Michael Phelps on his journey to Olympic greatness, his struggles with depression, and how WHOOP helps him be his best

Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian in history, joins the WHOOP Podcast for an in-depth discussion on his career, high performance, and mental health. Michael talks about his journey to winning 28 Olympic medals, but also details his struggle with depression and anxiety. He explains his mission to help those battling mental health challenges and also talks about how WHOOP plays a critical role in his own health and well-being. He sits down with Will Ahmed to discuss his early days in swimming (1:52), how he quickly discovered swimming was therapeutic for him (3:37), dealing with expectations and his burning desire to win (9:42), capturing his first gold medal (13:31), making sacrifices (16:47), the pursuit of perfection at the Beijing Olympics (19:36), his love of competition (23:25), experiencing emptiness after Beijing (25:04), recovery and sleep (27:48), why WHOOP (29:41), his mental health struggles and his darkest moments (34:02), showing the world the "real" Michael Phelps (39:37), trying to lower the suicide rate (45:56), flow states (48:22), diet and nutrition while training (55:17), and the Michael Phelps Foundation (56:55). Support the show Follow WHOOP: Sign up for WHOOP Advanced Labs Trial WHOOP for Free www.whoop.com Instagram TikTok YouTube X Facebook LinkedIn Follow Will Ahmed: Instagram X LinkedIn Follow Kristen Holmes: Instagram LinkedIn Follow Emily Capodilupo: LinkedIn