WHOOP Podcast - Virgil van Dijk: How he Leads his Club and Country

Episode Date: October 30, 2024

On this week’s episode, WHOOP Founder and CEO Will Ahmed is joined by a very special guest, football sensation Virgil van Dijk. Virgil is not only the captain of Liverpool, one of the top clubs in the Premier League, but also the captain of the Dutch National Team. Virgil has won a number of championships throughout his professional career including a Scottish League Cup with Celtic, a Champions League Title with Liverpool, and he helped end Liverpool’s 30-year league title drought when they won the Premier League back in 2020. Virgil is widely regarded as one of the most dominant and complete center backs in the world. Will and Virgil discuss how Virgil got started in football (1:55), his calm demeanor (6:19), breathing exercises (9:39), leadership roles and mentality (11:05), dealing with injury and adversity (12:08), Virgil’s WHOOP data and health habits (17:33), his playing style on the pitch (21:14), transferring to Liverpool FC (26:16), his family life (30:07), playing for Holland (31:52), the mental side of the game (34:22), WHOOP growing more of a presence in the football space (38:04), and some rapid fire questions (41:57).Resources:Virgil van Dijk on InstagramFollow WHOOPwww.whoop.comTrial WHOOP for FreeInstagramTikTokXFacebookLinkedInFollow Will AhmedInstagramXLinkedInSupport the showFollow WHOOP: www.whoop.com Trial WHOOP for Free Instagram TikTok YouTube X Facebook LinkedIn Follow Will Ahmed: Instagram X LinkedIn Follow Kristen Holmes: Instagram LinkedIn Follow Emily Capodilupo: LinkedIn

The most important thing I think, in my opinion, is when I go out on the pitches, I want to do everything in my power to win the game. And I feel like with the way I present myself towards, obviously, the opponent, but obviously definitely towards my own team, is very important. So obviously when I'm hectic and stressing and running around and looking all chaotic, I think it doesn't help the team whatsoever in order to be successful. and if you have everything under control and show that as well

I think it will benefit the team so that's definitely something I've worked on and try to take into every game and don't make it like you are too overconfident but you know you have to make sure that you are the boss and do it by example

and the way you do it and I try to definitely do it do you know what it takes to be one of the very best centerbacks in the world that's the question we're here to explore this is the whoop podcast i'm your host will amad founder and CEO of whoop we're on a mission to unlock human performance my guest today is the sensational the stoic the relentless virgil van dyke virgil is the captain of premier league's liverpool as well as the captain of the dutch national team. He's widely considered one of the best defenders in the world. We talk about his upbringing and his career, some of his highlights, some of the transitions he's made to different

clubs on that journey. We talk about his training and his performance. We go into his Woop data. What are some of his tips and techniques to performing at the very best? And then we get into a little bit of a rapid fire session. That's this conversation right now with Virgil Vendai. Virgil, welcome to the WOOC podcast. Thanks for having me. So has this always been the dream, global superstar, footballer? Well, definitely being a professional football player has always been the dreams since I was very young. But obviously, what I've achieved up until now has didn't cross my mind when I was that young.

So, but obviously it makes it even more beautiful and sweeter than ever, I think. You started playing when you were six years old? Yeah, I started playing when I was six years old. I played a local club for like two years. Then I got a guy into the academy of a club called Willem's Faye. And that's where my journey started. I was in the academy for 10 years and it was a good time. I really enjoyed it.

And obviously challenging with going into puberty as well and the usual things were kids go through. But it was definitely a good start. And you had your growth spurt late. Yeah. Yeah. So I was 16. During the summer, I had a big growth spread of a lot of centimeters.

And before the summer I was actually a bit shorter than my little brother was two years younger than me. And after the summer, three months later, I was taller in him again. So it was a good growth spread that I really needed. You're tall, man. I mean, I'm pretty tall, but in person, you're tall. And even more so than you look on television, which is saying something, because you obviously have this huge commanding presence in your play.

At that younger age, when you were smaller, were you playing defense then too? Yeah, I was always a defender. Obviously, nice tall I was a normal young kid that trying to be playing and starting each and every game that wasn't always the case to be honest I wasn't seen as a big talent whatsoever

I was a player that you know play now and then obviously when I got my growth spirit I had a little bit of physical issues with my groin and my knees and what comes with it but after that I became a toddler and

more of a presence and the captain of the team as well. Did you always know you were going to pursue defense? Like you never thought about playing off? No, obviously like when I was young I always played outside on the streets and I think when you play

outside on the streets and with your friends I think the nice thing is always school goals And so I tried to do. I did a lot of, you know, tricks. I looked up to Ronaldinho a lot. And what he did, playing with a smile, the different tricks and stuff he did

and looked up to and tried to replicate it on the courts. And that was something I really looked at. But going into competitive football was always trying to make sure the ball stay out of our goals. and there was something I really enjoyed. You said you liked Ronaldinho's smile. So there was something about the demeanor with which he played football that you liked?

100%. Yeah, I think we are very privileged. And obviously now I know on the highest level, we are very blessed, lucky and to keep enjoying what you're doing. It's not always easy. You could, I wouldn't say, take things for granted easily,

but you could think that things are normal but they aren't and for me personally you know thinking about it now to see him smiling enjoying the game that's really really important and I try to remind myself that as well it's not always easy but it's very important to really appreciate what we doing

what I do and that my dreams came true and even beyond that I can tell from watching you that you are like very happy and proud to be there but I feel like the adjective that comes most to mine is you're very calm has it always been like that yeah I think so I think the most important thing I think in my opinion is when I go out on the pitches I want to do everything my power to win the game and I feel like with the way I present myself towards obviously the opponent but obviously definitely

towards my own team is very important so obviously when I'm hectic and stressing and running around and looking all chaotic I think doesn't help the team whatsoever in order to be successful and if you have everything under control and show that as well I think it will you know benefit the team and also put a little bit of you know I won't say fear in the opponent but it will obviously discourage and maybe maybe the opponent as well

so that's definitely something I've worked on and try to take into every game and don't make it like you are too over confident but you know you have to make sure that you are the boss and do it by example in the way you do it and i try to definitely do that have you practiced that in any way are there certain things that you've done to remain more calm to do any visualization meditation i do i speak with uh someone before the games a day before a game. And that helps me a lot. And other than that, I do my own, you know, programs before in terms of getting in the sauna, the ice bath, obviously stretching. We do yoga sessions at the club. So there's a lot of things that helps me. But I think what helps me

the most is my family and my wife, my kids. They're the ones that keep me very grounded and calm and put a lot of perspective on the life I live. The person that you speak to before games, what is that conversation like? What's that person's background? I won't say it's a psychologist because I don't think he would like to be called like that at all. I won't put a name on it. I think that's not correct. But it's someone that we speak about how the preparation has been going towards the game. How am I feeling?

How am I feeling towards the game? Are there any issues that we can solve in terms of different exercises that could, you know, come along? Will you ever say, like, gosh, I feel kind of run down right now, or I feel tired or, you know, I'm nervous? Well, nervous, not anymore. but excited sometimes you can be over-excited and then have to try and find the right balance in order to not be

you know wanted it too much so you make mistakes or you do things in a rush way so you have to find that right balance and I think I'm always open and I will tell him obviously what I how I feel is like how you feel in terms of

are you a little bit too active too and calm it down a little bit a little bit or are you if you too calm to get your body and mind more ready for is there anything specifically you'll do let's say you're too amped up what would you do to kind of bring yourself down a little bit breathing exercises okay yeah breathing exercises um obviously those i think that is definitely one of the the the major ones that we've done you know put into place and i really feel like it's helpful um

But overall, I'm quite well balanced and we don't need too much exercises, but when it's needed, we definitely, you know, put it in play. I think a lot of sort of casual fans or underestimate the degree to which professional athletes use breathing techniques to get themselves in the right spot. Do you find that that's become more common across the sport? Yeah, because obviously, like we are here, obviously speaking about it a lot more. I think a lot of people are opening up about it. And I think that's creating others to also start doing it and feel the benefits of it. And I would say also like years ago I wouldn't think about personally doing it. But I really feel like there is a benefit in calming down or getting ready to rock and roll.

And I think it's a good way and it's a nice way to get going or do it. in the, for you in the best way, shape of form. You've assumed really a leadership position for a lot of the teams that you play on, you know, Captain of Netherlands, Captain of Liverpool. What does that role mean to you? It means a lot. It means a lot. Obviously, that responsibility, I think,

you know, is something I really enjoy. You know, it's for me personally to be the captain of Liverpool Football Club, the captain of Holland, you know, is something that every young football in my opinion would love to be at and I really embrace it even the difficult moments because there are plenty of difficult moments where you have to be the one that, you know, getting your team up or helping players personally or, you know, do things outside of the game that you have to sword as a captain and these things are also something that I really embrace and you know it's it's

it's not always easy but that responsibility is really really a good feeling what do you think was the moment in your career where you felt the most pressure on yourself i think the year after i came back from from my knee injury um i think people don't really really realize what it takes to be coming back from an ACL, MCL, complex knee injury. Obviously, the standards that are set by me in the past were obviously still, I was still hold by it. That's a difficult part because you're also going to do it yourself in so many ways.

But obviously you have to adapt, you have to get used to your knee, your new knee. you will have some issues along the way with different muscles around your leg or other leg so you have to get things going so when things are not going as well on the pitch you might think about it a lot in your head

why not or how can I get better as soon as possible or what can I do to be even better than I was before so you know And I'm a guy as well that I want to be having my best game each and every game that I play. So my expectation level not only from the outside world, but for myself is maybe even higher than from the outside world. So especially that year when I came back was tough.

But it brought me also a lot of positive things, especially in that year. And I think I've played, I was in the top three playing the most games of our players in Europe. I think we were playing for a quadruple, I think, if I'm correct, or treble. Obviously, we couldn't do it, but we won two trophies that year, if I'm correct. So I had a pretty good year, but it was still a very, very intense year in terms of coming back from the injury expectations level and dealing, obviously, with certain problems on my whole body in terms of getting used to the knee.

That period where you were out, did you have any sort of self-discovery about your own body or your training or your approach to the sport? I mean, I've spoken to a lot of professional athletes, I feel like who, they never wanted to get injured. But then they got injured and that process for them actually helped them find something. Yeah. Yeah, no, listen, I think, you know, the moment I got injured, it was a very tough two, three weeks. obviously going to the surgery going to sleepless nights pain but what kept me

very strong is to have my wife and my kids there and we decided to go to Dubai trained obviously at Nuss with all the help from from the family over there it's a good spot to train

it's a very good spot to train and I really looked after and We were there for seven weeks, and it was probably the best time of our lives. Being together with my wife, with the kids, obviously it was locked down around the world as well, so there wasn't many, many things to do anyway around the world. But Dubai was amazing for us, and we got close together. We obviously, I trained every day, double sessions, had my own physio there who was obviously treating me a lot of hours a day.

But during that time we came, you know, very close. We had a very, very good time. And that helped me also getting as strong as I am today in terms of the knee or the rest of the body. And I think what I discovered about myself is that what I've been doing before my injury in terms of maintaining strength what about what do I do personally in terms of recovery after games I think I didn't do as

much as I should have done and not that it cost me an injury but I think there's a lot of things that I realized during that time that I could do more and that helped me a lot what does that include today from a recovery standpoint a lot a lot so obviously a normal game obviously you play the game you have a strain of 20 something like that you go home I normally go into the pool

do exercise in the pool go in the sauna then go in the ice spot and that's all after the game so it could also be midnight you know even in the early morning and then the next day we normally

coming in the training round and we do the recovery session altogether and I'll be home around lunchtime or just after that and then the evening will exactly be the same as then the evening before so it's a grind it's a grind but it's it helps me and because it helps it makes it also a lot easier to you know keep doing it and you feel the benefits of it and I want to because I you know it helps and I want to keep doing it well you've been on whoops since January of 2022 so you've shared some data with us here you're a good sleeper right sleep performance 88% on average your sleep

consistency 73% which is good for someone who travels a lot your sleep efficiency is 90% so 90% of the time you're spending in bed you're getting sleep I'm a very good sleeper yeah has it always been that way yeah I'm quite a deep sleeper as well um as just as an example like I don't even hear my kids sometimes when they're shouting or when they're doing certain things in the bedroom and I'm still in bed so I can, I can, you know, sleep quite deep. What I changed over the last couple of months, actually, is that I don't take a long nap anymore during the day.

And that helps me obviously sleep better at night. So I'm in that period now where around three or four o'clock, starting to get a little sleepy dip down so i try to be busy and keep doing other things but i really feel the benefits of not having that net uh needing that nap obviously i don't i won't force it that much because you know somebody told me actually if if you sleep less than four hours during the night you should try and get a nap and sometimes obviously this happens when you travel late or when you you you know after a game normally so the adrenaline keeps you awake still and you don't get the hours in that you

want to and then I would get a nap, but and then I'd try to just get at least eight hours sleep during the night and just have a good day and do the same again. What are your tips for beating jet lag

or travel? When we travel with the team, we try to stay on a different time and I feel like that helps. So even in Europe, sometimes we only have an hour difference but we stay on the UK time most of the time but we did the same when we went on training camp to even Singapore and the US and not that we stay on the UK time but we stay on

the different time that it isn't that the difference is not as big and I really feel like that definitely definitely helps will you ever take any supplements or anything like that I did in the past I don't know back then I also thought that it gives me crazy dreams so I don't know That's something that maybe happens once or twice and that I thought about that the medication would be the case. But I tried to stay off it. I think the last time I took some sleeping medication was doing my knee injury,

where obviously I couldn't sleep longer than two hours because of the pain. So I tried to take tablets for that. But I tried to get the best sleep cycle in order to having a good night. your strain during games is quite high 19 or 20 and your max heart rate gets up to about 175 does it feel like that when you're out there or you're just so used to the intensity of it I'm quite consistent in the strain during games but yeah I think it's it's absolutely normal I think

you know I have moments in games where my heart rate will go go very high and especially when I'm doing long sprints or, you know, making recovery runs. And, but it's absolutely fine. I think training, during training days, I make strains of 14, 15, I think, something like that. So it's been a good balance and, yeah, it works out pretty well. One observation I've been watching you play is that if a player's got the ball, and it's almost like a one-on-one situation. It feels like you almost try to give them a step

so that they won't go behind you. Like you've got this interesting stillness. And then if they take the bait, so to speak, you have that really explosive first step. Is that something you're consciously doing? Or is it just natural? No, I think the thing is when you're getting in a one-v-one, I think the opponent will love you to give them the decision.

So if you step in. they have a they can do whatever they want if you wait and you you hold and you set a trap in in then obviously when you set a trap you make sure you have to get him but you also give time for others to come back to help or to you know make make make make the decision even difficult for for him to make and um it's just moments it's all split seconds so sometimes you have a player who was completely right-footed, so you know he's not going to want to go to his left foot or the other way around.

So it's like during that split second, you know obviously where you're facing, and it's all like very quick, but you're conscious of it. And I think that's, you try not to be first and foremost, to be in a one-v-one situation, I think you try to read the situation beforehand to prevent it.

And I think that's the best thing in my opinion to do. you want to be in you don't want to be in any situations basically so you try to prevent it from happening regardless but if you're in a situation you have to try and deal with that in the best way you can yeah it's it's fascinating

because the game looks like it's going really fast but then there's this moment there's these moments where you're staring at someone with the ball and it actually looks like you're going slowly and then you pounce yeah it's pretty I mean it's kind of amazing watch that's the thing as well obviously

like you said If you look at, even if I look back at certain situations, whether it is on, I don't know, TV or iPad or whatever we watch it, it goes fast. But in my situation when it actually happened, it's in slow-mo. And, you know, obviously your mind goes in so many ways. But because I know the game, I know my opponents, it's like you know sort of what could happen. and if you are sharp if you are ready for it then it's just me or him

do you feel some of those moments the game actually slows down a little bit yeah I think it does it does because it's like it's one moment on its own so obviously I had moments against very good strikers when we came 1v1 and you know when

there's a left foot a striker that he doesn't want to go to his right foot so then you're going to put in your mind all right he doesn't want to go to his right right foot so he wants to go to his left foot but he's very good in his left which you have to make sure that if you set a trap make sure the trap is very good in order to either put him off balance or block the shot and I think that's it's nice but what I definitely enjoy more is to prevent those situations for happening regardless who are some of the attackers who are hardest to guard

in that situation you just described I think that definitely the two-footed strikers, like I just mentioned, obviously, if someone is, you know, a very good left footer, but not as good as right in with his right foot. Obviously, that's a very difficult situation. Obviously, I can't remember one moment where it was 2 v1, so two strikers again, one against Spurs. And I know that Son from Spurs was in behind me and the midfielder was with the ball. And I thought in my head, he can't play to Son because Son is left and left. right foot it. So I had to make the decision to let then the guy on the ball take the shot with his weaker foot. And obviously it worked out well. It could also be a goal, but it

worked out well. But that's also like the split second that you didn't think of. But so many good strikers out there. Obviously, we all know the Leonhard Messi. We know Cristiano, of course. And these guys, they can finish with every bit they have. So, but yeah, it's, it's, it's fascinating. It's nice, but you try to avoid it by reading the situation. I think reading situation is the most important thing. What's up, folks, if you are enjoying this podcast or if you care about health, performance, fitness, you may really enjoy getting a whoop. That's right. You can check out whoop at whoop.com. It measures everything around sleep, recovery, strain, and you can now sign up for free for 30 days. So you'll literally get that.

the high performance wearable in the mail for free you get to try it for 30 days see whether you want to be a member and that is just at woup.com back to the guests when you first came to liverpool you had that game against everton and there was a lot of i feel like anticipation for that moment because you at the time you had this enormous transfer fee i think it was the largest at the time 78 million pounds so there's sort of like a big expectation for you And then you go out and you have a phenomenal game, don't you? Yeah. It was an incredible week.

Regardless, you know, obviously I signed for the club. And when I obviously officially joined on the 1st of Gen, I know that the first game that I would be involved with is the Everton game. And obviously, playing that Derby means a lot for end of the fans. But obviously, for me personally then as well, and I wasn't supposed to be starting that game. we did a session in the morning of the game and I was with the subs

but one of our players Dejan Lover he had little issues in his hamstring so the manager didn't want to risk it and he said in that morning I'm going to start so then it's like okay let's get let's go let's get ready yeah and I wasn't nervous at all I was just excited because obviously I got what I wanted I wanted to play I wanted to come to Liverpool and be

successful and why not start the first game in the best way we could do obviously won a lot draw 1-1 and then the corner came and I headed in and eventually was the best possible debut that I could imagine and kick start definitely my career at Liverpool well you mentioned the header you've got a pretty phenomenal aerial game. Is that something that's kind of always come naturally to you with your size and your power, or is it something you really feel like you had to work at? I worked on it a lot, of course.

I think it's also positioning. I'm quite a tall guy, so that helps. But still, yeah, you have to make use of that height. But it's a combination of positioning, working on it a lot. And be dominant, you know, using your strength, your arms as well at times, and be dominant in both boxes. So you have the successful start against Everton, and, you know, you have that first season

where you guys almost win it all, if I'm not mistaken. The first season I joined it was six months. We obviously played the Champions League final in Kiev. We lost it unfortunately. But the year after we won the Champions League and became one or two points short for the Premier League. and that was 2019 and that was a good year for you personally runner up in the ball andor

was that a disappointment or were you proud to be right there how do you think back on that well you know first and foremost like you said it was an amazing year it was a year that one of my big dreams for lifting the championship league came through

you know either personally had a fantastic year we as a team had an amazing year and to even be nominated for the ball and door I would have never thought that when I was younger but obviously being there and losing only on a couple of points eventually then feels a bit but not that I was disappointed at all because I was just so proud of myself proud what we have achieved that year and obviously becoming second behind Leone and Messey and And just above Cristiano and Aldo is, I don't think it's a very bad thing.

Those are two good people to be sandwiched between. And so it was a very, very proud moment that I will forever cherish. You know, you've talked a lot about the important role that families played in your career, in your life. What does it mean to be a good father today? The most important thing. I think, obviously, you have the football player for Eugene van der. What I really realize is the Papa Virgil and the husband's Virgil and that's what life's about.

You know, I think I really enjoy that no matter how your day could be or whatever happened in the game or whatever. If you come home, that's what matters. And I really appreciate what they have been sacrificing for me as well because that's not always too much appreciated. And I really appreciate everything of them. Four kids, are they going to grow up to be footballers? Or what are your expectations?

I think my eldest, obviously, who is here today with us, but I think she could be if she wants to. Because whatever my kids want, I think they should pursue it. And I think she's really, you know, sporty. She likes to play hockey. She likes other sports as well. She's very very active when she comes and watch the games. And the rest, yeah, I've got my, obviously, my little boy.

Let's see. He's a left footer, so it will be interesting. But, yeah, obviously, like, listen, whatever. I will always support them. And whatever they want. be they can be so you wrapped up the euro not that long ago yeah and what's the difference between playing for your country versus playing for a primary league team so obviously like with the country like you only like we meet up during the year maybe five or six times

from correct so when you see each other you only be with each other for like 10 days. And it could obviously, you know, change every time in terms of the squad and players and it's very dense. It's very, it's such a short time together that everything has to be sort of put in a one, you know, in a couple of days' time in order to get, whether it is for the game ready or random stuff that you have to. organized, you know, before a game in terms of, I don't know, bonuses or whatever. So it's all very dense. So I would say that's the big difference.

Obviously, at the club and Liverpool, you are on a daily base with each other. You see each other almost more than you see your own family. So it's a different kind of dynamic. But both of them are amazing to be part of. And obviously, everyone is speaking about the amount of games that we have at the moment, and that's really true. But we all became footballers as well to play the games. So for me to be playing on the highest level at Liverpool

and to be playing on the highest level for Holland is an amazing feeling. Do you feel any more pressure for one or the other? No, because I feel like I put already the highest pressure on myself And being the captain of both teams, you know, I will always be looked at as, you know, the one that always has to make sure that he plays a 10 by, you know, by any means. But that's what I expect for myself as well. I expect for myself to be always the best version of myself on and off the pitch. And that's what my team is also could expect for me. And I want to win. And that's why I'm going to do.

show to end my team and to the outside world that I'm doing everything and my power to do. Have you ever had times where you've doubted yourself? Yeah, definitely. I think the year when I came back from my knee injury, you know, there were difficult moments. Because, and also even before I came back, I think knowing that you have a knee injury, I think knee injury as a football player or any NFL player or whatever, always puts a little bit of doubt to your mind because it's, it's a very complex injury that obviously nowadays technology and you know the

the doctor's doing such an you know amazing job but still you know it's how your body and your knee react and your muscles around your whole knee and and the rest of you know that's that's very important and there's plenty of moments where I where I had some doubts in my mind but at the moment and definitely over the years those have definitely you seem to have this sort of deep inner confidence and resolve do you feel like you've always had that throughout your career is it something it's just yeah I think kind of grown with success yeah I think obviously experience helps but I think what is the most important thing is you don't trust yourself or if you don't have confident in yourself then no one will and that's definitely

something I know I always believe in you need to go into anything so whether it's obviously for me as a football player into a game that I'm going to be the man and I'm going to be you know I'm going to be the best on the pitch but you should have that with everything

if you're doing a project at school or something you should go in there thinking I'm going to smash this and if you don't do that then it's not going to work anyway so I always had definitely feeling of you need to make sure that your own mind is already thinking listen i'm going to rock this and you know i keep a clean sheet today or i'm going to score today or you know that's the most important thing are there certain athletes that you've reached out to that you've learned a lot from

could be in football or other sports well not reached out to i think i've definitely looked at you know athletes around the world and still i'm you know whether it is obviously LeBron, Tom Brady Steph Curry, obviously how he was, for example, during the Olympics incredible. Mark Cavendish, you know, to mention.

But also in modern day football, I think for us, look at Christiana, look at Leon and Messi, how to, you know, keep that hunger and look after themselves and how they deal with the pressure, how they deal with setbacks, criticism, social media.

there's so many things that you can learn from at least at the top and you never are too old to learn in any anything and that's my mindset always been I don't think um how would you say it out learned or how do you want to call it there's always things I want to learn and can learn because I'm definitely not nowhere near perfect and and no one is but I see it in that way especially well a lot of those athletes should share a real longevity in their sports, right, which is becoming, I think, a trend over the last maybe five or ten years. And you, of course, mentioned Cristiano, who I think has really demonstrated that combination of drive and longevity. Also, he's on whoop. I think the two of you both being on whoop have certainly helped us grow in the world of football.

Why do you think whoops resonating in football are more broadly right now? off. Obviously, when I start a Whop anyway, I'm very fascinated about the output I do, whether it is sleep, obviously the strain, but also like I'm very much, you know, focus on when I'm doing other activities as well to put it in the Whop as well, because it also then determines how I can recover better, sleep better. So it just keeps me. me sort of aware of how to be better each and every day. So I think that's definitely the case. So obviously I see obviously so many football players wearing it now by even other sports like you guys know, of course. But it's just part of the process of wanting to be better.

I think you're doing it because you want to be better. You want to improve yourself. And I'm not speaking only because of as a football player, but just as a normal human being that wants to live a healthy and, you know, good life, in my opinion. And I think Whoop is helping that massively. And also in terms of, we spoke about it in the beginning about breeding exercises and stuff. I remember doing the breeding exercise to get alertness. I was got dizzy in my head. Were you a long inhale?

Yeah, exactly. I was like, whoa, exactly. Yeah, I was like, but, you know, when you start doing it and getting used to it, it's really, it's really helpful. It's really good. And, you know, now we've got everything in the app that could help you, you know, whether it is recover or getting better or getting more alertness or anything's possible. What are you tracking your journal in the Whoop app, you know, some of those different modalities? Not much, you know. No.

Not much, no. Obviously, I put sauna in, sometimes with medication. What about? I find that sauna, actually, on the whole, seems to be decreasing my recovery a little bit, just a little bit. But I like doing it so much from like a mental standpoint. You mentioned before, like, the whole feeling of calm and stillness when you're competing. I think for me doing some of that contrast therapy where you're, like,

really hot and really cold it's so uncomfortable and but if you get calm in the discomfort then later the rest of the day feels easier yeah I thought I thought about it as well in the beginning I did it like after an asana session I wouldn't go immediately into an ice bath but now I've changed it so now for example before the game that we played yesterday we had like treatment and everything at the training on then we went to to the hotel but I did a sauna session ice baths sauna session and the ice bath so I did double oh wow and I was really I was really calm and really relaxed and then obviously in the hotel we just widened down and did a couple breathing exercises and had a nice nice sleep recovery wasn't

great by the way but so you did all of that after the game that was before the game oh you did it before the day before the game oh wow yeah and the breathing technique before sleep what does that look like it's it's different ones obviously i get the exercises from my i won't say coach again but from the person's group yeah um but really like gets me into a state that i'm really you know relaxed longer exhales yeah right yeah because the longer your exhale the more parasympathetic it is that's the one yeah we're going to do some rapid fire questions what is your go-to pre-game meal? I would take sweet potato, sweet potato, a bit of pasta, a tiny bit of tomato sauce,

and sometimes a chicken, but not all the time. So I don't really eat that much protein, like we eat like two and a half hours before the game. So I don't eat too much protein two and a half hours before the game, but the day before I would. definitely eat some more protein than I would do in the match day. What's the one part of your daily routine you can't go without? Pre-activation. What does that mean? The exercises that I'm doing before a game, so that obviously single-leg squat,

wall sits, there are different exercises I'm always sticking to, and it definitely helps me and my body to be ready. wakes your body up yeah okay you have a day off what's the one activity you have to do school run I like that more stressful situation taking a penalty or trying to get the kids to go to bed so that's that's a very now taking a penalty now taking a penalty yeah did you do anything right before taking a penalty or a free kick like any breathing or anything yeah I tried to obviously get into a state where I'm calm yeah and it's not always easy it worked out twice well at one time it didn't

work out well against Argentina in the World Cup but that's also part of part of the experience Hardest attacker to defend? At the moment or in my career? Let's do both. Okay. At the moment, who you got? At the moment, I would maybe go for...

Uh... P... That's so many good ones you know. I'm gonna say... wow I feel like you're debating whether you want to give this person credit for being there no no no no no I've said listen I've obviously I've got these questions plenty of time yeah of course and I've I've said a couple times at all the time I said Leon and Messi because he's he's very difficult to to mark because he's just wandering around and all of a sudden he comes to live and he's so fast and he's so so good but um you know he's very difficult to mark because he's just wandering around and all of a sudden he comes to come to live and he's so fast and he's so good but um you know he's in the league, I can say a couple. Obviously, I would say Haaland, I would say Gabriel Jesus. I can say Kiliene Mbapé.

They're not always direct opponents, but very good players. Defensive player you've learned the most from? I would say Joe Almatype has been a very good one that I've learned things from that. were very helpful, Joe Gomez, Joseph Fonta at Southampton, older player back then, and I was obviously coming through for the first time in the Premier League. So those three come to my mind at the moment. Okay, lowest recovery ever on Woof.

One percent of course. One percent club. What's the explanation? At a nice party. Party. Yeah, partying. Partying. during the summer. Sometimes you have people wearing whoop, by the way, and they think when

they go party, they take it off. You know what I mean? I don't mind because I think being in the 1% club is part of the game as well. I appreciate that. I respect it. And look, we're super grateful to have you on Wooop, man. And this has been a pleasure being with you. I'm happy to be here. All right. Thank you so much for me. Appreciate it. Thank you. Big thank you to Virgil for coming on the Whoop podcast. If you want to learn more about Whoop, check us out at Whoop.com. You can sign up for a free 30-day trial, get this wearable for free for 30 days. We also just came out with the new Virgil Van Dyke band. He customized it and designed it. We now have it. That's at shop.wop.com. If you enjoy this episode of the podcast, please leave a rating or review. Please subscribe to the

podcast. You can check us out on social at Woop at Will Ahmed. And that's a wrap, folks. We'll catch you next week on the Woop podcast. In the meantime, stay healthy and stay in the green.