Mike Taccona on WHOOP, Tracking and Changing Behavior

Today on the podcast, I am joined by my friend, Mike Taccona. In this particular episode, we talk about his experiences with joining the whoop community. If you're a longtime listener to the podcast, you know how much I enjoy wearable technologies like Whoop and Oura ring.

Mike has been wearing his Whoop for just over a month at the time of this recording.  Mike is a registered nurse, and I really enjoy talking about wearables because of the impact these devices can have on people with high-stress jobs.

I wanted to get his take on what he's been learning by wearing Whoop. This is a step one conversation since he hasn't been wearing it for too long—this kind of prefaces his opinions early on.

I think technologies like Whoop and others of this class of wearables. As I define them can be massive tools for individuals to have agency. How does their body responds to all aspects of their life, not just physically but also mentally, and then provides you with insights so that you can adjust your behaviors to perform your best in all the situations you want to.

Please enjoy this conversation with Mike Taccona!

Subscribe on your favorite platform: Anchor | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Overcast | Stitcher | Amazon Music | RSS |

What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Consider supporting our content directly. You can also leave a review on your platform of choice. Thanks for listening!

More content on Wearables and Recovery

Wearables: Meet WHOOP and Oura Ring

Recovery Routine 2020

Kristen Holmes on Performance, Sleep and Psychophysiology

Get a free WHOOP 4.0 and one month free when you join with my link.

Show Notes

[00:03:28] Mike's Jobs and why he chose to get Whoop

[00:07:58] Has Mike noticed how stress bleeds over to the next day?

[00:09:14] Nudging your behaviors

[00:10:46] The physical design of the band

[00:12:57] Difference of the payment model

[00:14:44] Lack of Notifications

The Cost of Interrupted Work: More Speed and Stress

Phone Notifications Are Distracting Even When You Ignore Them

[00:16:45] The Strain Coach

Train Smarter with the WHOOP Strain Coach

Rating of perceived exertion - Wikipedia

[00:20:33] The risk of over exercising 

[00:23:06] Anything from Mike's routine that impacts recovery?

[00:24:19] Breathing exercises and meditation

Headspace (Netflix)

[00:26:06] Self Tracking

[00:28:55] Consistently good recovery 

[00:32:33] The importance of rest

[00:35:10] It's not only about physical activity

[00:36:35] Recovery as a quality problem as an engineer 

Matthew Walker (scientist)

Why We Sleep

[00:40:08] How Mike's work has improved

[00:43:41] The Centenarian Olympics

Peter Attia: Home

For further information check out this podcast

Peter Attia, M.D. — Fasting, Metformin, Athletic Performance, and More (#398)

Can the ‘Centenarian Olympics’ help you live longer?

[00:46:35] Living longer and living better

[00:50:47] Playing video games is mentally taxing

Playing a video game is more than mere procrastination

[00:53:46] Procrastination eats at you

Recent podcasts you might enjoy:

Featured
Joe Jackowski on Apotheosis and The Parodies
Joe Jackowski on Apotheosis and The Parodies

Today on the podcast, we are joined by Joe Jackowski. Joe is a Marine Corps veteran and current graduate student at Vanderbilt University in the Cognitive Psychology in Context program. His primary interest is meaning in life, which broadly extends to problems in ethics, A.I., and culture.

In this episode, we sit down to discuss his first long-form article on his new sub stack, Apotheosis: A Philosophy for Influencers

Joey and Drew on Few Will Hunt
Joey and Drew on Few Will Hunt

"Everybody wants to eat, but Few Will Hunt."

Today on the podcast with Joey Bowen and Drew Beech, co-founders of the apparel brand and community Few Will Hunt.

Joey and Drew spent their daily commutes through the gritty streets of Philadelphia on the phone for a year straight.

On these calls, they talked about business and life — especially the trends of self-entitlement and shortcut-seeking they witnessed in society.

These trends made them feel alone in an ever-softening world. “Are we the only ones that still believe in the power of hard work?” Drew asked. Joey responded, “It’s like we say at my hunting cabin — everybody wants to eat, but few will hunt.”

This statement perfectly summed up their frustrations with society. It became their mantra.

Jordan Criss on Fulfillment, Imposter Syndrome, Procrastination and Eulogy Virtues
Jordan Criss on Fulfillment, Imposter Syndrome, Procrastination and Eulogy Virtues

On this podcast episode, Jordan Criss returns for a long-overdue discussion on Life and Fulfillment. We start the conversation with the idea that most people are actively disengaged with what they spend most of their time. From there, we cover imposter syndrome, healthy habits, procrastination, and focusing on what matters most to you regardless of the current outcome. Life is about playing a long game. Toward the end of the conversation, I was reminded of a book called The Road to Character. One of the core messages is to think more deeply about the eulogy virtues than resume virtues since modern life is more focused on the latter. In the end, each of us has to figure out what fits best for our life; no matter what, it will be a process. The faster you embrace the process, the less painful it will be. So with that, I pass this off to the listener. What else can we explore if you've encountered the mentioned sources, your own experiences, or any other related ideas?

Karlee Owens on Natural Movement, Spirals and Listening to Your Body
Karlee Owens on Natural Movement, Spirals and Listening to Your Body

Coach Karlee is a movement coach who teaches her athletes to move their bodies as nature designed: strong, secure, pain-free, and forward. Utilizing slow-motion video assessment, she can assess, address, and correct pattern errors that are causing pain and/or hindering performance goals. With a background in soccer, endurance running, and strength and conditioning, Karlee takes an intense passion for competition and athletics into her coaching style to help build mentally and physically capable athletes, regardless of age, gender, sport, or background. She prioritizes foundations for durability through awareness and integration of pain-free movement practices to maximize performance and longevity. Are you ready to unlock your INNER ATHLETE?

Recent blogs you might enjoy:

Featured
Archetypes: The Green Lion and the Unicorn
Archetypes: The Green Lion and the Unicorn

In one of his most influential works, Psychology and Alchemy, Carl Jung argues that alchemy was far more than a failed science. Instead, it was an undifferentiated mix of object and subject. Alchemy was chemistry insofar as it was a science, and it was a psychological practice…

In Pursuit of Goggins
In Pursuit of Goggins

For many, David Goggins is seen as inhuman or, as he has said, uncommon amongst the uncommon, sure that is true. But I look at it a little differently. If he can forge himself into something extraordinary, why can't I? Why can't the person next to me? In this video, I discuss what it means to be In Pursuit of Your Greatness.

Archetypes: The Bull
Archetypes: The Bull

For an agricultural society, life is a cycle of deaths and rebirths. In the spring, the farmer places the seeds of his crops into the soil. Time moves forward. Storms roll over the fields and define the space between heaven and earth…

Finding Purpose and Meaning in an Overwhelming World
Finding Purpose and Meaning in an Overwhelming World

The recently released film Everything Everywhere All At Once is one of the most fascinating and well-executed films I've seen in a long time! The film explores ideas from the multi-verse, purpose, and meaning in life. So let's tap into another version of ourselves and see what we learn from themes in the film.

Check out the Feeding Frenzies! A weekly collection of something worth listening, reading, watching, and thinking about!

Featured
Could We Engineer Spider-Man’s Powers?
Could We Engineer Spider-Man’s Powers?

With the upcoming release of Spider-Man: No Way Home, I started thinking about an idea. How far away are we from being able to engineer Spider-Man.

Sure we can escape into sci-fi territory very fast, but what technology or research is being done that could plausibly get us to a Spider-Man-like ability set. In this Feeding Frenzy, we take stock of research being done to bring the powers of Spider-Man to our world.

Noah Feldman, Haptic Glove, and Avoiding Stupidity
Noah Feldman, Haptic Glove, and Avoiding Stupidity

In this edition, we have a podcast from Noah Feldman on the Tim Ferriss Show. Worth reading is an introduction to the Reality Lab at Meta (Facebook) and research into the haptic glove to better interface virtual reality. Then, as always, a few more ideas worth your time.

Metabolic Health, The Future of Trucks and Arcane
Metabolic Health, The Future of Trucks and Arcane

This edition was a pretty exciting week! There are two podcasts worth listening to this week. The first one is with Dr. Casey Means on the WHOOP podcast talking about metabolic health. The second podcast is with Steve Viscelli talking about the future of trucking and autonomous drive. Worth is a regenerative medicine breakthrough repairing a spinal cord injury in mice, and as always, a few other ideas worth your time!

Paul Conti on Trauma, Thinking Systems and The Goiania Incident
Paul Conti on Trauma, Thinking Systems and The Goiania Incident

In this edition, we have a podcast with Dr. Paul Conti on the Tim Ferriss show, sharing how trauma affects us and how we can heal from it. Next, worth reading is an excerpt from Think Fast and Slow about the two types of thinking systems. Finally, a video on The Goiania Incident is worth watching, one of the worst nuclear exposure accidents.

HealthErich WenzelMike Taccona, Whoop, Wearables, Technology and Wellness, Recovery and Whoop, Headspace, Train Smarter, Peter Attia, Centenarian OlympicsComment