You've Heard Of Heat Training. Here's How It Actually Works.
And the reality of leaving your corporate gig to chase down the dream...
Starting Line
To be honest, we thought this episode was going to be a straightforward discussion about heat training and the tools to get the job done. What we didn’t expect was a deep conversation about completely changing directions with your career, and the intention and framework to think about that decision. This episode has two chapters, really, and they’re both fascinating.
You’ve Heard Of Heat Training. Here’s How It Actually Works.
Ross McGraw has had one of the more interesting career arcs in the outdoor industry — from Nike's NYC Run program to Vice Media and Viacom, to helping build Hammerhead through its acquisition by SRAM, and now leading commercial efforts at CORE, the company changing how elite athletes think about heat.
In this conversation, Ross breaks down the science of heat training in plain language — why 80% of the energy athletes generate is thermal, how heat zones work, and why the world's best cyclists and runners are training in heat suits before major races. He also gets into what it felt like to go from being a cog in a media machine to betting on himself in sports tech, why triathlon taught him more about business than any corporate job, and how to know when you're doing the "social run" version of your career.
Here To Help
The most common refrain we hear from friends working at brands is “we need to find content creators, but we are strapped on time”. This is the exact problem that Popfly has solved. If you’re working at a brand that needs this kind of help, you need to check this out (and tell them we sent you), it’ll be worth it. And…if you’re an athlete or creator, you should definitely get on this platform - there are brands, ready to support you and looking for your talent. We’re using it outside of the podcast and having a lot of success with it - and this is exactly why we wanted to partner with Popfly in the first place. Highly recommended!
Job Of The Week
💪 Exos is looking for a Director of Sports Media, PR & Social.
Article Of The Week
This week at TrailCon, we got to spend a lot of time with incredible people. Dan Coe is one of those people, and his work with The Brand Report is worth checking out (and bookmarking) if you haven’t already. Super thoughtful, well-researched articles that will be a great resource for anyone in the outdoor industry (and beyond).
Show Notes
BPC - Brand, Product, Content
BPC is our closing segment, where we share Brands we’ve discovered, Products we’re using and Content that we love.
⚽️ World Cup - Adidas ad: This ad resonated with so many people, and has now made a few appearances in BPC. If you haven’t already watched this whole video start to finish, take this as a sign.
💨 Breathe (Book): We sometimes take the act of breathing for granted, but this book gives new shape to it. Aaron read this a while ago and the lessons are still sticking with him (see the next line, too).
🤐 Respire Mouth Tape: Aaron’s been on a quest to find the best mouth tape, especially since Amazon has some weird rules around it. This one has been the best (so far), if you’re looking to tape your mouth shut when you sleep, too. 😆
Thank You
To everyone who came up to see us at TrailCon to say hi and talk about the podcast: thank you so much. We put a ton of effort into making this podcast happen, and it means the world to hear from you. Thank you for supporting Second Nature!
Next week’s podcast is an extra-special one, with an incredibly inspiring figure in the world of adaptive sports (and one of Aaron’s personal heroes). Stay tuned!