As a Peloton coach, Matt Wilpers is known for his authenticity, as he empowers his students to hold themselves accountable and make measured decisions about their performance.
Beyond coaching, the 39-year-old, who lives in Manhattan, is also a health influencer and the face of a coaching business he started called Team Wilpers. Wilpers organizes his life around his well-being and staying healthy so that he can be at his best both for himself and for his athletes. Here, he gives an inside look into tools he uses to be at the top of his game, both physically and mentally.
Lifelong Commitment to Fitness
Wilpers grew up in Georgia, where his parents instilled in him the value of an active lifestyle and offered him opportunities in athletics. He played many sports, including baseball, tennis and soccer, before he became more serious about running. In college, he competed as a runner for an NCAA Division I program at Georgia State University. While athletics kept him physically fit, he also utilized sports to prevent stress and to develop his character.
“It went back to my upbringing,” Wilpers says. “We handled the stresses of life with athletics. It was a natural transition in life to continue being able to handle the stresses of college with athletics. I could always use athletics as an excuse to get to bed early or spend more time studying.”
Wilpers enjoys new fitness challenges, being a student and learning new skill sets. This year he has been working with a Team Wilpers triathlon coach, Justin Harris, to up his game, resulting in a personal best at the Maine 70.3 with a time of 4:54:21. Some of his cross training has included working with a coach to improve his tennis skills. In between his training and coaching sessions, Wilpers enjoys reading and riding his electric skateboard.
[READ: Mental Benefits of Exercise.]
A Highly Productive, Intentional Morning Routine
Wilpers wakes up early in the morning so he can start his day without feeling rushed. He has breakfast, a small amount of coffee and does some reading. This morning routine helps him leave his house in a calm state of mind and sets the tone for the day.
After years of being self-aware and making adjustments to his schedule, Wilpers now knows exactly when his body and mind are primed to be the most productive. He works and trains best between the hours of 5 a.m. and 1p.m., as that is when he feels most focused and energized.
“One thing I realized in college was that timing the bulk of the work that I need to get done for the day for when I was biologically most attuned to was key,” Wilpers says. “Mentally accept it and be willing to do it. It’s in that window for me that I can conquer the world.”
If he needs to work later into the afternoon or evening, he finds that a 30-minute nap is crucial to staying sharp.
“If I can get a 30-minute nap in, it opens up this whole other window of getting a ton accomplished in the afternoon,” Wilpers says.
[Read: Tips to Restart Your Exercise Routine.]
Sleep Meditation and Metrics
Getting quality sleep is a habit that Wilpers had to develop, as he struggled with anxiety at night. The Peloton sleep meditations, which are narrated audio tracks that you can listen to as you fall asleep, were crucial for him to get better sleep.
“I started having issues with anxiety and panic attacks, and had problems falling asleep,” Wilpers says. “That’s when I found Peloton sleep meditations, and they changed the game for me. Slowing the breath down and working on sleep meditation has been super helpful. And now I go to sleep quickly.”
Wilpers ideally goes to sleep between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. because getting sufficient night’s sleep is a priority for him to think and perform at his best. He also invested in a Whoop wearable wristband to better understand and monitor his sleep, recovery and health. The Whoop wristband is a wearable device that tracks your heart rate, sleep, temperature, physical activity and more biometrics to give you data and insights about your health. The data-driven measurements helped him adjust his behaviors, particularly going to bed earlier and minimizing alcohol consumption for better sleep outcomes.
“The Whoop provides a quantification of recovery,” Wilpers says. “With Whoop, the big thing that people seem to realize is that they probably are not getting enough sleep and alcohol really messes up the quality of your sleep. I used to love to have a glass of wine or beer in the evening to wind down, now maybe I’ll have one on the weekend, because of how much it impacts my sleep. Sleep is the most important part of recovery. If you’re not sleeping, you’re not performing at your best … physically or mentally.”
[Read: Sleep Reset: Getting Your Sleep Back to Normal.]
Physical Therapy For Preventative Pain Management
Every week, Wilpers goes to physical therapy to work primarily on mobility. Rather than going to physical therapy after an injury for rehab, he goes for what he calls “prehab.” While he used to get injured frequently, physical therapy has kept him injury-free for well over a year now. It has helped him identify pain points quickly and work on them before they become problematic.
“When I think about injury prevention and preventing the aches and pains it really comes down to strengthening and stretching,” Wilpers says. “When I think about alleviating pain for myself, I am the most pain-free when I’m strength training and when I’m stretching.”
Besides preventing injuries, physical therapy is also great for generating power.
“If you lose mobility, your risk of injury goes up and you lose the ability to create power through rage of motion,” Wilpers says. “If you lose the ability to create power through range of motion, your performance is going down the tubes too.”
Yoga to Stay Grounded and Improve Performance
While Wilpers doesn’t have a regular yoga practice, he finds himself drawn to the practice when life gets overwhelming.
“Anytime life gets chaotic, that’s when I get into yoga kicks,” Wilpers says. “It just helps you get grounded. Number one, it’s great for your body; you’re going to feel awesome afterwards. Number two, it really helps me calm my mind down and think clearly when things are chaotic.”
He enjoys the slow-flow Peloton yoga classes that focus more on static stretches. However, he also finds the benefit in attending faster flow classes at studios in New York.
“One of the great benefits about yoga is that it’s strength, it’s stability, it’s a bit of cardio and it’s stretching,” Wilpers says. “As a runner, the balance work is fantastic. It really helps you out. You can really easily get off-centered in your stride, and it could help you re-calibrate your balance.”
Meaningful Work for a Greater Impact
As an entrepreneur and Peloton coach, Wilpers manages his time wisely. He handles his business similarly to how he trains, by making a plan and adjusting as needed. He sets boundaries around social media, he chooses his opportunities carefully and he is organized. He keeps a running “to-do” list of tasks and a calendar of events and obligations, which helps control his mental capacity and anxiety.
“Everything you touch, everything you put your hand on, everything you put your time into, is a reflection of you,” Wilpers says. “You are your own company at the end of the day. It’s important you always put your best foot forward.”
When Wilpers’ athletes succeed in achieving their goals, it reaffirms that he is doing meaningful work and making a positive change. For him, that is the key to living a fulfilling life.
“As a coach, when you see your athletes succeed there’s nothing that beats that,” Wilpers says. “It’s just the best feeling in the world.”
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Health Tips From Peloton Coach Matt Wilpers originally appeared on usnews.com
