Michael Phelps
Olympic swimmer · Most decorated Olympian in history
Retired American swimmer with 28 Olympic medals, 23 of them gold, across five Games. Since 2014 he has been just as public about depression and anxiety as he once was about lap times, and now spends much of his time on mental health advocacy through his foundation and a long-running partnership with the therapy app Talkspace. His stack is an athlete's recovery routine carried into civilian life: daily training, cold water, stretching, sleep, the goal sheets he kept through his career and the journal he keeps now.
- Entries
- 33
- Does
- 26
- Recommends
- 7
- Discusses
- 0
Gear
8 pieces of gear in this stack
- GearDoes it$$$Mid: Roughly $50 to $500, or up to $50/month.
WHOOP
He told the WHOOP podcast he has worn the strap since 2015 and still reads it like an athlete. His targets are roughly 20 percent deep sleep and 20 percent REM, and he knows his baseline well enough to spot a change: resting heart rate near 42, respiratory rate 14 to 15. A 1 percent recovery score, he said, traces back to the day before.
Source: WHOOP Podcast #171 with Michael Phelps, WHOOP write-upVisit whoop.com (opens in a new tab)On record from 6 of 62 tracked people: 4 do it, 1 recommends it, 1 has discussed it - GearDoes it$$$Expensive: Several hundred dollars and up.
Cold plunge tub
Cold water carried over from his swimming years into what he calls his health and fitness routine today. He says he had tried several tubs and found them too small, so the Chilly GOAT he helped design is deep enough to sit in fully submerged. It is his own product line, made with Master Spas.
Source: Master Spas: Michael Phelps Chilly GOAT cold tub announcementView item: Cold plunge tubOn record from 4 of 62 tracked people: 4 do it - GearDoes it$$$Expensive: Several hundred dollars and up.
Altitude tent
Slept in a sealed chamber set to the equivalent of around 8,500 feet while preparing for London 2012, telling 60 Minutes he had to open a door inside his own bedroom to get to bed. It was a recovery aid for that Olympic cycle, not a current habit.
Source: Yahoo Sports: Michael Phelps keeps his Beijing gold medals in a makeup case, sleeps in a high-altitude chamberView item: Altitude tentOn record from 2 of 62 tracked people: 2 do it - GearDoes it$$$Mid: Roughly $50 to $500, or up to $50/month.
Exercise bike
Weights three days a week, 60 to 90 minutes a session. On the other four he is swimming, riding a stationary bike or on an elliptical, which is how he described his training week to Tim Ferriss in 2021.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #494: Michael Phelps and Grant Hackett, transcriptView item: Exercise bikeOn record from 2 of 62 tracked people: 2 do it - GearDoes it$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Swim goggles
His Rio racing kit came from his own MP line: the XCEED goggle with the X-O cap and XPRESSO suit. Sighting lane lines in outdoor pools had always been hard for him, and he said the curved lens let him see two or three lanes across. MP is his brand, built with Aqua Sphere, so he is describing his own product.
Source: MP Michael Phelps brand and Aqua Sphere, 2016 swim gear announcementView item: Swim gogglesOn record from 2 of 62 tracked people: 2 do it - GearDoes it$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
White noise machine
The same interview described a bedtime he keeps to the minute: in bed by 8:45 in the evening, with a sound machine set to start at 8:55. He talks about bedtime and hydration as inputs he controls rather than habits he hopes for.
Source: WHOOP Podcast #171 with Michael Phelps, WHOOP write-upView item: White noise machineOn record from 2 of 62 tracked people: 1 does it, 1 has discussed it - GearDoes it$$$Mid: Roughly $50 to $500, or up to $50/month.
Elliptical trainer
One of the machines he named for non-lifting days, alongside swimming and the bike. He trains six or seven days a week and said plainly that those sessions, like golf, are where the anger goes.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #494: Michael Phelps and Grant Hackett, transcriptView item: Elliptical trainerOn record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 does it - GearDoes it$$$Expensive: Several hundred dollars and up.
Swim spa
Training in the swim spa, he says, gave him the best freestyle stroke of his career, because his coach could see details through the water that never showed from the pool deck. These days he gets in for the quiet more than the work. The signature line carries his name and is his own brand with Master Spas.
Source: Master Spas: how Michael Phelps wins the dayView item: Swim spaOn record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 does it
Books
6 books in this stack
- BookRecommends$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
The Daily Stoic
A gift from his former coach Bob Bowman. It is one of the two books he reads a page of in the morning, a way to take a step back when life is moving too fast.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #494: Michael Phelps and Grant Hackett, transcriptView item: The Daily StoicOn record from 4 of 62 tracked people: 3 recommend it, 1 has discussed it - BookRecommends$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
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, transcriptView item: Ego Is the EnemyOn record from 2 of 62 tracked people: 2 recommend it - BookRecommends$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Beneath the Surface
His memoir, written with Brian Cazeneuve and reissued in 2012, which covers his Baltimore childhood, his ADHD diagnosis and the start of his swimming career.
Source: Wikipedia: Michael PhelpsView item: Beneath the SurfaceOn record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 recommends it - BookRecommends$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
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 PhelpsVisit books.apple.com (opens in a new tab)On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 recommends it - BookRecommends$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
The Book of Awakening
Names Mark Nepo's daily reader as the other book he returns to each morning, one short page at a time.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #494: Michael Phelps and Grant Hackett, transcriptView item: The Book of AwakeningOn record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 recommends it - BookRecommends$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
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, transcriptView item: The Power of NowOn record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 recommends it
Apps
2 apps in this stack
- AppDoes it$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Audible
Books reach him through his ears. He told Tim Ferriss he tends to do Audibles, and that he listens for small pieces he can map onto his own career, naming Ego Is the Enemy as one he goes back to.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #494: Michael Phelps and Grant Hackett, transcriptVisit audible.com (opens in a new tab)On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 does it - AppDoes it$$$Mid: Roughly $50 to $500, or up to $50/month.Sponsor, 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, transcriptVisit talkspace.com (opens in a new tab)On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 does it
Protocols
8 entriesStructured routines and practices with a defined method.
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, transcriptStarts 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'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'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, transcriptOn 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, transcriptHad 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, transcriptLooks 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'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
Habits
9 entriesRecurring behaviors recorded in public statements.
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, transcriptGets 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'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, transcriptPuts 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'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'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 therapyKept 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, transcriptPlays 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'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
In their own words
Checked word for word against the linked source
“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.”
The Tim Ferriss Show #494: Michael Phelps and Grant Hackett, transcript (opens in a new tab) · 23 Jan 2021 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.”
The Tim Ferriss Show #494: Michael Phelps and Grant Hackett, transcript (opens in a new tab) · 23 Jan 2021 “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.”
The Tim Ferriss Show #494: Michael Phelps and Grant Hackett, transcript (opens in a new tab) · 23 Jan 2021 “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”
The Tim Ferriss Show #494: Michael Phelps and Grant Hackett, transcript (opens in a new tab) · 23 Jan 2021 “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”
Fortune: Michael Phelps does these 5 things every day to be his 'best self' (opens in a new tab) · 6 Dec 2024
Stack notes are paraphrased. Anything in quotation marks is a short excerpt copied from the transcript it links to. Not medical advice. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by anyone listed. How this works.