If you’re an aspiring (or even current) endurance athlete, this is for you. Dr Dan Plews is a much-loved coach to some of the world’s fittest athletes, from Olympians and world champions to the likes of Emirates Team New Zealand. 

Dan has been a leader in the research and understanding of heart rate variability and discovering its significance in not only training, but overall wellness. He’s also a competitive ironman athlete (with the silverware to show for it), business owner and absolute devotee to fitness and health.

In this episode of Well & Good, Dan and Art talk… 

• Eating raw liver, and why he did an animal-based diet for eight weeks


• Why small stressors on the body are great, but having too many can cause problems…and how this flows through to how many vegetables you should eat


• Different types of organ meats, including the one that tastes “like piss”


• His personal athletic history, including doing triathlon since he was 9 and competing for Great Britain


• Working with the likes of Team New Zealand, New Zealand Rowing and Canoe Racing New Zealand


• Coaching Chelsea Sodaro through pregnancy to win the Kona Ironman 18 months after giving birth


• Why wearable devices are the biggest difference in training and sport performance in the last 30 years


• How he monitors training data, and the different key indicators in different sports


• Heart rate variability - what it is, why it’s become so popular, what you need to know about it and how you can track it


• How outside influences and life stress impacts training


• How things like alcohol, sauna, ice baths and sugar impact HRV


• What his ideal training day would look like


• The sweet spot for an effective sauna - how long and how hot it should be, and how it drastically reduces your risk of cardiovascular disease


• How he uses ice baths, and the benefits


• What supplements he takes (hint: quite a few)

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Please support this podcast by checking out our episode sponsors: 

-Blis Probiotics: https://blis.co.nz/

They kindly provided a discount code to our listeners - ‘WELLANDGOOD10’ for 10% off all products (excludes ElitePRO).

-Mitchells Nutrition: https://www.mitchellsnutrition.com/

They kindly provided a discount code to our listeners - ‘WELLANDGOOD15’ for 15% off all products.

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RESOURCES:

There’s a lot to take in from this one right? 

Dan’s website is a great place to start - his newsletter helps you to get world-leading training tips direct to your inbox. Check it out at https://www.endureiq.com/ 

Or get a bit of a look under the hood of Endure HQ on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EndureIQ/ 

There’s also loads of good stuff on his insta @theplews