10 Years of Sweat Elite: From Sweat Mobile to Athlete Coaching, YouTube, and New Ventures

Matt Fox celebrates 10 years of Sweat Elite, sharing the story of its beginnings, the successes and failures along the way, and his plans for the future.

Apologies for the slight static in the audio during the second half of this episode. Thanks for bearing with it.

Train with Matt Fox:
sweatelitecoaching.com/matt-fox

Sweat Elite Supporters Club:
sweatelite.co/supporters-club

Globe Runners - Monte Gordo, Portugal (January 9-17, 2027):
thegloberunners.com/monte-gordo-running-experience-2027

Globe Runners - Lisbon, Portugal (February 20-28, 2027):
thegloberunners.com

Nutrition Coaching with Matt Fox:
sweatelite.co/coaching/nutrition

Personalised Nutrition Meal Plans:
sweatelite.co/nutrition-meal-plans

Eastbound Running - Dynafish Running Shoes:
eastboundrunning.com

Matt Fox on Instagram:
instagram.com/mattinglisfox

Matt Fox on Strava:
strava.com/athletes/6248359

Contact Matt:
matt@sweatelite.co

About This Episode

On October 16, 2016, Matt Fox registered sweatelite.co while travelling through Colombia. Ten years later, Sweat Elite has evolved from a small website documenting professional running training into a podcast, YouTube channel, coaching academy and several new running-related businesses.

Matt begins by reflecting on Sweat Mobile, an early attempt to build a running-focused social media platform that attracted approximately 18,000 users before ultimately failing due to financial challenges and the rapid growth of Strava. He explains how that experience, combined with his career at Flight Centre in Singapore, led him to leave his job and launch Sweat Elite while travelling through South America.

The conversation moves through the early years of Sweat Elite, including publishing training articles and e-books, travelling to Kenya, spending time with David Rudisha's training group and the extraordinary experience of knocking on Eliud Kipchoge's door before following his marathon training.

Matt also discusses the growth of the Sweat Elite Podcast, the challenges of launching a YouTube channel during COVID, and the financial realities of travelling around the world to film professional athletes. He explains why the channel gradually shifted towards athlete documentary series and his own marathon training.

He reflects on leaving Best Athletics in 2022, building an independent coaching business, expanding into performance nutrition and why helping athletes improve has become the central focus of Sweat Elite.

Looking ahead, Matt shares updates on the upcoming Globe Runners training camps in Portugal, the early success of Eastbound Running and its launch of Dynafish running shoes, and his longer-term plans for these businesses. He also discusses his decision to move away from traditional sponsorships and the challenges of dealing with criticism online.

Finally, Matt provides an update on his grade 3B soleus tear sustained during the Melbourne Marathon, his recovery progress, the possibility of racing Valencia in December and his upcoming move to Lisbon.

Episode Chapters

00:00 Sweat Elite Turns Ten
00:47 Sweat Mobile Origins
02:33 Startup Struggles
04:14 Singapore Career Pivot
06:35 From App to Articles
08:29 Naming Sweat Elite
10:37 Subscription Site Launch
12:03 First Kenya Breakthrough
14:04 Kipchoge Door Knock
18:21 Podcast Takes Off
19:51 YouTube Dream Reality
26:57 COVID Derails Plans
29:01 Escape and Channel Launch
30:12 Early Channel Momentum
30:37 Switching To Series
32:00 Pros Launch Channels
32:49 Coaching Breakaway Story
34:52 Building Coaching Income
36:21 Nutrition Expansion Plans
37:34 Portugal Trips Update
39:32 Eastbound Shoe Launch
40:47 Cash Flow And Investors
47:31 No Sponsorship Philosophy
49:56 Handling Online Criticism
52:51 Calf Injury And Travel
56:07 Closing Reflections