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.
New Week, New Month
We have a huge calendar on the wall in our office. It’s one of those “big ass calendars,” each month is in a row so you can easily see the whole year at a glance. Over the weekend I couldn’t help but stare at it with astonishment that we’re getting to be half way down the list.
That being said, what a great time to check in on your goals and progress and start thinking about the future.
What do you want to do this summer?
What about in the fall or winter?
What habits do you want to build or work on? Is there one that’s been on your mind for a while?
Today is a great day to get started, get to it!
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Friday Thoughts 36
Welcome to Friday Thoughts, let’s get into it. First up, and thank you from Taylor and Caroline.
Big news in the running world over the past week has been Spring Energy’s Awesome Sauce has been claiming the cinnamon apple sauce gels packing nearly twice as many calories as they actually are. Instead of the claimed 180 calories and 45g carbohydrate, independent testing found that it’s more like 75 calories and 15g of carbs. Yikes!
Some more rotational drills I’ve been playing with recently.
When the foam roller doesn't cut it, you need a friend like this.
Phone in kitchen. Alarm clock. Mobility in the living room. Lots of great takeaways in the video.
This is an April Fools joke I’m way late on, but a great video from Concept 2. Higher damper doesn’t mean better/harder rowing workout. It’s all about finding that efficient stroke (I usually row on a 4-5).
Lastly, huge shoutout to Peter S. who’s taking on the grand slam of ultra running this summer, running 4 of the country’s oldest 100-mile races in just a few months. He kicks it off at Old Dominion 100 tomorrow. Good luck Peter!
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Heaviest Ball in the Gym
In 2015 I learned something important about the human mind and how we create our own limitations.
Back then we only had two (lol) medicine balls at the gym. An 8 pound ball and a 12 pounder.
After a few months the 8 pound ball was looking beat up, but the 12 pounder looked brand new. If someone was waiting for the 8 pound ball, I would suggest they try their medicine ball slams with the 12 pound ball instead.
I can't do that, they would reply, it's the heaviest ball in the gym!
I bought another 8 pound ball. Soon both of the 8 pound balls were wearing down and the 12 pounder was still pristine.
This time, when it was time to order some new medicine balls, I bought a 20 pound and 14 pound ball.
Something funny happened.
Suddenly, the 12 pound ball was no longer the heaviest. People who wouldn't use the 12 started using the 14, since now it wasn't even close to the heaviest medicine ball in the gym.
The same thing happened with the kettlebells. No one would swing a 45 pound kettlebell when it was the heaviest one in here. But, once there were several heavier than that, more and more people started to swing the 45.
We need context for everything. Including figuring out our limitations and comfort zone.
Seeing the heaviest medicine ball in the gym can be intimidating. But it isn't intimidating when it's the second, or third heaviest.
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
10k Shirts Are In
A few weeks ago I was pressuring some of the early morning crew to sign up for the Market Square Day 10k, and one of them said, “Not unless I can get a t-shirt out of it.”
I ran with the idea and got Dri-fit style tees for anyone who’s participating.
The shirts are in, if you’re running and want one, just let me, Alex, or Taylor know the next time you’re in the gym. There are two fit options, unisex, which seems to run a little big, and there are some women’s cut sizes as well.
If you’re not running but interested in the shirt, let me know!
Justin MIner
@justinminergain
Back to It
What day is it?
Long weekends are awesome, they’re a great chance to break our normal routine and get out and do something different.
If you missed a workout or two, who cares?
I had a subpar weekend of training, but I got to log time with the kids, and even let Elliot talk me into going into the ocean. It was a little chilly.
Nevertheless, here’s your reminder that you won’t always be perfect, and getting back in the gym after a day or week off is hard.
Get back to it today or this week. If you don’t know where to start, start with the basics! Get out on walk, hit the gym, make a protein shake and drink some water.
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Friday Thoughts 35
Welcome to Friday Thoughts, happy Memorial Day Weekend, it’s the unofficial start of summer!
Please note will be closed on Monday for Memorial Day.
The Market Square Day 10k is coming up on June 8th! Check out this throwback photo from the first (and only) time I ran it in 2016. We have quite the GAIN crew signed up, and I’m looking forward to it in a couple weeks. Shirts for racers will be in next week. Speaking of shirts, check out that Arnold shirt!
I completely forgot about this shirt and decided it needed its own feature so you could see how amazing it is. I got it at THE Arnold in 2015.
There are a lot of gym acronyms, and we try not to overdo it, but I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw this. And btw, one leg SLDL is NOT a redundant,, it stands for: one leg straight leg deadlift (not one leg single leg deadlift).
This is hilarious, and why you should be very careful of who you’re taking advice from on the internet.
Last one, the garage door szn tees are sold out! If you want to get your hands on one, keep an eye out for the restock.
That’s all, enjoy the weekend!
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Pizza & Potluck, Thank You!
Thanks to everyone who came out and had a good time at the gym last night!
The honeymoon fund box will stay in the office for the rest of the week for anyone who couldn’t make it last night and wants to contribute.
Thanks again, and stay hydrated today, people!
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Running Workouts with Graphs Pt. 3
Wednesday 5/15
4 sets
600m @ hard effort
600m @ recovery effort
I live on a hill. For this workout, I ran to the bottom, ran up, down the other side, and to the stop sign connecting the other street. I ran to the sign hard, and back to my starting spot as easy as I wanted. The goal was to push hard up the hill, and maintain that discomfort on the other side. This was a fun one. Afterwards, I thought, you can run intervals for time, for distance, or maybe the best way, just pick a spot to run to and back, which you’ll see more of this week.
5/15 PM
Run 30 min @ easy pace
That afternoon I headed to one of my all time favorite running spots, Stratham Hill Park. Clem and I did a quick 30 minutes in, but it was hot so she mostly wanted to swim.
Thursday 5/16
3 sets
2000m @ hard/sustainable pace
-rest till 120bpm-
This was a repeat from the previous week. I wanted to get faster on all 3 since I felt like I held back last week. I was nervous for my first fast, long intervals. All 3 intervals ended up being faster, and I was really tight on the rest (<90 sec), once again forcing this leg pump. While I ran these faster, I’ve still got some speed left on the table. I should also note, this route is a little less than 2k, but it’s another stop sign that I run to in the neighborhood, and generally the “flattest,” course.
Friday 5/17
3 sets
1 mile @ repeatable pace w hard effort
-rest till 100bpm-
After yesterday’s workout I was feeling slow and old, like maybe my fastest mile time from 2019 is completely out of reach since I’m 5 years older and walking around with more muscle mass. I complained to Taylor and he wasn’t buying it, so I decided to try some fast mile repeats, once again on a tight rest to really spend some quality time with a high heart rate. This ended up being a big confidence boost workout. I wanted a 4th round, but I was pretty taxed, and it felt like I would have slowed down too much on that last one to be very productive.
Sunday 5/19
Stonehouse Loop 7.5 miles, 1000ft
This trailhead is 1 mile away from my house, so it’s one of my test pieces that I give a go once or twice a year. The trick wit this run is that despite the biggest climb being 3.5 miles in, the trailhead is at almost the same elevation as that hill, so the last mile is unforgiving, and I tend to not leave enough juice in the tank to finish strong. While I’m nowhere near 2020, and 2021 Justin’s times, I’m within a couple minutes of last year’s, with a lower average heart rate.
Tuesday 5/21
18 sets
Every minutes on the minute:
Run 120 yards (whole length of football field)
This was more of a skill session than a brutal heart rate workout. I wanted to work on my technique; get the legs turning over fast, make sure my hamstrings are firing, and establish a good breathing rhythm. It was also a chance to get out in the heat with low expectation of performance. I wanted 20 rounds, but I was losing the pace towards the end, and beginning to slow down. I started running easy with the intent of getting faster every few round as I warmed up more. I’ll put my cadence graph in here too. Part of more leg turnover is maintaining a higher cadence, or foot strikes. I was happy to see some purple in there. Fun workout, and a good way to ease into the rest of the training week.
Off to run some hills!
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
I Don't Know Who Needs to Hear This...
Every day I see people pull out their iPhone and swipe through home screens filled with apps looking for TrueCoach or PushPress.
But there’s a better way!
Whenever you’re looking for any app on your phone, swipe down from the middle of your home screen and 4-8 suggested apps will appear. Nine times out of ten, exactly what you’re looking for will already be there. If it isn’t, type the first letter of the app. Honestly, if you’re anywhere near the right key on the keyboard, the app you’re looking for will appear.
Give it a shot!
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Pizza & Potluck, Final Reminder
Pizza and Potluck is on Wednesday at 5:30pm!
We’ll have a honeymoon fund jar for the soon-to-be newly weds, tons of pizza, food and drinks.
Looking like great weather on Wednesday afternoon, see you all then!
Justin MIner
@justinminergain
Friday Thoughts 32
Market Square Day 10k. If you run it, I’ll give you a GAIN shirt for free! They’re a dry-fit style similar to ones we have done in the past. If you aren’t running the race, shirts will be available to purchase.
Speaking of shirts, the highly anticipated Garage Door Szn tee will be available next week. Keep an eye on Instagram to get a sneak peak of how they came out.
Pizza & Potluck: Wednesday May 22nd at 5:30pm! Lots of you have signed up to bring something, we’re looking forward to a fun night hanging out at the gym celebrating Taylor and Caroline.
A couple people sent me this video from Dr. Rhonda Patrick. Move more! Not only are there blood sugar benefits, this method also feeds your ankles, knees and hips a nice full range of motion serval times throughout the day. Awesome!
Another all time great video from these two. All too common advice is that your knees should NEVER go past your toes. As with most things, it’s a little more complicated than that, and often times someone can’t do it simply because they stopped doing it for a long time. You can train with a vertical shin and avoid any discomfort, but overtime we want to strive for the ability to move the shin forward to make things like walking downstairs easier.
I never understood this until I tried it. I always wrote it off because it looked complicated, but it locks my foot in much better, and I never have to adjust my shoes 20 minutes into a run like I used to have to.
Until next week!
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Strength and Conditioning Basics
Let’s define some common terms you’ll hear in the strength training world.
Strength - Adaptation intended to improve force production. Usually between 2-8 reps, or 20-30 total repetitions. Rest 90 sec-3 min between sets. Aim for the last two reps of your set to be challenging to get the most strength gains.
Power - A strength display with speed! Power is about generating as much force in as little time. Power training comes in many contexts, medicine balls, olympic lifts, jumping and we can even focus on it with a barbell or kettlebell. We aim for 2-5 reps and multiple sets at the same intensity, i.e., don't slow down.
Hypertrophy - Muscle building sets. Higher rep ranges between 8-12 reps. We like these sets for joint and tendon health and getting the blood pumping. Less rest is required here compared to strength sets.
Muscular Endurance - Even higher rep ranges, 12+. Does what it sounds like, improves the ability for your muscles to keep doing the same thing. We'll expose you to high rep ranges like this within the context of conditioning with little to no rest.
Accessory/Assistance - Not necessarily something we need to strive for load/rep progression. Often times it is an exercise to help a main strength lift, like doing some DB floor presses after benching. Of course, this means accessory work is ALSO hypertrophy and/or muscular endurance, and/or even strength.
There is no clean line between these different rep ranges - the training effect will blurs between them.
Skill - A component of all the above. Movement and awareness of your body is a skill. Specific technique of each exercise is a skill. Showing up to the gym and training consistently is a skill. Strength and conditioning gyms are skill factories.
Mobility - You have the requisite range of motion to do something, which is how we define flexibility, and you also have the stability to display control there - that’s mobility. Consistent exposure to valuable positions is the best way to improve mobility.
Conditioning - Creating adaptations using specific metabolic pathways intended to improve endurance and stamina at both moderate to low intensities and very high intensities.
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
More Running Workouts with Graphs
Friday 5/3
60 min trail run
25 min warm up
4 sets
90 sec uphill run @ hard pace
-rest 1:30-2mins-
20 min easy run cool down
Total: 5 miles, 1100ft
When I first started running, I did a lot of hill running, and it helped me become a strong runner and hiker. For the past 5 or so years, however, I haven’t pushed hills hard like I did when I first started, mostly because in the context of the things I like to do, I hike up the hills, not run. The Mount Washington Auto Road Race will be a different ball game though, and I’ll want to be able to run (as well as hike) up the hill and keep moving.
For the recoveries, I was walking/jogging down easy, and would wait until my heart rate dropped to about 120bpm.
Tuesday 5/7
60 min run
20 min warm up
4 sets:
45 sec uphill @ hard pace
90 sec- 2 min recovery (till 125bpm)
30 min @ easy cool down
Total: 4 miles, 1400ft
This was my more refined attempt at the workout above. I wanted to try cutting the work time in half and see if I could charge a bit harder uphill. I focused on staying tall and not hunching my shoulders. I needed a few more sets and a bit longer rest between these to get a little more from it.
Thursday 5/8
1 hour 20 minute run
3 sets (on road)
2000m @ steady/sustainable pace
-rest 2 mins-
50 min trail run @ easy pace
Total: 7 miles, 1100ft
I’ve been hiding on the trails and avoid getting out on a smooth flat surface to open the legs up a bit. I kept it conservative today to not beat the legs up too bad. Holding the paces I held felt easy and I recovered quickly. This was a big leg pump for me though, and was a great stamina builder for my legs. I ran each interval at a negative split, and was just happy I didn’t go too fast on the first one.
Monday 5/13
Parker Mountain, standard lap
3.6 miles, 800ft
What I consider a standard lap at Parker is to the summit, then down the ridge to a lookout over Bow Lake and back. I was feeling good this day so I decided to push it hard right from the get go. The hard part about Parker though is that it’s straight up right from the trailhead. As evidenced here by the early spike. I decided to just keep moving a little faster than I wanted to. I finished in about my average for the loop, 50 mins. The big dip in the middle was from taking in the view at the turn around.
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
April by the Numbers
Each month I look back and check in on some of the data that I passively collect, like steps and sleep, and then I take a look at my training log and count how many workouts I did. It’s a nice check in, and I’m usually on top of it, but here we are two weeks into May looking back at April.
Steps: 249,828 total for a daily average of 8,327.
Over 1000 more than last month, showing that my shift into running definitely has me moving more. With warmer weather here, and more playing in the yard and yard work to do, I expect this number to keep climbing.
Sleep: 7 hour 12 minutes average.
After staying the same for a few months, 7 hours 20 minutes, this is trending downward, and Clementine is to blame. She’s been waking me up early to go outside and once I’m up, I’m up. Getting into bed and reading however, still going strong to get me into bed sooner. I got 8+ hours 5 times, the same as March. Also this one night when I was sick must have skewed my average!
Workouts: 20.
I shifted to running the day after the weightlifting meet. I like training a lot, doing a little bit everyday or even a little in the morning and the afternoon. Training for weightlifting didn’t allow me to do that as much, since it was hard to warm up for and build up in weights. Going forward I’ll be increasing my frequency.
I hope this inspires you to look back and check in on any health/fitness/lifestyle data that you may be collecting. Notice any trends and come up with some ideas on how to adjust moving forward.
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Three KB Swing Tips
Use these 3 tips to make sure you’re getting the most of your kettlebell swing.
1. Exhale at the top
Breathe in when the kettlebell falls, and use a sharp exhale at the top while squeezing the handle, your butt and your belly. Imagine you’re holding a plank at the top, with shoulders over hips, no leaning back!
2. Break the handle
Speaking of squeezing the handle. At the top, squeeze hard and twist your pinkies down. You'll feel it from your wrists to your shoulders, arm pits and upper back. This added tension will connect your arms to the kettlebell and make it feel much smoother. As you breathe in on the way down, briefly relax your grip before the next rep.
3. Spread the floor
But not too much. Screw your feet into the ground to create tension. When the kettlebell falls, push your knees apart from one another ever so slightly. Don't go so much you're on the outside of your feet though. Keep your toes on the ground and push through your mid foot as you snap the kettlebell to the top. If you tend to get into your heels when you swing, try ditching your shoes to feel more stable.
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Friday Thoughts 33
Welcome to this week’s Friday Thoughts, enjoy!
I had a conversation with a couple people this week about not letting the hips close like this while running. Watch how much smoother her stride goes when she stops hunching over and gets tall.
This is such a good strategy. During long runs, I often find myself doing math about how far I’ve gone, or how far till the next checkpoint/trail junction/aid station, etc. When I do really long runs, I display “Lap Distance,” rather than total distance on my main watch face. This was I can focus on smaller chunks of the day and just getting to the next place.
Please don’t forget to use your grape scissors, people!
We tried this recently with frozen mango and it was okay, but I haven’t been in a rush to make it again. More because I tend to make a big mess with the food processor than how it tasted. Nonetheless, my favorite comment on the post: “That’s not ice cream it’s frozen cottage cheese and blueberries.”
That’s all for this week. Have a great day!
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Leave Room for Improvement
I had several clients start new program this week.
My advice to many of them was: leave room for improvement.
When you’re on the first week of a plan, and everything feels new and exciting, it can be easy to do too much.
Even when it goes well, it can come back to bite you.
Here are a couple of examples of leaving room to improve.
A. Deadlift x5, building to challenging set in 5-7 sets
On week one, don’t go to the heaviest weight you can do, leave room for next week and see what happens. More than heroic efforts, we want replicable efforts. I fell into this trap a lot while olympic weightlifting. I would crush some big weight on week 1 of my plan, but when week 2 and 3 rolled around and I needed to repeat those weights it felt impossible. As I gained more experience, I learned to take 10% off of what I could do the first week, and build on it in the coming weeks.
B. 3-5 rounds of:
8/s split squat
10/s one arm db row
8b low plank hold
When you see a range for rounds, you don’t have to do the highest number! On week one, maybe you do 3 rounds, everything else will likely take longer too, so this option should take the pressure off of cramming too much in. In the coming weeks, you can add these rounds to increase overall volume.
Conditioning
10-12 sets:
30 sec @ fast pace
30 sec @ slow pace
On an interval day, or even a finisher at the end of a workout, we’ll sometime leave a range too. Start low on this and add rounds each week. You can also use the first week to gauge proper intensities or paces on your machine of choice. You can leave room to improve with volume or intensity (speed of the interval), or even both. So many ways to progress!
The name of the game here is to realize it’s not just one workout that’s important, but all of them compounded over time. The more sessions you get, even with less volume or intensity, the better you’re doing, period. Once you start leaving room for improvement, you’re playing the long game!
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Pizza & Potluck - May 22nd
Join us to celebrate the soon-to-be newlyweds, Taylor and Caroline, on Wednesday May 22nd at 5:30pm at GAIN.
There’s a sign up sheet on the whiteboard near the garage door for you to put what you’ll bring to the party. I’ll be supplying the pizza, so think appetizers or desserts.
In lieu of gifts, we’ll have a honeymoon collection fund at the party.
Mark your calendars, we’re looking forward to a good time!
Wednesday May 22nd
5:30pm at GAIN
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
C2 Bike vs. AirBike
We love conditioning at the gym, and the machines are a fantastic way to log some time building your aerobic fitness. You may have noticed that we have two types of bikes in our cardio corner. While these machines are both in fact bikes, they’re much different.
The Concept 2 BikeErg, or the C2 bike as we call it, is one of the newer machines we have at the gym. We got the first two in 2021 and fell in love. This bike fit feels like you’re on a road bike. There are tons of small adjustments you can make to get the right fit. This bike operates by a flywheel, and you can control how much air gets in via the damper, which is like changing gears on a real bike. This bike is great for longer, steady rides and it’s easy to find a comfortable pace.
The AirBike is a more simple yet diabolical machine. There are less adjustments to make, the seat is a little cushier, but feels like you’re always sliding off it. There are no gears to choose, instead, this bike uses a big fan that creates wind resistance. The faster you pedal, the more resistance there is. This bike challenging because you need to use all 4 limbs, since your arms are involved too, it can be easy to overwhelm your body. The beauty of this bike is that it teaches intensity very quickly. They’re sturdy, rugged and ready for high intensity workouts, but it’s tough to steady cruise when compared to the c2 bike.
There are two subcategories of AirBikes. The Assault Fitness AirBike is chain-driven, and feels a bit more like a bike when pedaling. The Rogue Echo Bike, is the beefier of the machines and is belt-driven, it feels heavier but smoother. They operate the same way, but each feels and fits a little different, be sure to try them both to see which you prefer. I prefer the chain of the classic AirBike, but tend to change my mind throughout the year.
If I had to choose…. Luckily I don’t have to, and I’ll stick with both. They both have their place, and different people gravitate towards the different bikes because they feel more comfortable to ride - which is probably the most important consideration. The other thing to consider, is which one you already have a preference for? Always grab the c2 on interval day? Shake it up this week and take the AirBike for a spin!
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Never Did I Ever
Never did I ever think I would be crewing my wife Hannah at a trail race. But that’s exactly what happened this weekend. Hannah, and a handful of other GAIN people took on the Big A 50k course at Mount Agamenticus in Maine.
Many runners took on 3 loops for a full 50k, and some like Hannah, did two loops of the course for a solid 20ish miles with plenty of climbing on technical trails. It was her longest run ever!
The beauty of trail running (and of the gym) is that it can take you places you didn’t think you could go. It can show you that you can to things you thought were impossible.
Hannah, I’m proud of you for sticking to the plan, having big goals and going for it. Congrats to everyone else who took on that tough course this weekend!
Justin Miner
@justinminergain