impressive, there are a few major lessons for you folks, the listeners when we understand more about her development into a Kona world champion. Firstly, I think above all else, love the process. It's very, very clear, and I'm not involved in Lucy's journey whatsoever, but it's very clear that Lucy is highly driven, but also has a huge passion for the process. If not, she just wouldn't have stopped with the journey through so much grit and determination. She has gone through quite a bit of adversity. And I tell you what, she clearly has a high-performance mindset, as her journey has been littered with struggles and setbacks. And so I think that Lucy Charles-Barkley is a wonderful example of how progression to excellence is never ever, ever linear. It's going to include a whole bunch of challenges, it's going to be very demanding, and you're going to have to overcome and that is always the path. And so the real question, if you become a champion is how you manage and respond, not react, respond, to all of that adversity, and that paints the ultimate end story. Number two, to achieve anything in life of value, it's fricking hard. Let's not sugarcoat it. Becoming a World Champion is hard. Excelling in anything is tough. There is no easy passage, there is no shortcut. A high-performance mindset appreciates the challenge and meets the demands in order to pave excellence. Relentless is the word. And finally, realize that a world-class performance doesn't emerge from the last 12 weeks of training. Lucy's performance this year was the result of years of development. In fact, this season included some really necessary out-of-the-box thinking with months on end spent on a rowing ergometer, very limited running, riding on a stationary bike, not a trainer, stationary bike in a protective boot, and more. And all of that was due to some injuries that she had to navigate. But she could excel because she was smart. She was willing to solve the challenge in a non-traditional path and also could draw from years of physical and emotional development to finally produce the result. And that is world-class. And so from us at Purple Patch, well done Lucy. That is one of the best Kona performances ever. And no one could say that you absolutely don't deserve it. You are a champion. Alright folks, embrace the journey. And now let's build the athlete. The starting point is here. From the ground up, it is time for the meat and potatoes.
Matt Dixon 12:35
All right, yes, folks, the meat and potatoes and it is off-season so far. So that's the time that you finish your last race and you have a big break, where you want to reset, recharge, and reinvigorate for the next season ahead. And it doesn't have to be reserved for races. This is actually suitable for anyone that is on a performance journey that's looking to show up a better version of themselves. So I always like to anchor it around an athletic season. But I feel like this quarter, Q4, that we find ourselves in right now, so October, November, December, is a wonderful time for everybody to have a little bit of a reset, and rebuild ready to reinvigorate and reengage as we charge into next year before the holidays. So as a reminder, we completely reimagined the approach to the offseason. We shifted it from being a really pretty uncomfortable phase of training that often left folks sort of straddling the tension between wanting a break and wanting to recharge, at the same time, not wanting to recondition and we shifted it to an incredibly fun, but high-value phase of training that actually syncs with that common mindset, but also sets the stage for big performance gains ahead. And so why don't we just quickly remind ourselves of the structure?
Matt Dixon 14:07
So number one, it is a time of restoration and globally lower demand training. So that involves much less physical commitment, more freedom, so that you can integrate fun activities that support general conditioning, things like hiking, cross country skiing, mountain biking stuff that you like to do, that perhaps isn't right under the banner of specificity, and also a whole bunch of capacity to spend time on other areas, family work, social hobbies, everything that wraps around the holidays. So it seems to mesh in sync with the vibe of the year if you want to call it that. But the second component to it is critical foundational training. And I want to underline the word critical. It's really important because you might have heard me say this before, but this phase of training to me is the number one predictor across any Annual arc of an athlete's journey. This is the number one predictor of how good the results are when things get serious in the months ahead. And it is foundational training. We want you to be performance-ready in the months ahead. So what that means is tendons, muscles, ligaments, we will wrap that up and call it tissue, developing tissue resilience, that's going to make you more sturdy, more robust, less prone to injury, et cetera. We also want to increase the size of your engine, if you use the analogy of being a motor vehicle, having this higher cardiovascular capacity is going to raise your potential that's going to foster bigger gains, as you actually move into other types of endurance activities as you progress to the challenging training. We have a heavy emphasis on strength training and muscle health. And we're also going to do some general cardiovascular conditioning. So there is some physiological stuff that we really want to work on over this phase of training. Even though globally, there's more freedom, there's more flexibility, it's less demanding overall. And so there's that nice synergy there that we want to accomplish with both of them. And that's very forward-leading in the approach. It also, over these months, provides a hugely valuable opportunity to do things that are very demanding, and very difficult to focus on, when you are getting ready for a race or you're just launching out of the new year - upgrading your technique, improving your skills, developing a really robust platform of health and your performance habits. Now, this might include for some people body composition, but it could be as simple as improving your sleep improving your daily eating, or your hydration, some of the habits that often trail off when you've got too many other competing demands.
Matt Dixon 16:55
Now, if we wrap all that together, we get to the outcome. So over the course of these months, and for us this year, that's October, November, December, into January, and pretty much half of February, the outcome that we want anyone participating in this block of work is that you should be mentally energized. Okay, you should also be physiologically fresh, so physically and mentally, really, really energized as you emerge out of this block. And that's gonna become really important because the hard weeks and months of training, no matter what your quest is, are going to start to build out of this phase. So you want to go into that absolutely invigorated, excited, ready to go, but also physically, in a place that you can like a sponge, absorb that training and get the biggest adaptations possible. So that's mission number one. Number two is the bedrock of some really good habits around how you exercise and how you train. So this is really anchored around things like great posture, a great platform of strength, really good muscle health, so that you can blend the hard work, and the body is ready to do it to foster thirdly, an absolutely evolved level of technique and skills across any aspects of sporting disciplines you follow. If you're a great rower, that's really important. If you're a cyclist, obviously, you want to be great at terrain management, pedal stroke, and posture. If you're a runner, you want to be able to stand tall. If you're a swimmer, you want to be able to grip more water and rip more water. That's what we're looking for so that we can get propulsion. And if you nail all this, you're going to emerge out of this phase globally, your body in a ready state to optimize returns. Because there's no easy path. We just learned that with Lucy Charles. There's no easy path. But we want to equip you to meet the demands of what is necessary for you to achieve your goals. And so to do that, we want to be mentally fresh as the going is going to get tough, but we want your body in a ready state to actually meet the demands and adapt, and bingo, you get really strong. So if we nail this block, what's going to happen here for Purple Patch, is we are going to have a very large group of athletes who are sitting pretty, highly motivated, right around Valentine's Day, hopefully after receiving some nice Valentine's Day cards and presents, but most importantly, charged up for a big big year ahead. That's our mission. That's what we're looking to have. That's what we're confident of delivering.
Matt Dixon 19:43
Alrighty, now another block of these next months of training is also to have some time available for two other high-impact focus areas. Number one is education. Number two, community. Really important, okay, we're going to have an absolutely full curriculum of education. Now this is going to be delivered by me, of course, the Purple Patch coaches, and the main experts. All of us are committed to helping Purple Patch athletes across all of their areas of growth and development. The second component, community, is also worthy of note. Your individual performance, and this isn't just theory, this is absolutely proven, I've observed this, and in fact, I've proved it through the Purple Patch pro squad, your individual performance is magnified, like gasoline on a fire when you lean into core aspects of team support, accountability, and develop a sense of belonging. There is no better way to develop a performance culture than through a team approach. And so we have infused throughout this block. Many team-focused trainings where athletes can participate in live training from anywhere in the world. We have to share, and that sharing the ups, the downs, the insights with each other, and in an enclosed, small group community that's highly engaged. So that's a venue where you're going to get daily feedback engagement from myself and the coaching team. It's not just the athletes, it's us that are in there, breathing down your neck, but also putting arms around your shoulder.
Matt Dixon 21:28
Now, from a timeline standpoint, the official Purple Patch offseason began October 1, oh, no, I'm late. It might suggest that the boat has sailed, but absolutely not whatsoever. We've got a very large portion of athletes who are racing late into the season and are integrating the program in the weeks ahead. In fact, we just got a flood of 12 athletes that finished the Hawaii Ironman with, a 100% finish rate, by the way, for the female athletes over there in Hawaii, very great, I am really, really proud of the women that raced so well there, but are now just starting their offseason training. So you have no sweat at all if you are feeling like you're behind the eight ball, you've missed the boat, you absolutely haven't. We also have others that have enjoyed a nice postseason break and are just thinking about kicking off their journey now. And of course, it's our role to help all of those athletes. And if that's you, that's you included, to integrate in a smart way. We've also finally got a very good group of newcomers that are all really excited and we're supporting both coaches and team to roll into the program. And it's occurring each week of course. The good news is whether you've still got a race upcoming, whether you've just recently finished a race or you've enjoyed an offseason break, or you're brand new to Purple Patch, and you're just stepping off of the jetty and jumping into the ocean of performance, the good news on all of this is that the Purple Patch offseason is long. It goes through Valentine's Day. And so before ramping into the next chapter of development, of which then we leverage the work over the coming months and prime for the big gains. So this is building the catapult right now. When we hit Valentine's Day, we're going to pull that catapult back, and then as we hit late spring, we're going to release it to a performance inferno. So, this is really important. Add to all of this, that the program is built brand new for this season. And so all we've done so far is one single cycle, as we call it of training. So that's about three weeks in. And what we've had the opportunity now is we have the opportunity to see how that initial cycle of programming has gone. What works, maybe what needs to be tinkered what we need to evolve a little bit because we're always obsessed with trying to get it as right as we possibly can. We want to ensure that the training and the education are hitting the right tone, the education is important valuable, and timely, and we're also achieving the training output that we hoped for. So, this is important. I should add that this offseason has not been designed only for triathletes. It extends across all Purple Patch athletes in the ecosystem, all members, including those who are simply chasing improved health, energy, and personal development. So it's fantastic.
Matt Dixon 24:34
So what I want to do in today's show, is what have we seen so far? I mentioned that we're one cycle in. Great. So what? Now what? What are the insights? What are the areas that I have observed? Well, we're gonna go through piece by piece. It won't take us too long, but I think you're gonna find it pretty interesting. The first observation is what I might label the big picture. Here's a couple of things we've heard. My family doesn't notice I'm training. I like having my weekends more free. It's strange having mental focus without physical exhaustion. You know what, I still need to define my focus here. Where should I prioritize? There's too much to choose from. That's really important. And it's, it's a, a big observation that we're hearing so far that firstly, we are getting it right so far as the specificity being there but also, the flexibility being there. So those are some empowering thoughts there and really what I draw from it is a couple of things. The first is that we are getting I think, the tone, right, so far as delivering the specificity of the training, and making sure that we're engaging people in executing, we're seeing adherence rates been really, really good on the training load, because of course, we can measure that. But also, we're going to learn a report to say, You know what, it doesn't feel overwhelming. And that's the tone and the balance that we help from. So that's the first thing. The second area that I really drew from and it was from a gentleman who talked about needing more focus, not sure where to prioritize, is a common theme. And this is something that the coaching team is helping with for sure. But we are seeing some, and it's not fair to say complaints to us, but people needing assistance I would say. I'm being transparent when I tell you this around, goodness me, where should I prioritize, I think it's almost having too many candy bars, and you love all of them. And you know that if you eat all of them, you end up with a rather bloated stomach. And, and there's a little bit of that because there is a torrent of opportunities for education. And there's also really, really good opportunities with training. But if you try and do everything, and you follow everything to the tee, and you bring that sort of type a mindset to it, check, check, check, check, check, and then it can consume time. And so instead, what we're prioritizing, or what we're encouraging is a little bit of prioritization. If you were a triathlete, you're doing all of the disciplines, you're focusing on strength, you're doing swim, biking, and running. But where are your strengths and weaknesses? And across the fabric of your program, whether you're training 5 hours, 8 hours, 14 hours, or 18 hours, where are you shining the light of focus? And we want to do that around number one, developing a platform of strengths. And that's a priority for almost every athlete. Number two, where can we develop the weakness for you? So if I, for, example, I was a collegiate swimmer, well, I probably wouldn't shine the light on swimming right now, I would swim. But I wouldn't make that a priority. But I run like a donkey dipped in cement and so, therefore, I would be really lean, really leaning into the technical element of the running program. And if I seldom get to ride my bike outside, either, because I'm concerned about safety, I don't like it, or I'm very time-starved and just don't have time, I would really be leaning into the bike session so that I can upgrade my skills around getting the best speed possible. But if I was an adult onset sooner, I would be leaning into some school led by John Stevens more of him later. And so there's a real opportunity to pick and choose around what you're going to focus on.
Matt Dixon 28:41
So the second big observation, and this is perhaps the biggest one is, that there is a huge need and desire for swim technique. A lot of adult-onset swimmers out there and our swim program, as we label it, swim school as a part of the offseason, it's been like bees to a hive. And there's something else, Coach John Stevens, who's leading that swim program, John and I designed the swim program or the swim sessions together, but John is the lead in this program. Number one, it's very, very clear, I'm highly impressed, he's an incredible educator. He's been with us for so long. What a great educator and how simplified, he makes the approach so that it's really actionable. And I believe that a great methodology needs to be clear, it needs to be understandable and it needs to be actionable. And that's what John makes it, and so I think that the swim program is the beacon of light in this thing. It's fantastic. And I've heard a lot of reports of athletes only three weeks in now starting to see the big picture. No one's got faster yet, and you shouldn't be getting faster now, but seeing the big picture and seeing the pathway ahead where they can make actionable gains in their swimming. So that's perhaps perhaps one of the ones that I'm really, really excited about. And it's very frustrating for me because John is clearly more popular than me. But guess what, that's a pretty good thing. So that's a great addition. Incredibly good. A second thing about the swim program is quite a few folks have mentioned, that it's intellectually challenging, but also really good from the reward standpoint. They're actually getting it. And that's a sign of a good component. They're not just mindlessly going through the technical elements, but they're actually yielding the benefits that they can feel in the water. And that's ultimately what you want because there's no point focusing on technique on anything unless you can apply it to the real world. So the swim is a hugely valuable component.
Matt Dixon 30:46
What about the bike, that's another one that I think we should talk about. I'm the predominant lead on the bike program. And the first thing that I think is the biggest observation is, wow, this is hard. Okay, now, that's true. Because across the whole program, one session a week, there is one workout where we are hitting high intensity, and it's very high intensity. In fact, we hit super high intensity once a week. And it isn't to drive fitness, at least not in the way that you think about it. Instead, what it is, is to raise the potential for future training benefits. We have no race demands right now. But what we can do, across all levels of athletes is we can maximize your ability to uptake and utilize oxygen. So VO2 max, as well as improve your muscular ability in the working tissue to actually recruit and generate force. Now, this has been incredibly fun in that kind of type two fun type of way, really different for athletes, and I think, incredibly valuable. I even had a couple of coaches, when I showed them the first workout in the Purple Patch coaches were like, Oh, it's offseason, you know, but meet the demands. Fantastic. Everyone has done a terrific job so far, and really enjoying it as well, which is great.
Matt Dixon 32:13
A second big observation over the course of the riding component is, 'Wow, this is challenging.' Now, what I said about their high-intensity workout was, that it was hard. 'Wow, the other stuff is challenging.' And that's been the response to the skill upgrade sessions. So most of the workouts are not that demanding physically. But goodness me, are they challenging intellectually? And that's because what we've done in these riding sessions is pull out and isolate elements around really becoming a smart bike rider. Okay, so what we have over the course of a session or integrated into a block of a session is we are going to focus on a single element of improvement, shifting your gears, nothing else. Cadence, nothing else, standing technique, nothing else. And so when you isolate it, it enables all the focus, but it also exposes everyone's flaws. And so over the first three weeks, there's been a lot of aha moments. And the other observation of this is how quiet studio one in San Francisco is. And that's because I've actually got people not looking around going goodness me this is hard, but investing mentally, engaging, despite it being relatively lower stress. When did you ever do a session and say, go 3 x 10 minutes at zone three, that's a moderate effort, and I want you to do that with two minutes of recovery. 3 x 10 minutes at zone three, moderate recovery, and yet, it goes by like a flash. And that's because of the skill focus, the upgrade focus. And the first part of these workouts, every single one has been a tidal wave of struggle, saying I can't do it, and then this little wave of epiphanies emerging. Through the screen, aha moments, you can actually visually see people getting it.
Matt Dixon 34:20
Now perhaps the best path to highlight this is to read off a few of the quotes from my athletes because for the sake of this show today, I asked a few of the athletes, and here are a few of the emails and messages I received directly from the athletes. Number one, 'I finally get what you're talking about.' Goodness me, took it long enough, joking apart, 'I finally get what you're talking about. Around syncing the output with the feeling. I actually feel the road under me and the system management through the smart use of gears and pedal stroke. I never understood and I get it. Now, that's a really interesting email, 'I feel the road under me.' But you're sitting on a trainer. That's the benefit of the platform, they actually feel the characteristics of the road, and talk about it directly applicable to the outside. The second message I got was, 'Wow. You never know a weakness until it's exposed. I realize how woefully I underutilized, my gear shifting to try and deliver speed. It makes things so much easier.' That's the point. It makes things easier. This isn't about over-complication, this is about making things easier. The third message, 'I love how the platform doesn't jump right through the grade shifts. It actually behaves like real hills outside, I actually feel gravity working against me. And then of course, with my benefit, as we hit the dissents, it's so easy to know what to do, when you understand the flow. It's a little bit like a roller coaster.' It is although not quite as out of control as a roller coaster, by absolutely get the analogy. That's terrific. And then the fourth one is anchored around climbing. 'Climbing, my nemesis. Every time I stood up, my heart rate would go through the roof. Well, I just finished a climb of 90 seconds at a moderate smooth effort and I felt like I could enjoy a cup of Mrs. Jenkins tea while doing it. Wow, it was so simple to fix after all those years of suffering…' By the way, Mrs. - non-Purple Patch People - Mrs. Jenkins is in charge of the refreshments in the bike class and she does a lovely job of it too. But after all those years of suffering, now, suddenly, you taught me one little tool. And I can do it smooth.' Well, there you go. That's I think fat. Fantastic. And the final message, I can't help. I gotta say my ego feels a bit puffed up here. 'What a shift in mindset. I always chase fitness. That's all I was obsessed about. And instead now what I think about is, let's go get some speed. I have to admit, I thought you were completely crazy. And well, you probably are. But this stuff actually works. I hate to say you're right, but you were.' Go on, say it, Neil. I was right, wasn't I? Good stuff and the bike has the intended focus. That's terrific. And there is a whole host of opportunities there.
Matt Dixon 37:22
All right, the next big observation is the power of strength. Guess what? When you bubble up prioritization, not as an athlete, not as a coach, but as an organization. When you bubble it up and prioritize it, really good things happen. I want you to remember that really good things happen. We're only coming up on a month now of a huge, across the canvas of Purple Patch, prioritization of strength, and good things have already happened. When you're not focusing on building more and more and more endurance miles, the value and the quality of the execution of your strength training goes up. And that's natural. Well, we're edging into that month, and 95% of all Purple Patch athletes are absolutely all in on strength, and they're already feeling the benefits. And I asked folks to place it at the forefront and well, I tell you what, it's going well. You can hear it in the community, people are actually enjoying it. And my first observation around this is one of personal pride, I have to say, and that's Marcia. Marcia our strength coach, was fantastic, upgraded, amazing. More than ever before, I just stepped out of the design of the strength program. I just handed it off to Marcia, because I trusted her from the ground up to build an excellent strength program. And I get to see and refine and now, once it's filtered through, I see the action of it in and across the Purple Patch community. And I'll tell you what, Marcia is terrific. The program is so good. And it's not easy, designing a program that actually suits everyone, but at the same time is fun, engaging, and what I've already seen, clearly powerful. That is no easy feat. And we are getting daily feedback on the value and the quality of the video-based strength program.
Matt Dixon 39:19
Now allow me to be just a little bit salesy for one second, if you are self-coached right now, or perhaps you have your own coach, you can still integrate the Purple Patch strength program into your own program. And I promise you it's so good. It acts as a terrific backbone to any endurance training program is structured is progressive, and we offer it as a standalone program for endurance athletes. It's the same program that we integrate into the Purple Patch programming in tri-squad, in run squad, et cetera. But if you want to only utilize our strength program, it's absolutely available. It's a standalone offering and I've got to say it's really powerful. It's a wonderful time, so Barry, we're going to add that to the show notes and we'll get going. For my final Q4 reflection, this is so far, and allows me to be a little bit coarse but luckily I'm English so when I swear it sounds a little bit like poetry. Shit, guys, our team is good. More than ever before. We are supporting the Purple Patch athletes as a team, as a squad. We have key partners that are absolutely dedicated to Purple Patch athletes. Chris, Ivan, Eric, IOG Bike Fitting - fully engaged. Scott and the team at FuelIn with their focus on dialing it in and supporting athletes build fantastic fueling and nutrition habits. John leading the swim education and individual swim program that we have around customized video assessment et cetera, fantastic. Brad, Mike, and Marcia leading sweat testing in all of the center-based coaching. Michael Olzinski, on the run program, terrific resource for you. I just mentioned Marcia on strength. Nancy, an ever-present guide and resource for women's health and performance. And of course, all of the Purple Patch coaches, including myself, get involved to support not just their own athletes, but everyone at Purple Patch. For the first time, I truly feel like it's 360-degree support that goes well beyond me. And I see the athletes respond, we've got more than ever greater engagement, a higher sense of support a high degree of accountability, it's like never before. And that's not only good to see, I'm also already seeing, a month in, the benefits. And I can see the path to outsized results that we're going to get. And so I'm so thankful to the team and the excitement and engagement of the athletes and the community. We are good to go. So that's our report so far. Alrighty?
Matt Dixon 41:55
So if you listen today, you have no structure to your exercise and training, perhaps because you wanted a break. Or you've decided to spend more time with your family or at work, or you're really busy and you just want to enjoy the holidays. Let me remind you that you can and you should have both things. You should have a break, you should prioritize other elements of your life, but you should also have training. And so evolve or die. If you're not placing the bedrock of really good habits, skills, light, and specific training right now, you are in the act of regressing. I'm sorry to be blunt, but you are in the act of regressing. You are going backward. You're putting yourself in a hole. You don't need to be in a hole, you don't need to be in an eight ball. But I tell you, if you're just random right now, it's impossible not to find yourself in that situation. You are going to be in the meadow of regret. Now, this doesn't mean that you have to be obsessed. You don't need full-tilt engagement. But what you do want to get is some control and get smart, whether that's with Purple Patch, and it's pretty overt out there that I'm a big believer in your own program, or it's with someone else, but you do need to get structured. That's my message for the day. Sermon over. I tell you this to help. Okay? And I also want to ensure that you are bolstered against future pitfalls, and I want it to be the bedrock of a great year next year. I hope it helps, folks. I'll see you next time. Take care.
Matt Dixon 43:32
Guys, thanks so much for joining, and thank you for listening, I hope that you enjoyed the new format. You can never miss an episode by simply subscribing. Head to the Purple Patch channel on YouTube, and you will find it there and you can subscribe. Of course, I'd like to ask you, if you will subscribe also share it with your friends, and it's really helpful if you leave a nice positive review in the comments. Now, any questions that you have, let me know feel free to add a comment and I will try my best to respond and support you on your performance journey. In fact, as we commence this video podcast experience, if you have any feedback at all, as mentioned earlier in the show, we would love your help in helping us to improve. Simply email us at info@purplepatchfitness.com or leave it in the comments of the show on the Purple Patch page and we will get you dialed in. We'd love constructive feedback. We are in a growth mindset as we like to call it. So feel free to share with your friends but, as I said, let's build this together. Let's make it something special. It's really fun. We're really trying hard to make it a special experience and we want to welcome you into the Purple Patch community. With that, I hope you have a great week. Stay healthy, have fun, keep smiling, and doing whatever you do. Take care.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
athletes, patch, training, purple, good, program, absolutely, bike, performance, journey, offseason, feel, swim, year, team, focus, prioritize, strength, lucy, love