As a follow-up to our podcast on the evolution of the professional triathlon, this episode focuses on the tip of the performance spear with a spotlight on two athletes who have taken the sport to new heights. Gustav Iden and Kristian Blummenfelt, also known as The Norwegian Train.

With stand-out Olympic and Ironman performances in recent years, the two athletes paved the way to a stellar showing at the 2022 Hawaii Ironman World Championships and a record-breaking win for Iden.

The pair recently appeared on the Rich Roll podcast to shed light on their approach and offered a glimpse into their training method, which is well known for its grounding in science and technology, spearheaded by their coach, Olav Aleksander Bu.

In this episode of the purple patch podcast, Ironman Master Coach, Matt Dixon takes the insights gleaned from the interview with Iden and Blummenfelt and examines what you can learn from the principles, approach, and success of the seemingly unstoppable Norwegian Train.

Matt discusses:

• Context and Perspective: The differences between elite professionals and the time-starved amateur.

(12:48) "It's sort of a monastic life...it's not the game that the vast majority of us are playing."

(20:27) "While the pros have a very pure speed and performance challenge, us as amateurs face an optimization challenge in both training, planning, and where to apply focus so that we can ultimately move our performance needle."

• Traits and Approaches: Traits and principles that make up the training approach of elite professionals.

(25:22) "When you listen to Kristian, and Gustav, what comes through for me is a series of traits and approaches, all wrapped up in the team setup that are very, very common across almost any high-performing team and individual. And this could be tailored and positioned to sports, to business, to broader life."

• Actionable Takeaways: Key lessons you can draw from the interview to apply to your training approach and performance journey.

(40:48) "What should you apply right now, from all of these insights? You can't just change everything, but what are the components that you should do? Should you go and grab a lactate meter? Should you recruit your partner to help you with the application of the core temperature monitor? If you've listened to the episode and interview you'll understand what I mean by that. Should you hire a personal physiologist? Should you scrap the family holiday so that you can spend it all on data analytics? No, at least not before you do these things that I'm going to break through."

Episode Timestamps

00:00 - 06:59 - Welcome and Episode Introduction

07:07 - 46:07 - The Meat and Potatoes - Episode 241: Observations of Elite Performance - What Amateur Athletes Can Learn from Gustav Iden and Kristian Blummenfelt

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