Welcome to the Training Notes Newsletter.
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Tuesday is where good training gets quietly expensive. Not because the work is harder, but because it’s easy to spend your best effort too early and then “finish” on fumes. The goal today is output control: keep the early work crisp so the later work stays worth doing.
A simple lens: treat your best reps like a limited budget. When you protect them, you get more quality practice, better progress, and less random soreness that steals from the rest of the week.
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TODAY’S TRAINING NOTES
Here are two options for today’s training session. Choose Strength if you want the more resistance-focused option or better lifting practice today. Choose Conditioning if you want simpler aerobic work or a lower-lifting-stress session. Pick the one that best fits your schedule, readiness, and goals. Feel free to make substitutions if you need to adjust the exercises.
Strength
Warm Up
- Hip Flexor Rockback — 2 Sets × 8 Reps
- Cat Camel — 2 Sets × 8 Reps
- Ankle Rockers on Wall — 2 Sets × 10 Reps
- Glute Bridge March — 2 Sets × 8 Reps
- Dead Bug — 2 Sets × 6 Reps
Main Workout
- Trap Bar Deadlift — 5 Sets × 4 Reps
- Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat — 4 Sets × 8 Reps
- Suitcase Carry — 4 Sets × 40 Seconds
- Leg Extension — 3 Sets × 12 Reps
- Half Kneeling Cable Chop — 3 Sets × 10 Reps
Cool Down
- Couch Stretch — 2 Sets × 45 Seconds
- Doorway Pec Stretch — 2 Sets × 45 Seconds
- Seated Hamstring Stretch — 2 Sets × 45 Seconds
- Supine Spinal Twist — 2 Sets × 45 Seconds
- Box Breathing — 2 Sets × 6 Breaths
Total time: 50 minutes
Conditioning
Warm Up
- Easy effort — 10 Minutes @ 55–70% max HR
- Fast-but-controlled pickups — 4 Minutes total as 8 × 15 Seconds @ 80–85% max HR with 15 Seconds easy @ 55–65% max HR
Main Workout
- VO2 intervals — 24 Minutes total as 8 × 90 Seconds @ 90–95% max HR with 90 Seconds easy @ 55–65% max HR
- Easy aerobic — 6 Minutes @ 60–70% max HR
Cool Down
- Very easy effort — 8 Minutes @ 50–65% max HR
- Easy breathing — 2 Minutes @ very easy pace (stay under 60% max HR)
Total time: 54 minutes
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Today’s Research Note
Your body doesn’t just respond to how hard you train. It responds to how hard you train relative to how much fuel you have available. When carbohydrate availability is low (because you trained hard yesterday, under-ate, or lifted fasted), the same pace or load can “cost” more: higher perceived effort, more drift in heart rate, and worse repeatability.
That matters on days where you want clean output. If you’re under-fueled, you’ll often chase intensity early to hit the numbers, then pay for it with sloppy work, extra soreness, or a crash later in the day. The fix usually isn’t more grit—it’s matching the day’s demand to your current fuel state and keeping the session quality-focused instead of ego-focused.
Practical takeaway: If today’s effort feels unusually “pricey,” add a small carb dose before training or slightly cap intensity so your best work stays repeatable.
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Today’s Final Note
One of the best pacing skills is knowing when you’ve gotten what you came for. On Tuesdays, I like a “quality ceiling”: once your output drops, you stop buying more fatigue. That keeps the session productive without turning it into a recovery problem.
This isn’t quitting early. It’s sequencing your week so tomorrow is still there, and the next hard day is still sharp. Protect the last third of the session like it matters.
Use today: End the session when you can no longer match your early-set quality, even if you technically have more in the tank.
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Signing Off
Keep it controlled today and you’ll feel the difference the rest of the week. The win is leaving the gym (or the day) with your output intact, not just your checklist complete. The Training Notes helps by turning pacing and readiness into a simple, adaptive plan you can execute without overthinking. Come back tomorrow for a lower-drag note that keeps momentum without forcing it.
It never gets easier, you just go faster.
Greg LeMond