WHOOP Podcast

This week, we sit down with NBA Hall of Famer Reggie Miller to discuss his 18-year career with the Indiana Pacers, including all of the mental and physical focus that went into becoming one of the best in the league. Since hanging up his professional hat, he's gone all-in on a sport that would surprise many: cycling. Reggie sits down with CEO Will Ahmed to discuss falling love with basketball (2:39), how he actually got a late start in basketball after exploring other sports (4:40), his journey to UCLA (8:15), how he started to build his confidence as a player (10:57), being drafted into the NBA (12:59), the differences in the game then to now (19:09), his approach to mindset (25:39), practice vs. game day (29:17), how he uses WHOOP  now that he's transitioned to cycling(30:30), what he's learned about his sleep (33:18), and what his typical day looks like (34:30).Support the showFollow WHOOP: www.whoop.com Trial WHOOP for Free Instagram TikTok YouTube X Facebook LinkedIn Follow Will Ahmed: Instagram X LinkedIn Follow Kristen Holmes: Instagram LinkedIn Follow Emily Capodilupo: LinkedIn

On this week’s episode, Dr. Maya Shankar – a cognitive neuroscientist and creator and host of the podcast, A Slight Change of Plans – sits down with VP of Performance Kristen to how to change our patterns of behavior when it comes to our health. Maya shares the secrets of staying motivated, what the fresh start effect is, and how we can handle setbacks when we're not making the progress we want towards our goals. Maya shares her story of studying violin under Itzhak Perlman (2:22), how a hand injury spurred what she calls identity foreclosure (5:41), her transition to neuroscience (8:48), how she changed her plans and found herself on her career path (10:31), what the endowment effect is (17:14), the benefits of the fresh start effect (18:22), how to think about restarting after your goals have been derailed (23:44), the best ways to cement new habits (25:29), the power of data and behavioral science (29:43), how to make good decisions (31:11), and the illusion of control (34:15).Resources:Maya's podcast, A Slight Change of PlansSupport the showFollow WHOOP: www.whoop.com Trial WHOOP for Free Instagram TikTok YouTube X Facebook LinkedIn Follow Will Ahmed: Instagram X LinkedIn Follow Kristen Holmes: Instagram LinkedIn Follow Emily Capodilupo: LinkedIn

We’re back in the inbox answering questions from our listeners this week. Emily Capodilupo, SVP of Data Science & Research, joins the podcast to tackle everything from the best ways to improve recovery what it means to miss your period. Emily breaks down menstrual cycles and what they mean for your training (1:51), what missing your period is actually signaling (4:02), training on biweekly cycles (10:44), how working from how can affect your sleep (12:57), the difference between skin temperature and basal body temperature (17:30) and the top 5 ways to improve recovery based on member data (21:29).Resources:Training and Sleeping Based on Your Menstrual CycleSupport the showFollow WHOOP: www.whoop.com Trial WHOOP for Free Instagram TikTok YouTube X Facebook LinkedIn Follow Will Ahmed: Instagram X LinkedIn Follow Kristen Holmes: Instagram LinkedIn Follow Emily Capodilupo: LinkedIn

Paralympic track athlete, Scout Bassett, shares her story of resilience, overcoming challenges, and pursuing passions. Topics include growing up in China, prioritizing mental health, transitioning to track and field, using WHOOP for performance optimization, and the importance of sleep and self-care.

This week, we're featuring an episode that originally aired on the Founder’s Field Guide podcast. Will Ahmed joins Patrick O’Shaugnessy to discuss the journey of founding and building WHOOP. They discuss how to quantify sleep, strain, and recovery (5:35), early lessons in building WHOOP (21:28), how WHOOP stays ahead of upcoming trends in the wearable space (18:45), what data beyond HRV will become more accessible and affordable to track (48:48), why WHOOP doesn’t have a screen and other key differentiators (58:13), and the lessons Will has learned in the past 10 years since founding WHOOP (52:01).Support the showFollow WHOOP: www.whoop.com Trial WHOOP for Free Instagram TikTok YouTube X Facebook LinkedIn Follow Will Ahmed: Instagram X LinkedIn Follow Kristen Holmes: Instagram LinkedIn Follow Emily Capodilupo: LinkedIn

You asked, we answered. This week, Kristen Holmes, VP of Performance, joins the podcast to answer listener questions. From understanding the connection between mental health and Recovery, to discussing  HRV, to understanding calorie calculations, Kristen covers HRV (1:44), the science behind menstrual cycle coaching (5:54), mental health and HRV (9:27), understanding recovery scores (22:30), and fasted cardio (26:43).Additional research:The research behind Menstrual Cycle Coaching Dr. Huberman's tools for circadian alignmentZone 2 exercisePolarized trainingCalorie tracking and calculation Support the showFollow WHOOP: www.whoop.com Trial WHOOP for Free Instagram TikTok YouTube X Facebook LinkedIn Follow Will Ahmed: Instagram X LinkedIn Follow Kristen Holmes: Instagram LinkedIn Follow Emily Capodilupo: LinkedIn

Kristen Holmes, WHOOP VP of Performance, is joined on this week's podcast by Cedric Unholz, WHOOP Senior Performance Scientist and Strength & Conditioning Coach for Olympic Windsurfers, and Chris Chapman, WHOOP Sr. Sports Scientist and Lead Strength & Conditioning Coach for Freestyle Ski Canada’s Slopestyle and Big Air National Team to share the physiological benefits of a strength training regimen. They discuss the benefits of a strength training program (6:45), the difference between traditional strength training and functional training (8:50), where most people go wrong when strength training (14:58), difference in training protocol between men and women (23:09), how to plan for recovery after a hard training session (24:23), what the interference effect is, and how it can influence how and what you train (33:05), how to evaluate your one-rep max (37:27), and the importance of building rest into your training (38:40). Find the research mentioned in this episode here.Support the showFollow WHOOP: www.whoop.com Trial WHOOP for Free Instagram TikTok YouTube X Facebook LinkedIn Follow Will Ahmed: Instagram X LinkedIn Follow Kristen Holmes: Instagram LinkedIn Follow Emily Capodilupo: LinkedIn

Emily Capodilupo, WHOOP SVP of Data Science & Research, and Kristen Holmes, WHOOP VP of Performance, join the podcast to discuss the perils of disregarding sex as a meaningful biological variable in research, which has implications in training, fueling, medication dosing, and so much more.  Emily and Kristen discuss why there are disparities in research (3:48), how exclusion has been both systemic and practical (7:53), the role lack of research has in diagnostics and in medication dosage (13:24), how wearables are well poised to bridge the research gap (19:01), pivotal research on how exercise is beneficial to pregnant people (25:11), the impact of training and pre-sleep feeding on women (29:02), and training modulations during different phases of the menstrual cycle (32:59).Other resources to check out:Stacy Sims on Nutrition Differences between Men & WomenWhy We Need a Title IX for ResearchPregnancy Study Shows Benefits of ExerciseSupport the showFollow WHOOP: www.whoop.com Trial WHOOP for Free Instagram TikTok YouTube X Facebook LinkedIn Follow Will Ahmed: Instagram X LinkedIn Follow Kristen Holmes: Instagram LinkedIn Follow Emily Capodilupo: LinkedIn

Emily Capodilupo, WHOOP SVP of Data Science & Research, joins Will Ahmed to share recently analyzed data on alcohol consumption patterns and what we see happen to the body physiologically with each and every drink. Emily shares what we're trying to achieve with recovery (2:28), the negative effects of alcohol on recovery (3:46), the effect of every incremental drink on recovery (5:32), the differences between men and women when it comes to alcohol consumption (7:48), holiday drinking (11:44), which month has the highest reports of alcohol consumption (14:11), consumption relative to bedtime - and what happens physiologically (14:54), and drinking hacks to optimize recovery if you do decide to drink (17:53).Support the showFollow WHOOP: www.whoop.com Trial WHOOP for Free Instagram TikTok YouTube X Facebook LinkedIn Follow Will Ahmed: Instagram X LinkedIn Follow Kristen Holmes: Instagram LinkedIn Follow Emily Capodilupo: LinkedIn

Brian MacKenzie is a human performance and endurance expert, and the President and co-founder of The Health & Human Performance Foundation. He is on a mission to help everyone from top executives to the US military understand how breath can help optimize their health and performance. Brian joins the podcast to talk about what hypoxia is and why it matters (6:37), the downstream effects of improper breathing (10:42), the characteristics of optimal breathing (15:30), the physiological impact of mouth breathing (20:24), benefits of nasal breathing (28:13), elevating your awareness and achieving an optimal breath practice (35:27), and how to think about your breath in gears (35:59).Support the showFollow WHOOP: www.whoop.com Trial WHOOP for Free Instagram TikTok YouTube X Facebook LinkedIn Follow Will Ahmed: Instagram X LinkedIn Follow Kristen Holmes: Instagram LinkedIn Follow Emily Capodilupo: LinkedIn