Welcome to the Training Notes Newsletter.
A lot of training frustration comes from chasing outcomes you can’t directly control. You can’t force strength to appear on command, and you can’t negotiate with physiology on a stressful week. What you can control is the quality of your inputs: sleep, food, effort, and consistency.
When progress feels “random,” it’s usually because the inputs are drifting while the goal stays fixed. Tighten the inputs first, then judge the results. It’s a calmer way to train, and it makes your next decision obvious.
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 × 6 Reps
- Quadruped T Spine Rotation — 2 Sets × 6 Reps
- Glute Bridge — 2 Sets × 10 Reps
- Scapular Push Up — 2 Sets × 8 Reps
- Dead Bug — 2 Sets × 6 Reps
Main Workout
- Incline Dumbbell Bench Press — 4 Sets × 6 Reps
- Kettlebell Romanian Deadlift — 3 Sets × 10 Reps
- Front Squat — 3 Sets × 8 Reps
- Chest Supported Dumbbell Row — 2 Sets × 12 Reps
- Dumbbell Floor Press — 2 Sets × 12 Reps
- Hamstring Walkouts — 2 Sets × 10 Reps
- Ab Wheel Rollout — 2 Sets × 8 Reps
Cool Down
- Couch Stretch — 2 Sets × 45 Seconds
- Doorway Pec Stretch — 2 Sets × 45 Seconds
- Supine Figure 4 Stretch — 2 Sets × 45 Seconds
- Child’s Pose Breathing — 2 Sets × 60 Seconds
Total time: 50 minutes
Conditioning
Warm Up
- Easy effort — 10 minutes @ 55–65% max HR
- Build effort — 3 minutes @ 65–75% max HR
Main Workout
- Sustained work — 2 × 10 minutes @ 80–88% max HR
- Easy between intervals — 3 minutes @ 60–70% max HR
Cool Down
- Easy effort — 8 minutes @ 55–65% max HR
Total time: 34 minutes
Today’s Research Note
Your body doesn’t adapt to “workouts.” It adapts to the net signal after you subtract the cost of stress. That’s the basic idea behind allostatic load: training stress stacks on top of life stress, and the total load is what your system has to manage.
In practice, this explains why the same program can feel easy one month and crushing the next. Sleep debt, travel, deadlines, and low energy availability all raise the background load, so a normal session becomes a bigger hit. The smart move isn’t to pretend you’re lazy or broken; it’s to recognize the total load and adjust the input you can control—volume, intensity, or recovery—so the signal stays productive.
Look Up: allostatic load in training
Today’s Final Note
Pick two “input variables” to track for the next two weeks. Not outcomes. Inputs. Good options: bedtime, protein servings, steps, or total weekly hard sets.
This works because it turns training into a controllable process instead of a mood-based decision. You’ll still care about performance, but you’ll stop overreacting to a single day. If the inputs are solid, you stay the course; if they’re drifting, you fix that first.
Look Up: process based goals
Signing Off
If you want training to feel steadier, make your inputs boring and repeatable. That’s the whole game for busy people: fewer heroic days, more controlled weeks. Keep showing up, keep the basics tight, and let the results catch up. I’ll be back tomorrow with a clean training note you can plug into your week.
Quote of the Day
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.
Aristotle