Michael Phelps

• BookRecommends$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.

  The Daily Stoic

  A gift from his former coach Bob Bowman. It is one of the two books he reads a page of in the morning, a way to take a step back when life is moving too fast.

  Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #494: Michael Phelps and Grant Hackett, transcript
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• GearDoes it$$$Expensive: Several hundred dollars and up.

  Altitude tent

  Slept in a sealed chamber set to the equivalent of around 8,500 feet while preparing for London 2012, telling 60 Minutes he had to open a door inside his own bedroom to get to bed. It was a recovery aid for that Olympic cycle, not a current habit.

  Source: Yahoo Sports: Michael Phelps keeps his Beijing gold medals in a makeup case, sleeps in a high-altitude chamber
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  Beneath the Surface

  His memoir, written with Brian Cazeneuve and reissued in 2012, which covers his Baltimore childhood, his ADHD diagnosis and the start of his swimming career.

  Source: Wikipedia: Michael Phelps
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  Ego Is the Enemy

  Says he goes back to Ryan Holiday's book a lot. He listens to most books as audio and pulls out small pieces that echo how he broke swimming down to its simplest parts.

  Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #494: Michael Phelps and Grant Hackett, transcript
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  No Limits: The Will to Succeed

  His own account of the Beijing gold medals. The training, the mental preparation, the races. It carries his coach Bob Bowman's line that he has made a habit of things other people are not willing to do.

  Source: Apple Books: No Limits by Michael Phelps
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• AppDoes itSponsor, disclosed

  Talkspace

  Says he has worked with Talkspace for a few years and spends a lot of time on it because he travels so much and is online anyway. The company is a disclosed partner.

  Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #494: Michael Phelps and Grant Hackett, transcript
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• BookRecommends$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.

  The Book of Awakening

  Names Mark Nepo's daily reader as the other book he returns to each morning, one short page at a time.

  Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #494: Michael Phelps and Grant Hackett, transcript
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  The Power of Now

  This one came from a close friend. He calls it amazing, and says the books he has received this way have opened his mind to new ways of thinking.

  Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #494: Michael Phelps and Grant Hackett, transcript
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Repeatable, mostly free routines with a defined trigger and dose.

• Resistance trainingDoes it$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.

  Lifts weights three days a week, sixty to ninety minutes a session, as part of training six or seven days out of seven since retiring. He frames it as what lets him keep up with golf and have enough energy for the kids.

  Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #494: Michael Phelps and Grant Hackett, transcript

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• Deliberate cold exposureDoes it$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.

  Starts every morning with a cold plunge and describes it as a way to reset. It is the first thing he lists when asked how he gets back to feeling like himself on an off day.

  Source: Fortune: Michael Phelps does these 5 things every day to be his 'best self'

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• Eight hours of sleepDoes itFREE, no cost

  Says that with eight hours a night he can run through a wall. To quiet racing thoughts he memorizes every detail of the room, closes his eyes and walks around it three times in his head, starting over if his mind wanders.

  Source: Fortune: Michael Phelps does these 5 things every day to be his 'best self'

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• Stability and mobility workDoes itFREE, no cost

  Stretches for around 45 minutes a day. A single trainer handled all of his stretching, massage and soft-tissue work for fifteen years, and he says he has to recover properly to do everything he wants to do now.

  Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #494: Michael Phelps and Grant Hackett, transcript

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• SwimmingDoes it$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.

  On the days he is not lifting he is swimming, on a stationary bike or on an elliptical. Swimming and golf are the outlets he names for the anger he says he still carries.

  Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #494: Michael Phelps and Grant Hackett, transcript

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• Sports massageDoes it$$$Mid: Roughly $50 to $500, or up to $50/month.

  Had massages throughout his swimming career from the same strength and conditioning trainer, who also did his stretching and cupping, and compares the upkeep to maintaining a race car.

  Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #494: Michael Phelps and Grant Hackett, transcript

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• AcupunctureDoes it$$$Mid: Roughly $50 to $500, or up to $50/month.

  Looks for outside treatment such as acupuncture or cupping when his muscles are sore, tight or tense. If his body is telling him something, he says, he is going to try something.

  Source: Fortune: Michael Phelps does these 5 things every day to be his 'best self'

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• Cupping therapyDoes it$$$Mid: Roughly $50 to $500, or up to $50/month.

  Cupping was a standing part of his recovery through his career. The same strength and conditioning trainer handled it for fifteen years, and he says he still goes for cupping and acupuncture twice a week.

  Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #494: Michael Phelps and Grant Hackett, transcript

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Daily practices held long enough to become default behavior.

• Daily readingDoes itFREE, no cost

  One page, or one quote. He mixed in a daily reading to slow his days down, usually from The Book of Awakening or The Daily Stoic, left to sit before the day starts.

  Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #494: Michael Phelps and Grant Hackett, transcript

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• JournalingDoes itFREE, no cost

  Gets it all on paper, good, bad and ugly, and calls journaling a central part of looking after his head. His wife Nicole has picked up the habit too.

  Source: Fortune: Michael Phelps does these 5 things every day to be his 'best self'

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• NappingDoes itFREE, no cost

  In training he slept eight to ten hours a night and added a two-hour nap during the day, treating sleep as the thing that made the workload survivable.

  Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #494: Michael Phelps and Grant Hackett, transcript

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• Pre-workout musicDoes itFREE, no cost

  Puts music on as soon as he gets into the gym. He says that when he is in a bad mood, it is a big part of getting into whatever zone he needs to be in.

  Source: Fortune: Michael Phelps does these 5 things every day to be his 'best self'

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• Talk therapyDoes it$$$Mid: Roughly $50 to $500, or up to $50/month.

  Checked himself into an inpatient treatment center in 2014 and has kept regular sessions with a therapist since. He says he came out of that first session feeling like a new person and thinks choosing to go in saved his life.

  Source: Fortune: Michael Phelps is pleading with men to get therapy

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• GolfDoes it$$$Mid: Roughly $50 to $500, or up to $50/month.

  Plays a lot of golf and calls it part of his toolkit for improving his mental headspace, next to working out five or six days a week.

  Source: Fortune: Michael Phelps does these 5 things every day to be his 'best self'

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• Regular check-ins with friendsDoes itFREE, no cost

  Leans on a group chat of male friends. When someone is spiraling, they send a rollercoaster emoji, and he says the check-in texts have arrived at important moments, sometimes for him and sometimes for the others.

  Source: Fortune: Michael Phelps does these 5 things every day to be his 'best self'

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• Written goal sheetDoes itFREE, no cost

  Kept a goal sheet of target times by his bed so the first thing he saw each morning was what he was getting up to work on. He and coach Bob Bowman also pinned up quotes and other swimmers' times at the pool, which he used as extra fuel on off days.

  Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #494: Michael Phelps and Grant Hackett, transcript

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• Lion's breathRecommendsFREE, no cost

  A deep inhale, then a gigantic roar. He taught his young sons the lion breath for moments of frustration or high anxiety, and says there is a lot of roaring in the house.

  Source: TODAY: Michael Phelps shares the breathing technique that helps his kids ease their anxiety

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• “I treated my body like I was a Ferrari. … So I was sleeping probably eight to 10 hours a night with a two-hour nap during the day.”

  On Napping

• “So for me, every morning I got out of bed and I saw my goal sheet of the times I wanted to do that year or at the Olympics or whatever written down. So when I was getting out of bed, I was getting out of bed with a purpose.”

  On Written goal sheet

• “I lift weights three days a week, for anywhere 60 to 90 minutes. And then, the other four days, … either swimming, riding a stationary bike, or I am on an elliptical.”

  On Resistance training

• “So for time to slow things down, I tried to mix in more of a daily reading. So Mark Nepo has a good one, The Book of Awakening and then The Daily Stoic”

  On Daily reading

• “You lay in bed and look around your room and try to remember every single detail that you see, and then close your eyes and go around the room three times”

  On Eight hours of sleep