Welcome to the Training Notes Newsletter.
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Midweek is where good training gets quietly protected. You’re not trying to prove anything today—you’re trying to keep the system moving so tomorrow’s work feels sharp instead of sticky. The skill is staying inside an effort range that leaves you better after, not just tired.
That means choosing constraints on purpose: easy breathing, smooth pacing, and a hard stop time. Recovery isn’t “doing nothing”; it’s doing the right amount. If you can finish and feel like you could repeat it, you nailed the target.
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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
- Quadruped T Spine Rotation — 2 Sets × 6 Reps
- Ankle Rockers on Wall — 2 Sets × 10 Reps
- Nasal Breathing Reset — 2 Sets × 5 Breaths
Main Workout
- Easy Cardio (any modality) — 1 Sets × 25 Minutes
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
- 4 7 8 Breathing — 2 Sets × 4 Breaths
Total time: 45 minutes
Conditioning
Warm Up
- Easy effort @ 50–65% max HR — 10 Minutes
- Build to steady @ 60–70% max HR — 5 Minutes
Main Workout
- Continuous easy aerobic @ 60–70% max HR — 25 Minutes
Cool Down
- Very easy @ 50–60% max HR — 5 Minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
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Today’s Research Note
Your body doesn’t adapt to a workout during the workout. It adapts to the signal after you’ve recovered enough to rebuild. A big part of that rebuild is driven by how well you restore muscle glycogen—stored carbohydrate that fuels moderate to hard training and supports quality reps.
If glycogen stays low for days, training starts to feel “randomly” harder: warm-ups drag, bar speed slows, and you default to grinding. That’s not a character flaw. It’s just low fuel. For people lifting 3–5 days per week (and especially adding conditioning), consistent carbs around training is often the difference between steady progress and constant plateaus.
Look Up: glycogen replenishment and training performance
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Today’s Final Note
Use a “cap” to keep easy days easy: decide the maximum effort you’re allowed to touch before you start. For example, you might cap today at a pace where you can breathe through your nose most of the time, or a strength effort that never feels like a rep is in doubt. The cap is the plan.
This works because it removes the mid-session negotiation that turns recovery into a sneaky hard day. You’re not relying on willpower; you’re following a preset boundary. Do it for a month and you’ll notice something: your hard days get better because they’re no longer competing with “accidental” hard days.
Look Up: intensity caps for recovery days
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Signing Off
Today is about keeping the engine clean, not redlining it. If you finish feeling more organized—breathing calmer, joints looser, mind quieter—that’s a win that carries forward. Come back tomorrow and we’ll put that freshness to work with a more demanding training note.
Quote of the Day
It is not daily increase but daily decrease; hack away at the unessential.
Bruce Lee