Coach T's Macro Tracking Q & A

Coach Taylor has been weighing and tracking his food for almost two months. He’s mentioned it’s his new keystone habit, a habit that helps other good habits fall in place. The other night I thought of these questions for him out of my own curiosity and here are his responses.

1. Are you tracking alcohol? How does that change/effect your choice?

Yep. Whether it's a glass of wine or a beer I make sure to put the caloric value of the drink in MyFitnessPal. I am less concerned about the macronutrient values of the alcohol, but use the calorie totals to stay on track. This has made me realize that these calories add up quickly, especially when combined with food.

2. Is weekly pizza night still a thing?

Oh yeah - I tried ordering medium pizzas when I first started tracking, but I would finish the pizza and still be hungry. Lately I've been having two smaller meals throughout the day to allow for the extra calories of the large pizza at night. This is generally the most challenging day of the week because I have to limit myself throughout the day, but it makes the pizza taste even better.

3. Streak so far? Any days off?

My current streak sits at 56 days. There were two days mixed in there when I only tracked the first meal of the day - one of the days being Super Bowl Sunday. I knew I was going to be eating foods I don't normally eat and wanted to take a mental break from weighing and measuring. 

4. Do you still need to weigh/measure, or can you do it by look? i.e., you know what 5 oz of chicken is without busting out the food scale.

This is a great question, but yes I still have to measure everything. I can't eyeball quantities, but I have a better idea of the macronutrient make up in certain types of foods. This allows me to plan meals that I know are higher in protein or higher in carbs (for example) depending on my goals for the day.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Time Change Woes

I saw this question prosed on Instagram and found it thought provoking. No one enjoys changing the clocks, and I’m on board with how annoying it can be. Especially after waking up completely unaware and confused this past Sunday. However, this guy has a point too.

“If an hour switch in time is enough to throw your whole game maybe it’s time to audit your level of overall fragility.”

- Rob Wilson, @preparetoperform

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Frozen

With two kids in the house, cooking dinner has becoming more challenging. Especially anything that required full-fledged attention, like chopping vegetables.

We keep our meals simple. Most of the time, it’s a combination of rice, vegetable and protein.

We’ve been leaning on frozen veggies for the past few months and it’s so easy. Pre chopped peppers and onions, broccoli or cauliflower without any mess.

I know, not the most ground-breaking observation, however, we noticed this superior-than-frozen veggie bias in ourselves, for no reason whatsoever.

The point is that there are ways to make things easier, and the simpler they are, the more likely you’ll stick with it.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Usual Weights

Carrying kettlebells around is a foundational strength and conditioning exercise.

It trains the trunk and hips, shoulders and grip.

Sometimes, carry heavy weights that are trying to pull you over and demand all your might.

Other times, carry light weights. But do it much more strictly, not letting the weight pull you out of position at all.

Both are beneficial, and a blend of each is encourage.

Don’t always carry the same weights, if you’re feeling strong, go for it.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Easier Not Easy

Please not this blog was originally published in March 2021.

A client recently went skiing for the first time in years.

I was eager to ask how it went.

Not good, they reported back.

They couldn't believe how sore they were, how hard skiing was and they were so bummed that all the strength and conditioning didn't make skiing easy.

This scenario plays out often. I couldn't help but laugh.

Client trains hard, goes to do something for the first time, and they end up feeling bummed because it was hard.

This is the WRONG perspective.

My laughter was met with an angry stare, so I explained.

Imagine how much harder it would have been if you WERE NOT training so much.

Imagine what the recovery process would be like then.

And perhaps the most impactful question I raised to them; would you have even bothered trying if you hadn't been training like you have for the past 12+ months?

Instead of being bummed it was harder than they wanted (something we can't even quantify anyway), we shifted their perspective.

They had the confidence to take on the slopes even though it had been so long. They were sore, but not sore enough to stay in bed and skip a workout.

Training will make things easier, but not easy. Don't forget that perspective as you start pushing your own limits.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Strength or Endurance?

I used to think you had to pick between the two. It’s what I learned in school.

You couldn’t have both. Developing one would only take away from the other.

Endurance to run far but have no muscle and be weak.

Strength and muscle but no work capacity.

Then I stared tinkering with my training.

I trained for ultramarathons and got really strong, at the same time.

It didn’t make sense. It wasn’t supposed to be possible.

You don’t have to choose between endurance and strength, you can have both, and with the right training structure, they don’t take away from one another, they compliment each other.

That’s strength and conditioning.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Final Mobility Class - Sunday at 8:30am

We’re coming to the end of our 5-Week Mobility Course. You can still get involved this week for a total body mobility session to unwind, create space and prepare for the upcoming week.

You’ll have a chance to dedicate time to the stiff areas of your body that need the most attention, and learn how to mobilize other body parts as well.

Members can reserve their spot through the PushPress App, under “Plans.” All others can get a drop in HERE.

Get involved!

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Complicated Optimization

Here’s a perfect example of more information complicating things more than they need to be. In a sense, this is a follow up on the idea of yesterday’s post. More information for the sake of optimization is not always more beneficial, of course depending on context, goals, etc.

I was listening to the Huberman Lab Podcast about supplements and nutrition. They discussed how taking 5 grams of creatine monohydrate is the general recommendation. They went on to discuss that someone like me, who is over 200 pounds, could be taking more than that because of the increased bodyweight.

One scoop from my tub is 5 grams. One scoop from most all creatine monohydrate tubs is 5 grams. I’m not precise when I measure it. Careless even. For me, the exact dosing doesn’t matter. This creatine will provide incremental gains for me over time. The longer and more consistently I take it, the more likely it is to provide some benefits.

Whether it’s 5 grams, 7 grams or 10 grams, it doesn’t matter if I don’t take it. Taking a scoop isn’t complicated. Taking more would be complicated. I’m going to keep doing the same thing so I can more easily stick with it and be consistent.

I’m all about small incremental changes that have a big pay off, but small changes with incremental pay off are often more headache than it’s worth. If I’m getting most of the way there, I’ll keep it simple.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Optimized and Unrealistic

Exercise physiology is complicated. Distilling out proper training methods from philology is difficult to do well and can lead to clunky, unrealistic training programs.

Coaching is a blend of art and science. You need to know the science, however, the art is in the delivery. In making it flow, making it able to fit into someone’s real life. I first had this realization after writing up a workout in an exercise science class in college. The workout followed all the rules I learned, and since it was a power and strength focused workout I had the imaginary person I was writing the program for resting for a total of 40-something minutes, because optimization.

It was completely unrealistic and since I had done some interning over the summer, I knew I wouldn’t be able to get 15 middle school kids all resting 3 minutes between efforts. There was just no way.

The great coach figures out what gets you most of the way there. You’re probably not going to the Olympics, so there is a point where optimizing the rest periods and rep schemes is majoring in minutia.

Lift heavy stuff, move with intention, use the most range of motion possible, lift light stuff fast and get out of breath frequently. It doesn’t need to be more complicated that that.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Fit & Strong

When I was coming up in the strength and conditioning world there was this believe that you could either be really strong or really aerobically fit. Doing too much conditioning would wash away all your strength gains and leave you feeling weak. Everyone cites the skinny, elite marathoner, who looks like as strong wind could crumple them to the ground.

When I started running it was something I considered. Will I lose my strength? I did, but it turns out what was due to improper fueling and chronically under eating as my training volume spiked.

Today I’m much stronger and quite aerobically fit. I saw this research study and others are starting to look deeper into this question, can you be fit aerobically and strong at the same time?

The study, Long-Term Aerobic Exercise Is Associated With Greater Muscle Strength Throughout Life Span takes a look at this exact question.

The authors gathered participants ranging from 26-83 both aerobically active and sedentary. They tested the participants VO2 max and two basic strength tests. In all the age ranges, the aerobically active group tested higher VO2 max, grip strength test and the leg extension test.

As always, further research will need to be looked into this. Would someone who resistance trains smash the aerobically fit individuals? How would their VO2 max compare? What if someone is aerobically fit and really strong from years of moving weights in the gym?

For a long time I thought it was all about just being strong. Being strong will get you most of the way there, but if you want to live a long, fulfilling life, improving your aerobic capacity, while building strength, seems like a safe bet to get there.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Gym Lingo: Sustainable Pace

Complete the intervals at a pace that you can repeat each set. In other words, don’t come out too fast and continually get slower and slower.

This is endurance training in a nutshell. And a mistake even experienced athletes frequently make.

I see it in races all the time. On the first couple miles it’s easy to get thrown off your plan since every out else comes out sprinting. If you get caught up in that, you’ll fizzle out too. If you run your race, you’ll pass all those people in a couple more miles.

Ease in, feel it out, and on your first interval, consider how you’re going to feel on the 8th round.

Avoid the trap and find that sustainable, repeatable pace. Just by doing that, your endurance will improve.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Maximum Stimulation Required

Right before starting a tough workout the other day, a friend teased me, and asked if we were allowed to put music on. I’ve written before about how I love running with no music, and even will do training sessions in the gym in silence. And the point everyone misses is that they think I hate music, or don’t realize that there are performance enhancing benefits to listening to it while training, which I’m well aware of.

The point I make of training without music, or just not caring what is playing, is because it’s skill set I’ve sharpened. In 2012 I was working at a strength and conditioning gym and commuting to college to finish up my final few credits. I headed to school early in the morning, hustled back to the gym to coach 3-7pm and then would get my training session in.

Even though I was in a new routine,  I carried on all my usual pre-training rituals like taking a scoop of pre-workout powder. After a while, I realized, why do I need to get so amped up just to workout? What’s the point of this? Can’t I get going without this pre workout drink and loud music that I’m constantly changing and tinkering with?

The same thing happened when I started running. When I started, AirPods weren’t so common. I had a strange configuration of wired ear buds, shorts with a specific pocket and a zipper, and the wire was always getting tangled up on me. Besides, I spent the whole time wanting to change the song or skip all of them all together.

With both the music and the pre workout, I realized that I had trained myself to need maximum stimulation to workout. I created barriers to entry. I needed loud music and a heroic dose of caffeine to get some bench press sets in. Instead of just being able to start. Through my high school and college years, training in a hyped up environment yielded results for me, and getting hyped up became the new daily baseline.

Prolonged exposure to the same stimulus dulled the effect, and before I knew it I needed two scoops of Jack3d 3D, or even louder music or needed to create the most perfect playlist.

I still have caffeine before I train. But I’ve stayed away for pre workout powder since this realization, and stopped listening to music while running, long ago. My point about being able to train without those things that I want to train a lot. I want to train for a long time. I want to train to be the best version of my self, and relying on specific, cranked up music and caffeine just to get moving was becoming a crutch, not a training aid. I wanted to get to a place where the environment didn’t matter, I wanted to be in control.

It’s not that I hate music, or think that training with it is bad. It’s just sometimes we use things as a crutch, or we need to get too hyped up. Once that happens, our baseline is thrown off and we start to require these amplified things get to a regular task done. You’re not always going to be able to pick the music, or have a normal pre workout routine. Sometimes you just need to be able to get the workout done and get on with your day, and that’s tough to do when maximum stimulation is required.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

3 Rounds, 4 Rounds, 5 Rounds...

The perfect training program doesn’t exist. Even the most experienced coaches can’t predict future when writing a program. How is someone going to feel? Are they’re going to be late? Do they have to hustle back to work for a meeting after the training session? Those things will all impact their workout and none of it is something we can plan for when writing a program.

These cases are the perfect opportunity to modify your plan. Going forward, I want you to take a look at your workout, and if you’re on a time crunch, or are always getting time capped, look at the program and decide what is going to have the biggest positive impact on you and contribute towards you goals.

Maybe that means cutting back a round or two of the accessory work so you can get to your conditioning finisher. Maybe it’s adding a round of your heavy movement since it look a while to get the form down. Maybe you need to prioritize doing a mobility cool down rather than some intervals or vise versa.

Our job as coaches is to help you make these designs and modify the plan if needed. Don’t ever feel like what’s written down is set in stone. Great coaches can modify on the fly, trim a workout down to the most important chunks, or make it more manageable to move through all the tasks with better efficiency.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Six Reasons to Squat Heavy

1. Build muscle

Muscle is cool because it promotes good physiological responses in your body, like better hormone production. Not to mention, it allows you to be strong, confident and independent.

2. Get strong

Strength is more about adaptations to your nervous system than your muscles. Through training, your nervous system will adapt to the load and you’ll get stronger. You’ll also improve your movement quality as your nervous system develops efficiency in sending signals, you’ll become more stable and in better control, and therefore, once again, stronger.

3. The original core exercise

Managing difficult weights requires good bracing. All your torso muscles work overdrive to stabilize your spine as your squat. Initially difficult, once this skill is developed, it will drastically improve understanding of force production.

4. It’s hard

Effort expends energy. It burns calories and makes you sleep better.

5. Bone Density

You need to load your skeleton to promote bone growth. This is crucial as you age, and equally important if you’re not old yet. Lay the foundation for strong bones now in your 20s and 30s so you’re not playing catch up in your 60s.

6. Mobility

If you don't squat, there's a chance you never take your ankles, knees and hips through a full range of motion. Squatting give us exposure to these positions, and squatting with a challenging load helps the body get into range of motion you otherwise wouldn't be able to. Over time, your range of motion will improve and your joints will be happy.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Weekly Podcast Recommendation

Andrew Huberman and Andy Galpin are at it again. This time covering all things nutrition and supplementation. They cover a lot of common topics we hear come up at the gym. Buckle up for a deep dive.

Huberman Lab Guest Series: Dr Andy Galpin - Optimal Nutrition & Supplementation for Fitness

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

My Great Invention

In 2012 I always had some kind of tightness around my shoulder blades and upper back. Laying on the ground I couldn’t quite get to the right spot. In order get the right angle, and dig in exactly where I wanted, I usually leaned up again the wall. The ball was pinned between my back and the wall. As you can imagine, I would drop the ball frequently.

One day, I had an idea. The mobility sock. I took one of the long socks I used to wear playing hockey. It would cover my whole shin and go up to my knee. I put a small, slightly squishy, baseball in there and the mobility sock was created. I was now able to hang on to the sock while leaning up against the wall and never drop the ball. This made it easier to manipulate the ball and hit all the right spots.

It was genius. Well, I thought it was at least. So much so that I felt like I needed to make this product and I needed someone to sell it because peopled needed it. Unfortunately for me, no one knew what mobility was back in 2012. Foam rolling wasn’t en vouge. You couldn’t walk into Walmart or TJ Max and find a section entirely dedicated to foam rollers, massage balls, stretching bands and the like. The massage gun was still years away from being invented!

In other words, the mobility sock was far ahead of its time. Had I known its time was coming, maybe I would have pursued product development a little harder. But it was hard and I was young, so I didn’t. I used the mobility sock for a couple years and got a lot of relief out of it. Since then, we’ve learned a lot better ways to mobilize soft tissues, and the mobility sock has been retired.

I’m telling you this story today because this weekend’s Mobility Class is all about the shoulders and thoracic spine, or upper back. If you work on a computer, text with your phone or ever get behind the wheel of a car, you need this class. Get involved HERE.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Recovery Game

Did you know that none of the strength and fitness gains you make happen while you’re at the gym?

Lifting weights and conditioning is actually a stressful on your body. You build strength and adapt when you’re away from the gym.

We stress the body in the gym, and in the couple of days after that, our body has physiological responses to the stress, and then it makes change, and adapts once it’s recovered.

Strength and conditioning is basically a game of recovery. Can you recover and come back stronger or are you just adding more and more stress to the system?

Using this logic, if the gym is stress, it’s in your best interest to do all the things that help your body recharge and recovery between bouts in the gym. Providing it enough calories with nutritious foods, getting adequate sleep, staying hydrated, mobilizing and getting enough movement in through non-exercise physical activity.

All the magic doesn’t happen in the gym, but while you’re recovering from the gym too.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

10 Workouts Under 10 Minutes

Coach Taylor just released his 10 Workouts Under 10 minutes in ebook.

This free resource is perfect for sneaking in an extra workout, or taking with you on the road when you won’t have access to a full gym.

The ebook is complete with full descriptions of workouts, a make your own warm up and even has video links to all the moves if you need a refresher.

You can download your own copy HERE.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Impossible

When was the last time you did something you didn’t think was possible?

Spending time in the gym gives us opportunities to do something we never thought we could.

Maybe it’s lifting a heavy weight, learning a new skill or carrying your paddle board off the roof rack and to the water all by your self. Maybe it’s a pain-free push up, getting off the floor smoothly and unassisted or the first time you deadlift the heaviest kettlebell in the gym.

Whatever it is, you’re capable of so much more than you ever thought. All it takes is a some consistent training and you too can shatter your former beliefs and do the impossible. Get to work.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Gym Lingo: EMOM

Every Minute On the Minute.

This style of workout requires focus on the clock. When doing an EMOM, you start your exercises on the top of the minute, and after completing the prescribed work, rest all the remaining time in the minute before starting the process over.

EMOM 10: 5 push ups

This means you’ll complete 5 push ups at the top of each minute, rest all the remaining time and start again at the top of the next minute. The way this is written, you would do this for 10 rounds, or 10 minutes. This is a nice way to challenges technique, build volume and sprinkle in some cardio while lifting.

Another variation of and EMOM can be with multiple exercises, with each movement getting their own minute.

EMOM 21:

Minute 1: 50 second machine

Minute 2: 10 kb swings

Minute 3: 50ft sled march

In this scenario, you would complete 7 rounds of the 3 movements equalling 21 minutes total. This style of workout builds work capacity and gets more difficult as minutes on the clock tick by. It’s a great way to be time efficient and cram a lot of work in while keeping yourself on a strict pace.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain