Welcome to the Training Notes Newsletter.
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Mondays are where consistency either gets traction or gets delayed. The goal isn’t to “win the week” today—it’s to set a clean baseline you can repeat. When you keep the first day simple, you make the rest of the week easier to execute.
A useful lens: separate what matters from what’s just noise. A few high-quality efforts, done predictably, beat a complicated plan you can’t sustain. Keep your decisions small, and your follow-through gets big.
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TODAY’S TRAINING NOTES
Here are two options for today’s training session. Pick the one that fits your schedule and goals. Feel free to make substitutions if you need to adjust the exercises.
Strength
Warm Up
- Cat Camel — 2 Sets × 8 Reps
- 90 90 Hip Switch — 2 Sets × 6 Reps
- Ankle Rockers on Wall — 2 Sets × 8 Reps
- Scapular Wall Slide — 2 Sets × 8 Reps
- Dead Bug — 2 Sets × 6 Reps
Main Workout
- Back Squat — 4 Sets × 5 Reps
- Chest Supported Dumbbell Row — 3 Sets × 10 Reps
- Incline Dumbbell Bench Press — 3 Sets × 8 Reps
- Kettlebell Romanian Deadlift — 2 Sets × 12 Reps
- Goblet Squat — 2 Sets × 10 Reps
- Band Face Pull — 2 Sets × 15 Reps
- Ab Wheel Rollout — 2 Sets × 8 Reps
Cool Down
- Couch Stretch — 2 Sets × 45 Reps
- Doorway Pec Stretch — 2 Sets × 45 Reps
- Seated Hamstring Stretch — 2 Sets × 45 Reps
- Supine Spinal Twist — 2 Sets × 45 Reps
Total time: 50 minutes
Conditioning
Warm Up
- 10 minutes easy @ 60–70% max HR
- 4 minutes steady @ 70–75% max HR
- 2 minutes easy @ 60–65% max HR
Main Workout
- 20 minutes continuous @ 65–75% max HR
- 5 minutes steady @ 70–75% max HR
Cool Down
- 8 minutes easy @ 55–65% max HR
- 2 minutes very easy @ 50–60% max HR
Total time: 51 minutes
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Today’s Research Note
A lot of training “fatigue” isn’t muscle damage—it’s your nervous system and brain getting less willing to produce high output. That’s central fatigue. It shows up as slower bar speed, worse coordination, and a higher sense of effort at loads that normally feel routine.
Central fatigue is strongly influenced by sleep, stress, and how hard you’ve been pushing near your limits. It also accumulates when you stack too many high-effort sets, especially with short rest and lots of grinding reps. The practical takeaway is simple: if performance is dropping and effort is climbing, you don’t need more “toughness”—you need a smarter dose.
This is why clean reps and consistent rest often beat chasing a perfect program. You can keep progressing while staying out of the red zone most days. Save the true max-effort moments for when you’re actually set up to benefit from them.
Look Up: central fatigue in strength training
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Today’s Final Note
Use a “default start” for Mondays: same arrival time, same first task, same first decision. Not the whole day. Just the first 3 minutes. When the start is automatic, the rest of the plan has a chance.
This works because it removes negotiation. You’re not asking, “Do I feel like it?” You’re running a script you’ve already agreed to. Keep the script small enough that you can follow it even on a chaotic Monday.
Look Up: default start ritual
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Signing Off
Keep today clean and repeatable. If you did less than you wanted, good—now you know what “minimum viable” looks like on a real Monday. That’s useful data. Come back tomorrow for a sharper, higher-output option that still respects recovery.
Quote of the Week
Make each day your masterpiece.
John Wooden