Welcome to the GAIN Blog
The blog is updated Monday-Friday. Tune in for posts and discussion about health, fitness, nutrition, training experiments and reflection. We share articles, videos and more. We post the link to our Instagram story every day, make sure to follow along there to never miss a post.
Friday Thoughts 84
Greetings! Welcome to this week’s edition of Friday Thoughts — where I share random things on my mind and some of the favorite things I’ve seen on the internet this week. Enjoy!
Mount Washington Road Race
Tomorrow is the day! I’ve had some of my best training go down the past 6 months, and I’m excited to see how the race goes. The weather is looking, well like Mount Washington. It’s going to be cold, foggy and wet, but it’s all part of the challenge.
Fast Mile
Fast Mile program is open for sign up! If you want in on the plan — register for the event on Sat. June 21 — even if you can’t make it to the testing day (and will do the test on your own) registering here will let me keep track of who’s on the plan. You can invite your non-member friends, too! It’s $50 for non-members and they can register the same way. USE THIS LINK! Or register on the PushPress App.
Speaking of Fast Mile
My goal is to beat my previous best, set in 2019 by 30 year old Justin. At first I didn’t think I would be able to get close to that, but I’m feeling confident so let’s put it out there.
couldn’t get this to embed on the site, so here’s a screenshot. Also, the client whom I referenced here was Kendra.
Stairs
Current obsession - track athletes training with amazing set ups. Like endless plyo boxes that get taller and taller. When I didn’t think it could get any cooler this athlete has a gigantic turfed ramp in the gym. Incredible!
Alpha Dad Mode?
IDK about all these hardcore dad-wearing-weight-vest posts.
That’s all for this week. See you next time!
—Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Fast Mile Summer — All the Details
A fast mile is one of the coolest things your body can do—but it doesn’t get nearly the love that a marathon does.
This all started with a simple question:
What if more runners chased a fast mile instead of a slow marathon?
How would that shift change running injuries, technique, fitness, body composition, or even someone’s relationship with running? It’s an interesting thought experiment—one we’re going to play out in real life.
Who It's For
This program is built for intermediate runners—people who’ve built endurance through 5Ks, half marathons, marathons, or even ultras but have never trained purely for speed.
You should have:
A good idea of what your current mile time is.
A specific mile time goal in mind.
When It Starts
Week 1 begins June 19
The first workout is a 6-minute test to determine your target training paces.
You can do this test any time between June 19–22.
We'll also be open for a group test on Saturday, June 21 at 9:00 AM.
Program Details
Runs June 19 through early August (8 weeks total)
Includes 2 interval workouts per week
Workouts are short, typically between 2000–4000m of total running
Ideally done on a track or the air runner treadmills at the gym, but there will be conversions to set up your watch for units in miles and/or time.
GAIN members will receive workouts via TrueCoach
Non-members will receive a downloadable PDF training plan
Still Racing This Summer?
Great—keep training for it!
This fast mile plan is an excellent complement to your longer-distance goals. With just two focused speed sessions each week:
You’ll improve your stamina and turnover
Your long runs stay intact
You can add volume through warm-ups and cooldowns
If you’ve never trained fast before, this might be the exact thing that helps you PR your next race.
How to Sign Up
👉 Sign up HERE
Non-members can register through the same link (a fee applies).
Save the Date
📍 Saturday, June 21 at 9:00 AM
Join us at the gym for the official Test Day.
We’ll walk through the GAIN Running Warm-Up, then knock out the 6-minute test to lock in your training zones for the program.
Got Questions?
Shoot me a message!
Let’s run fast this summer. 🏃♂️
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
What’s the 3-session trial?
Every potential member at GAIN starts with a 3-session trial. It’s your chance to meet our coaches, experience our coaching style, and get a feel for what makes GAIN so different from the average gym. Our approach is individualized—personal training that feels like a group but isn’t actually one. It's a vibe that’s hard to describe until you experience it for yourself.
Session 1: The Intro Workout
Your first session is all about connection. You’ll work closely with a coach through our Intro Workout, where we focus on fundamental movements, and assessing your range of motion and stability. We’ll chat about your injury history, training background, and goals—what you want to get out of your time in the gym.
No matter your fitness level, our goal is to have you leave that first session thinking, “I could have done more.” That’s intentional. We can write hard workouts all day, but there’s no need to prove anything on day one. Instead, we want to ease you in and help you build a habit that lasts.
Session 2: Adding Movement & Conditioning
By the second workout, you’ll start to see more movement variety. We introduce conditioning (cardio) elements and show you some of our go-to mobility drills. This session is focused on upper body pressing and pulling, plus some single-leg strength work. You’ll continue learning without feeling overwhelmed—we keep the pace accessible while still progressing.
Session 3: The Hinge & Putting It All Together
The final trial workout covers the hinge pattern—an essential movement that can be tricky to learn but pays off in every area of training. We also revisit movements from sessions one and two as needed. Most people find this third session to be their biggest workout yet, and that’s by design. By now, your body is adapting, and we can push things just a bit more.
Why It Works
The 3-Session Trial is a crash course in GAIN’s training philosophy. You’ll learn foundational exercises, get detailed coaching, and leave with a better understanding of how to move well and feel more connected to your body. More importantly, you’ll leave with a plan tailored to your goals—something unique to you.
We’re not just trying to get you through a workout. We’re here to help you build something that lasts.
Get involved.
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Strength and BAlance
A new favorite phrase I’ve been repeating around the gym:
Don’t turn a strength exercise into a balance drill.
I’m mainly talking about two exercises here—rear foot elevated split squats (RFESS) and calf raises.
Let’s start with RFESS. This is an excellent movement for building unilateral strength and exposing the hips and knees to a healthy range of motion. And yes, there’s a balance component—but that shouldn’t steal the spotlight.
Too often, people struggle through the movement just to stay upright, compromising depth, control, and intent. I’ve surprised a few folks by encouraging them to grab a PVC pipe or hold onto the rack. Why? Because better balance leads to better movement quality. And better movement quality leads to more strength, more stability—and eventually—better balance. But if you’re too wobbly to hit proper depth, you’ll miss the mark on all of it.
Same thing with calf raises. If you're a high-level runner, sure, single-leg calf raises without assistance might make sense. But for most people? Putting a hand on the wall or rack gives you the support you need to focus on strength and capacity through the lower leg—not your ability to stay upright on one foot.
If your goal is balance, we can absolutely program for that. But when the goal is strength, let’s not confuse the two.
Don't turn a strength exercise into a balance drill.
—Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Monday Check in
Another week, another Monday!
I’m feeling ready for the day because I took some time to prepare last night.
I packed my lunch, (and breakfast and second lunch and late afternoon snack), my workouts clothes, set the coffee machine and took a look at my schedule for the day and week. Simple, I know. But this small act of preparing for the day to come makes me feel so much more organized—and less overwhelmed.
These smalls acts that help keep you organized often feel unimportant. They can be the difference maker between sticking with your workouts or healthy lifestyle though. Start to figure out a few key habits or routines on the weekend to help you get back into weekday mode.
-Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Friday Thoughts 83
Welcome to this week’s edition of Friday Thoughts! Let’s get into to it.
FAST MILE SUMMER
The marathon gets all the glory—but there’s something undeniably cool about a fast mile. It’s intense. And over before you can second-guess it. This 7-week plan is for intermediate runners who’ve built endurance through 5Ks, half marathons, even ultras—but have never focused solely on speed.
With three runs per week (and an optional fourth for bonus gains), you’ll blend structured intervals, hill sprints, and targeted drills to sharpen your turnover, pacing, and power. By the end, you’ll be ready to race a mile faster than you ever thought possible.
Program starts on Monday June 16th — open to members and non-members. More details next week.
Ovechkin Training
I tend to cover my eyes whenever I see clips professional athletes in the weight room. It tends to be poor movement quality and always seem to involve a stability ball being improperly used. I started out angry at this one with the high squats, but I stuck around the rest of the video is amazing. Good, basic training that works. In particular I loved the barbell walking lunges into a sprint down the track.
Rice is out (and has been for a while)
I first learned this is 2011, while in college. Icing injuries is still commonplace—despite the fact that it may be preventing your body from healing faster.
HEAT
I love training in the heat. It wasn’t always that way, but I really think the only way to get through it is to embrace it. I was pumped to get a hot and sweaty run in the hot weather yesterday, and am looking forward to more of it this summer. If you’re ‘bad in the heat’ embrace it this summer and get some exposure.
Thanks for reading, see you next time.
—Justin Miner
@justinminergain
May by the numbers
Welcome to this month’s edition of By The Numbers, where I break down the data from my watch and training log to reflect on the past month. I track metrics like average sleep, daily steps, and total workouts. I’ve been doing this monthly for about 18 months now, and it’s proven to be a valuable tool for spotting trends, holding myself accountable, and fine-tuning habits. I highly recommend building a habit like this into your own routine.
Let’s dive in.
Steps
Total: 417,406 steps
Daily Average: 13,465
This was my first 400k+ step month since last summer. For reference, I hit that range in July, August, and September last year. It’s encouraging to see those mid-summer numbers showing up earlier in the season—likely because I started my training cycle earlier this year.
Sleep
Average Duration: 6 hours 44 minutes
Average Sleep Score: 77
My sleep trend has been heading in the wrong direction the past few months. I’ve been staying up later—especially after evening coaching sessions—and not always feeling tired at bedtime. Last summer, I made it a habit to get in bed earlier than I wanted to, which consistently led to better sleep. I revisited that strategy last night and logged my first solid 8+ hour night in a while. Time to recommit to the earlier bedtime.
Training
Sessions Logged: 31 total
SkiErg: 3
C2 Bike: 3
Running workouts: 18
Lifting sessions: 7
Most weeks followed a pattern of doubling up on Tuesdays and resting on Thursday and/or Sunday. I’ve been aiming for more consistency with lifting—though I missed my last two bench press sessions. Otherwise, training has felt solid.
Running Breakdown
Total Mileage: 118 miles
Elevation Gain: 11,266 ft
Time on Feet: 24 hours
Thanks for reading along. As always, I encourage you to build a monthly reflection practice like this. It’s one of the simplest ways to keep your health, fitness, and daily habits moving in the right direction.
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Recap: Sunapee Scramble
This past weekend, I headed to Mount Sunapee for the Sunapee Scramble—a roughly 9-mile trail race packed with vertical gain, steep ski slopes, giant mud pits, and punishing downhills. It was my final hard effort before the Mount Washington Road Race on June 14th.
Taper Week: Nailed It
Leading into the race, I had a solid week of training. Monday was an easy 60-minute bike ride. On Tuesday, I hit 400m repeats in the morning to dial in speed, followed by an easy 10K trail run that afternoon. Thursday was a rest day. Friday I did a light lift. And on Saturday, I wrapped it up with an easy 2-mile neighborhood jog, ending with a few hill strides to prime the legs.
Historically, I’ve either overcooked my taper or taken it too easy—both leaving me feeling flat at the start line. Not this time. My volume and intensity were right where they needed to be, and I lined up with some bounce in my step.
The Warm-Up
I had plenty of time to warm up: 20 minutes walking around the lot and slopes, 15 minutes of easy running, some drills to fire up my legs, and a few strides uphill to raise the heart rate. Everything felt dialed.
The Start
I started toward the back of the pack—this race drew a crowd of elite runners trying to earn a spot on the U.S. Mountain Running Team. The opening stretch rolled slightly downhill before we hit our first climb up the ski slope.
It was steep. The tall grass and recent rains turned the course into a slip-and-slide. One wrong step and you were ankle-deep in mud or sliding backward. After grinding up the slope, we hit the gravel summit road—an unrelenting climb that reminded me exactly of what Mount Washington will feel like. I ran and hiked strategically, knowing we still had to summit again.
Downhill Mayhem
Once we crested the top, it was time to bomb the downhill. I separated from the group I was running with to give myself some space through the glades. The soft loam made for a fast, squishy descent—until it dropped onto a regular ski slope that was even steeper. I did my best to stay upright... until I didn’t. I wiped out trying to dodge another runner and slid on my butt for a solid 10 feet. Got up, laughed, and kept hammering to start loop two.
Mud
The second climb started the same but veered off onto a hiking trail—basically a mud pit. By then, I had mud caked on my shins, face, and hands. I ran where I could and focused on staying upright and holding position.
After reaching the summit again, it was time to descend. My quads were lit up and every step felt reckless in the best way. This is my favorite part of trail running—the focus it demands. You can’t think about anything else but the next step. I found some flow and flew down the final descent, kicking hard into the finish.
Final Thoughts
I crossed the line just over 2 hours. My “A” goal was sub-2, with a stretch goal of 90 minutes. That wasn’t in the cards this year given the course conditions—even the elites were slower compared to last year. But I’m proud of my effort and how my fitness is trending.
Most importantly, I’m still fired up for Mount Washington. Sometimes a race right before a big one can drain your competitive edge—not this time. Ten days to go!
—Justin Miner
@justinminergain
The classic “my quads hurt every step” face.
Portsmouth Book Sale
Time to clean off your book shelf!
The Portsmouth Women’s City Club is hosting their yearly book sale.
Bring your gently-used books to the donation box at the gym (located near the entrance), or to the Portsmouth City Women’s Club on Middle Street with the dates and times provided below.
Be sure to mark your calendar for the sale dates if you want to stock up on some books for the summer.
—Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Monday check in
New month, new week!
What’s floating around in my head this Monday morning?
Training a little bit for a long time is far better, in every single way, than training a lot for a short period of time.
If your training is all or nothing, you’re going to quit. Instead, think about training at an effort/volume that you could train at indefinitely. It might even feel easy. Don’t bite off more than you can chew—this is the key to a long-term gym habit.
The other thing I’m thinking about is optimization. We have this fascination with doing the most optimized routine. But going on the same idea as above, is the optimized routine even that good if it’s unsustainable? Isn’t the actual optimized routine the one you can stick with for the long haul?
Have a great Monday!
—Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Friday Thoughts 82
Stalling Expansion
After discussion with the PM Crew last night, it’s come to my attention I missed a critical aspect of stalling: it’s part of a healthy gym habit. Not only having people to socialize with, but people to relate to, because they have the same goal as you— get better somehow.
Just a Little Guilt
The sweet spot, in regards to missing a weekly workout, is not being too hard on yourself, but feeling a little guilty too.
Stuff happens, unexpected things come up. You need to be able to cut yourself slack while feeling a little guilty at the same time. Too far one way or the other and you’re swerving into unsustainable territory.
Sunapee Scramble
I’m taking on the Sunapee Scramble race this weekend. About 9 miles with lots of climbing. I’m 15 days out from Mount Washington, and this will be my longest run/hardest effort in that build up. Training has been going well and I’m excited to let it rip.
James Clear Quote
I’m ruthless when it comes to unsubscribing to things I don’t want in my inbox, but this James Clear newsletter gets opened almost every week.
"To improve, compare little things.
marketing strategies
exercise technique
writing tactics
To be miserable, compare big things.
career path
marriage
net worth
Comparison is the thief of joy when applied broadly, but the teacher of skills when applied narrowly.”
FairLife
We can’t have anything!
Thanks for reading see you next time.
—Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Stalling
We all know the feeling. You’re about to start a workout, but you’re not quite ready—so you fill up your water bottle. Check your phone. Stretch again. Or the classic: strike up a conversation with someone nearby. That’s stalling—and we all do it.
The other day, before some brutal treadmill intervals, I caught myself doing it. I even said out loud to the class, “Ugh, I’m putting this off—I need to start!”
They laughed. “You stall before workouts too?”
Of course.
There’s this misconception that people who enjoy working out are always fired up for it. But even for the most consistent lifters, some days just suck. You're tired. You're unmotivated. You’d rather be doing anything else.
Stick with it long enough, though, and you get better at pushing through. You learn that even if the start feels rough, you’ll be glad you did it.
So the next time you catch yourself stalling, remember—it’s normal. Just don’t let it stop you.
—
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Mediocore Workouts
We often overestimate the impact of a single perfect workout and underestimate the power of consistency over time. The truth is, mediocre workouts—the days when you're tired, unmotivated, or just going through the motions—still count. In fact, over the long haul, they’re critical to your success.
Think of it this way:
A string of average efforts, stacked over months and years, builds real progress. Compare that to doing nothing—waiting for the perfect conditions, the perfect motivation, the optimum plan. That waiting game adds up to nothing.
So don’t sweat it if today’s session wasn’t your best. It’s still one more brick in the wall.
Keep showing up.
—Justin Miner
@justinminergain
RIR and Rounds
You’re reading your program and you see something like this:
3-4 rounds:
10 ring rows
10 db floor press
Naturally, when many people read this, they assume it says, “you’re a lazy cheater if you only do 3 rounds.”
The range is there to help you determine how much work you do. And if you have a lot of RIR — doing fewer rounds at a heavier weight will be greatly beneficial to you.
RIR = reps in reserve. It’s representative of how many additional reps you could keep doing at the end of your set (with good form, of course). The sweet spot to getting stronger is having about 2 reps in reserve. I find that many people finish a set, and have 10 or more reps in reserve — they’re not working nearly hard enough to elicit strength gains. And when you’re working at a more appropriate level, doing 3 rounds sounds a lot better than 4.
If you find yourself automatically going to the bigger sets/rounds number — ask yourself, am I working hard enough now? How many reps in reserve do I have? Could I actually slow down and go heavier?
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Friday Thoughts 81
Greetings! Welcome to this week’s edition of Friday Thoughts.
MDW
Schedule reminder: closed Friday PM/Monday for normal classes.
Join me on Monday at 8am for a holiday weekend workout. This will be open gym style — no sign up required, come do one of your workouts, or do a variation of Murph or the Kendra workout.
Crunch Time
I’m three weeks out from the Mount Washington Road Race. I’m feeling strong and fit and looking forward to another year of running up the Rock Pile. My workouts lately have consisted of running up a lot of steep hills — a lot more than I did last year. We’ll see if it pays off in a few weeks.
FAST Mile
Consider this your first teaser for our summer program: The Fast Mile. A fast mile is one of the coolest things your body can do, but it doesn’t get nearly the love something like the marathon gets. This started with a question; what if everyone was more interested in running a fast mile versus a slow marathon? How would that change peoples’ running injuries, technique, fitness, body composition and even relationship with running? It’s an interesting thought experiment, and one we’re going to play out in real life.
The program will start mid June and run for 8 weeks. Two to three days a week of running, focusing on technique, speed, and stamina — running faster than you typically do. If you do have longer race goals, this program will pair nicely with a longer run or two each week. It could also be great preparation to build up speed before starting a training plan for a fall race.
Gym Diaries
This is the most awesome strength and conditioning session I’ve seen from an athlete in a while. This track and field athlete even mixes in some of Frans Bosch’s cleans to the box. They look so smooth and super athletic.
How to NOT TRAIN for Skiing
NBC’s reels usually won’t repost here, so I’ll be surprised if this works.
This is a clip of skier Franny Smith captioned, “Training For Ski Season is CRAZY,” and it’s a video of her jumping from stability ball to stability ball in what is a circus act, NOT how to train for ski season. This is a silly trick, not real training.
Sprinters
More love for the track athletes training like this.
Floating
What an incredible jump!
This is the future
Thanks for reading.
—Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Memorial Day Workout
On Monday May 26th— Memorial Day— GAIN will be open from 8-10am.
This is the chance for anyone who wants to take on Murph, or the May Challenge Workout, Kendra. You can also use this as open gym time, if you want to come in to do a regular workout, roll and stretch, or just hang with your gym friends. No sign up required. I’ll be doing the Kendra workout, and hope others will join me.
“Kendra”
For Time:
1-mile run
2000m row
1-mile run
Other Schedule Notes:
No PM Class on Friday 5/25
No normal classes on Monday 5/26
—Justin Miner
@justinminergain
An opportunity
This week Taylor and I started our new coaching schedules at the gym. Coming back to coach some PM sessions for the first time in 5 years had me feeling all sorts of nervous about my new routine. What I’ve been thinking, and what I told Taylor, is that we have a chance to set the tone, and create new, lasting habits to help us, rather than hinder us.
I’m going to make sure I get outside for some fitness on Tuesdays and Thursdays, because if I did what I wanted to instead, I would head to Chipotle for a burrito bowl and a Diet Coke and eat it in my truck while listening to an audiobook before taking a nap. Not that I won’t occasionally do that — I just don’t want to make it the norm. So this week I’m trying to set the tone for my new normal on Tuesday and Thursdays and get into a fun and productive routine.
Anyway, I’m pumped for the chance to be back at the PM — it was great coaching you all last night. Here’s to new routines, schedules and habits.
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Running Drills
Running drills are a great way to refine your technique and improve efficiency—but they’re often overlooked. Whether it’s feeling awkward, not knowing how to do them, or missing the “why” behind them, most runners skip this part of training. Whenever I work with someone on their running form, we always include a few key drills and encourage regular practice to sharpen the skill over time.
High knees:
Focus on staying light on your foot and feel the mid foot land softly and the heel kiss the floor. Keep your shoulders over your hips and don’t lean back! This teaches you to open your hips and not over extend from your back.
Butt kicks:
Don’t bend at the waist, stay tall and lean from your belt buckle. Keep those elbows tight and hands back. This reinforces a good fall or lean forward and promotes pulling with the hamstrings. The single leg version of this is another favorite.
Skipping:
Find a nice rhythm and move those arms. Skipping is a great coordination and low level plyometric that will help with springiness—an important running quality — and timing and coordination.
Give these a shot on your next run. You can do them as a dedicated warm up, or sometimes, I’ll mix them into a my to keep running efficiently on my mind.
If you want to some help improving your running technique, reach out to set up a running technique session with me!
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Monday Check In
Last night, like I do each week on Sunday, I wrote out my training for the week. I’ll look at kid’s schedules, weather, coaching responsibilities and the like, and then come up with a rough idea as to what I will do each day. This lets me cater my training around my schedule and have a good outline for the week.
If I need to move or trade a day around, it’s okay. The outline isn’t set in stone, it’s there to keep me on track and help prioritize certain training. Right now that means running up as many big hills as possible.
Whether your goal is to run faster, eat more protein, or be more diligent with your gym habit — laying it out and outlining your week is certain to help keep you organized and on track.
Justin Miner
@justinmienrgain
Friday Thoughts 80
Greetings! Welcome to this week’s edition of Friday Thoughts.
Every Podcast Clip About Fitness
Old School Polish WEIGHTLIFTING
If podcast clips of people wearing sunglasses inside are my least favorite thing about Instagram, these old school videos are my favorite. I’ve said it 100 times, and will keep saying it, barbells have already stood the test of time. Which, the Lindy Effect tells us is the best predictor of its longevity. In other words, in 200 years people will still be squatting and snatching barbells, but your favorite sativa-goat-flow-hot-sweat pilates class will be taken over by the next trend.
Who’s Your Cobbler?
Def need a pair to mow the lawn.
trying to fly
This is wild. The timing. The bounciness. The floating.
Soviet Training Footage
More old school strength and conditioning!
That’s all for this week, thanks for reading!
-
Justin Miner
@justinminergain