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 113
Greetings! Welcome to this week’s edition of Friday Thoughts, where I share what’s been on my mind this week. Let’s get into it.
Daily Walking Challenge Check In
Day 18 of the walking challenge. Frigid temps and snow will challenge everyone in the coming days. Dress in layers, and remember the old hiking adage; be bold, start cold, or you’ll be sweating profusely in 10 minutes.
Walk & Coffee
Mark your calendars! Saturday January 31st at 8am—45 minute group walk followed by coffee, espresso and hot chocolate catered by Espresso Dave!
Speaking of walking streaks
Earlier this week Hannah hit 600 days in a row of 10k daily steps. In 2025, she averaged more daily steps than me—the only person I know who beat my 4.1 million steps! She accumulated in at 4.7 million, or about 13k daily. And yes, I’ve tried to get her to quit multiple times. When it was causing stress or I felt like she needed a total rest day. She just keeps chugging along though, in one of the most impressive feats of consistency I’ve ever seen.
Kettlebell Growth
My instagram flash back earlier this week was a picture of our original 3 kettlebells. A 25, 35 and 45 that I bought at Dick’s Sporting Goods. We’re up to 52—I counted last night. Including one of my prized possessions, the 203 pounder that costs more in shipping fees than the kettlebell itself is worth. And yes, some people occasionally use it, here’s a video of me swinging it a couple years ago.
Eight-Unders
Chris Poulin, I expect you to be able to this by next winter.
Stay warm out there and see you in the gym!
—Justin Miner
Mainstream protein
Everybody knows that protein is good for you. Most people understand that it plays important roles, like building muscle and helping your body recover from exercise. Over the past year, though, protein has become the new “gluten-free” label.
Remember when things like peanut butter, eggs, and oatmeal—all of which never had gluten—started proudly advertising gluten free on the package? We’re doing the same thing with protein now.
There’s high-protein pizza, pasta, bagels, bread, and yes… even water.
But being surrounded by protein-rich foods doesn’t automatically make you better at eating protein. And that’s why I don’t think protein’s trending status is actually helping most people get more of it.
The most effective way to eat more protein is much less exciting: figure out what you’re already eating in a normal day.
To do that, you have to track it using an app, ChatGPT, or, like I had to do in my college nutrition classes, by reading nutrition labels and doing the math.
Once you know that number, then “I need to eat more protein” becomes a real, actionable goal.
Because if you Google how much protein you should be eating, you’ll find recommendations anywhere from 0.6 to 1.1 grams per pound of bodyweight. Without knowing your current intake, that range is meaningless. There’s no context.
Instead, set a target that’s close to what you’re already averaging. Don’t try to jump from 75 grams straight to 150. Meet it in the middle and build up gradually.
When you consistently get protein at every meal, healthy eating gets easier and easier. But before you chase the latest high-protein product, you need to do a little homework and figure out how much protein you’re actually eating each day.
—Justin Miner
GAIN EVENT: WALK & COFFEE feat. brass tacks and espresso dave
We’re in the thick of our walking challenge, and with the cold temps sticking around, a little extra motivation never hurts. To help get everyone out the door, we’re hosting a GAIN group walk—followed by coffee. All the details are below. Hope you can join us.
What:
A 45-minute, about 2-mile walk around downtown Portsmouth with your gym friends, followed by catered coffee, espresso, and hot chocolate from Espresso Dave.
When:
Saturday, January 31, 8–10am
Meet at the studio at 8:00am (plan ahead for parking). We’ll head out for our loop at 8:15am—rain or shine—then come back for coffee and hangs inside Andrea’s photo studio.
Where:
Brass Tacks Photography Studio
78 Fleet Street, Portsmouth, NH
Who:
You, family, friends, kids—everyone’s welcome. Bring them along and let’s have a good time.
How:
SIGN UP HERE so we can get a head count. You can also sign up on the PushPress App under “Events.”
Looking forward to it!
—Justin Miner
Maximum Stimulation Required
Right before starting a workout the other day, a friend teased me and asked if we were going to put music on. I’ve written before about how I love running with no music, and I’ll sometimes train in the gym with nothing on the speakers. Everyone assumes I hate music, or that I don’t realize listening to music while lifting can have performance-enhancing benefits.
In 2012, I was working at a gym and commuting an hour to school to finish my final college credits. I would head to school early in the morning, hustle back to the gym to coach for a few hours, and then try to squeeze in my own workout.
Back then, I took a scoop of pre-workout powder before every session. Even with the caffeine, these workouts often went poorly. Eventually, I had a realization: why did I need to get so amped up just to train? What was the point? Why couldn’t I just lift without extra caffeine and loud music that I was constantly fiddling with?
The same thing happened when I started running. AirPods didn’t exist yet. I had wired earbuds, shorts with a very specific pocket and zipper, and the cord was always getting tangled. I spent most of the run wanting to change the song or skip tracks altogether. The entire run became preoccupied with finding the “perfect” song.
I had created barriers to entry. I needed maximum stimulation. I needed loud music and a heroic dose of caffeine just to get through a few sets of bench press. Instead of simply starting, I relied on external hype.
Over time, training in a highly stimulated environment did produce results, and that became the norm. But prolonged exposure dulled the effect. Before I knew it, one scoop of Jack3d wasn’t enough, and neither was a decent playlist. I needed more of everything.
I’ve stayed away from pre-workout powders since that realization, and I stopped listening to music while running long ago. My goal is not to train without these things just to be stubborn. My goal is to train a lot. To train for a long time.
Relying on cranked-up music and caffeine just to get moving had become a crutch rather than a training aid. I wanted to reach a place where the environment didn’t matter, where I was in control.
You won’t always get to choose the music or have your ideal pre-workout routine. Sometimes you just need to get the workout done and move on with your day. That becomes very difficult when maximum stimulation is required.
—Justin Miner
Monday Check In
Happy Monday!
Sunset is at 4:39pm today.
It’s about 30 minutes more daylight than we had on the Winter Solstice.
I know it’s been slowly happening, but it felt sudden. One day it was dark at the start of the 4pm class and the next the sun was still hanging in the sky.
The gym is open normal hours today and it’s day 15 of the Walking Challenge!
—Justin Miner
friday thoughts 112
Greetings! Welcome to this week’s edition of Friday Thoughts, where I share what’s been on my mind this week. Let’s get into it.
GAIN Group Walk
As part of the Daily Walking Challenge, we’re doing a GAIN group walk with a post-walk coffee hangout — Saturday, January 31. Mark your calendars.
Lottery Winner
For the first time, I put my name into the Vermont 100 entry lottery and got selected for the 100k. I’ll be running 62 miles on July 18 and it will be my longest run ever.
Vermont is a rolling course with lots of ups and downs, but nothing too technical. It’s very runnable, and that’s part of the appeal. Training for this will be different than other ultras I’ve done because the course is mostly gravel roads and fields, versus steep, technical climbs.
The VT 100 is also unique in that it’s the only 100-mile race that still has an equine category. The older 100s, like Vermont (started in 1989), have their roots in horse racing. Everyone I know who has run it says the horses are one of the best parts of the race.
Speaking of 100k
The difference between these two shoes is crazy. You may call me crazy, but I’m only interested in running in something closer to the old shoe. Sure, we’re faster than ever before, but I can’t help but think these types of running shoes are moving us in the wrong direction — away from being better runners who are connected to their bodies and understand how to move.
1 Rep Every 7 Seconds × 24 Hours
I talk about this idea all the time: how many total pounds you move in a session. Expanding that idea out to 24 hours is insane.
Lifting 155 pounds one rep every seven seconds for 24 hours adds up to 1.8 million pounds.
For some perspective, deadlifting 225 pounds for 8 sets of 3 is only 5,400 pounds.
Even 30 reps at 315 pounds comes in just shy of 10,000 pounds.
That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the gym.
— Justin Miner
Movement Patterns and programs
The fundamental movement patterns are a collection of shapes and positions that our bodies can make.
When creating a training program, I use these fundamental movement patterns to guide exercise selection.
Fundamental Movement Patterns:
Squat
Hinge
Push (horizontal / vertical)
Pull (horizontal / vertical)
Single Leg (hip dominant / knee dominant)
Core / Carry / Throw
As a general framework, I aim for clients to hit each movement pattern every workout. This ensures we are exposing our bodies to the appropriate ranges of motion and properly working all the major muscles.
This classification makes it easy for us to individualize training plans. We can work around an injury or customize a program for a specific goal.
Pressing aggravates your shoulder? Let’s dial that knob back. Maybe once per week is enough with the right variation, or maybe we cut it altogether for a period of time.
Lunges bug your knee? We can focus on more hip-dominant single-leg movements instead and revisit quad-dominant work in a month or two.
Want a bigger bench press? We can turn up the volume and press more frequently.
Keep in mind, these are not exercises themselves. They are classifications of movement. Specific exercises are derived from these patterns and shapes.
—Justin Miner
Streaks and Starting anew
This inevitably happens during the Daily Walking Challenge or any streak based habit you’re trying to do everyday.
You miss a day.
Now what?
Keep going!
While you’ve lost your streak, starting again is the more important aspect of this. It’s the real challenge.
Someone once told me this in regard to their meditation practice. They had a 91 day streak, missed a day and then a 149 day streak.
People call me overly optimistic sometimes, but these numbers don’t lie. What’s more impressive? A 91 day streak and stopping all together or 239 out of 240 days?
The walking streak is cool, but starting again after missing a day or two is even more important. The goal isn’t to walk perfectly, it’s to walk more and build a lasting habit. Stick with it!
—Justin Miner
IMprove your Push ups
Push ups are frustrating. On one hand, they are a simple exercise, require no equipment, and are something most people in the world are familiar with. Because of that, many people assume they should be able to do them easily. However, push ups require a lot of strength, technique, and practice.
Eventually, poor technique will halt your progress. Whether your shoulders start to feel achy or you have plateaued and cannot add more reps, it is likely that both strength and technique are the issue.
Here is a checklist to make sure you are doing everything possible to build the strength and technique required for big sets of perfect push ups.
They should be hard, but not too hard
Reaching failure is a sure way to stall progress. We want you to use a variation that is challenging enough to complete the prescribed reps, but not so difficult that it leads to frequent misses or sloppy technique. When you train to failure, your body does not adapt as well. Whatever the target reps are, always try to leave one or two reps in the tank. This concept is called reps in reserve, and knowing your RIR is a high-level gym skill.
Frequency
If push ups are really on your mind, talk to your coach about adding an additional day to get more reps in. One day should be hard, with grinder reps focused on increasing difficulty and building strength. The other day should be an easy, volume-building day where you complete 40 to 50 reps using a variation that feels comfortable.
Place a premium on accessory movements
A push up is essentially a plank where you bend your arms. Seriously, think about that. Lock in your plank technique, grip the ground, engage your glutes, use your upper back, breathe with intention, and recognize that the more robust you are here, the better your push ups will be.
Mobilize your wrists
If your wrists are stiff, they can place extra stress on your shoulders during push ups. Stretching them before your sets can make a significant difference. Sometimes this alone is enough to unlock better technique.
Even if you never achieve a push up on the floor, pursuing one is still a worthwhile training goal. It builds total body strength, awareness, and control.
—Justin Miner
Monday Check In
Happy Monday!
We made an official ruling at the gym on Friday: It’s now too late to say Happy New Year. Once January climbs to double digits it’s time to say farewell to the new year’s greeting.
Leaving the grocery store last night I was pleased to see the sun still lingering in the sky after 4pm.
I know we’re in the thick of winter, but a couple warmer days and more sunlight was really nice.
It’s the start of week 2 on the daily walking challenge and the weather is looking great for some walking this week now that most of the slippy stuff from last week is melted.
Second full week of the year, keep the momentum going!
—Justin Miner
Friday Thoughts 111
Welcome to this week’s edition of Friday Thoughts, where I share what’s been on my mind lately. Let’s get into it!
Walking Challenge Day 5
We managed to get slippery ice day and a warm sunny day both on the first week of the Daily Walking Challenge. The first weekend always presents a challenge, stick with it and get out there!
More 2025 By The Numbers
Here are some other things I tallied up while researching for my 2025 By The Numbers.
Locke Trail Loop - CCW: 11 loops
This is a segment I made on Strava years ago. I ran it at least 11 times, in the counterclockwise direction, and at least 5 times in the clockwise direction. The CCW version is more aesthetic, and gets the big climb out the way first—which is why I prefer it. I set a big PR on this loop in September and haven’t done the full thing since.
Stratham Hill Park Visits: 22
I had at least 22 visits to Stratham Hill Park. When I started a new coaching schedule this summer, I committed to get there at least once a week for some training and outside time, and I would say it paid off. I’m tracking my visits to the park by looking at the “Kitty Rock Down” segment—I always include this trail when running there.
Parker Mountain Summit: 20?
I climbed Parker Mountain in Strafford at least 20 times. Definitely 15 from the main trail plus a handful from the other side or the town forest and a few double climb days too.
I find it interesting that the 3 places I run the most are all about equal in visits throughout the year.
NH 4000 Footers: I climbed Washington, Tecumseh, Osceolas, and the Tripyramids for 6 on the year. And finished my 48 on Tecumseh!
Books: Apple Books hit me with a yearly recap and I couldn’t believe it. I read more than ever this year, and it was totally because I found a bunch of books I really liked. I read about 35 books last year. All of them fiction, except one nonfiction written by GAIN Member Zorana, The Creativity Choice.
All my other fiction books were in the sci-fi/fantasy genre. I started out with a classic, Hyperion, which Kelly Starrett talked me into after I said I couldn’t get into it. I followed that with a head first dive into Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere books, about 18 of them. Stormlght Archive and Mistborn being amongst my favorites.
GAIN ATTENDANCE
Top 10 Check Ins 2025:
Jay P. - 228
Nancy Q. - 224
Jeff H. - 198
Adam M. - 189
Riley S. - 182
Robert L. - 178
Robin N. - 174
Ed G. - 170
Kendall B - 163
Marc S - 154
Speaking of Reading
Ironically enjoy this short-form social media post about how we don’t consume anything long-form any more.
Thanks for reading, see you in the gym!
—Justin Miner
2025 By The Numbers
Greetings! It’s time for the yearly edition of By The Numbers.
Each month, I reflect on workouts, sleep stats, and steps. At the end of the year, those monthly snapshots turn into a long-term view of trends:
Am I getting roughly the same number of steps year to year?
How’s my sleep trending over time?
What does my training volume actually look like across an entire year?
Let’s get into it.
Steps
Total Steps: 4,159,365
Daily Average: 11,396
Four million steps.
That’s about 290,000 more steps in 2025 than 2024—basically an entire extra month of walking, or roughly 800 extra steps per day across the year.
Put another way: I could have taken 50 zero-step days and still averaged 10,000 steps per day for the year.
Biggest day: August 12 — MMD 50K with ~75,000 steps
Highest month: July (both 2024 and 2025), ~465,000 steps
Lowest month: March, ~245,000 steps
My intuition was that I walked more this year, but I didn’t expect the gap to be this large. My best guess is that the extra steps came from a lot of small things adding up: more bus-stop walks, more time on the gym floor, and generally moving a bit more throughout the day.
Sleep
Average Sleep Score: 78
Average Sleep Duration: 6:53
Sleep data is harder to analyze long-term than steps. My sleep score history only goes back to November 2024, whereas I can track steps all the way back to 2019. That’s an interesting note when analyzing the data.
Overall, sleep was pretty solid for most of the year. I did have a 6–8 week stretch of poorer sleep, where my average score dipped to about 73. Not disastrous, but noticeable compared to the rest of the year.
After that stretch, the data becomes far less erratic. The line smooths out, which mirrors how much more consistent I became with sleep habits once I realized things were slipping.
Workouts
Total Workouts: 312
(Lifting, running, intervals, etc.)
Average: ~26 workouts per month
Frequency: ~6x per week
Running (2025)
Miles: 612
Time: 126 hours, 24 minutes
Vertical Gain: 85,091 ft
Running (2024 comparison)
Miles: 673
Time: 139 hours
Vertical Gain: 111,738 ft
I thought I might edge out last year’s mileage, but in hindsight it makes sense that I didn’t. In 2024, I ran a 50-mile race and completed a 50-something-day run streak leading into it. Logging 50 miles in a single day is a huge spike compared to a more evenly distributed training year.
This year’s training was more productive and focused. I shifted my attention toward shorter races and getting faster. That meant more time on the track, more road running, and lots and lots of hills.
The single most impactful thing I did for my running this year was Fast Mile Summer, where I ran a 5:30.5 mile.
2025 Race Calendar
Sunapee Scramble — June 1
Mount Washington Road Race — June 15 (DNS, but trained heavily for it)
Loon Mountain Race — July 13
1-Mile Time Trial — August 8
MMD 50K — August 10
Vulcan’s Fury Half Marathon — October 12
Great Bay 5K (time trial) — October 23
It was genuinely fun to dig into all this data and reflect on the year as a whole. 2025 was a great year of training, and having the numbers makes that clear without relying on memory alone.
I’m looking forward to seeing what this next year brings.
— Justin Miner
New Goals? Write it down
Have new goals on your mind in the new year?
This might sound too simple, but here’s a habit that will help you stick with your goals: write them down.
Putting it down on paper solidifies the goal in ways that your just your mind can’t. It makes it feel real.
If you’re charging into the year with a walking streak on your mind, thinking about another gym day or want to start running a little more—write it down and proclaim it’s your goal.
—Justin Miner
December by the Numbers
Welcome to this month’s edition of By The Numbers, where I break down data from my watch and training log to reflect on the past month.
Each month, I track a few simple metrics—average sleep, daily steps, and total workouts. I’ve been doing this consistently for over two years, and it’s become one of the most useful tools I have for spotting trends, holding myself accountable, and fine-tuning habits. I highly recommend building a practice like this into your own routine.
Let’s get into it.
Steps
Total: 343,351
Daily Average: 11,076
A nice comeback from November, with about 60,000 more total steps this month. December also helped solidify another full year averaging over 10,000 steps per day.
Somehow, December included my longest 10k-step streak of the year at 12 consecutive days. Not exactly a massive streak, but honestly, I’m not even sure how it happened.
Sleep
Average Sleep Duration: 6 hours, 45 minutes
Average Sleep Score: 79
HRV:
7-day average: 56 ms
Overnight average: 71 ms
Overall, a good month of sleep. I hit my highest sleep score of the year (91) twice in December. I still can’t seem to get past that number, but I’ve noticed that when I’m consistently getting up at the same time, my sleep scores tend to follow.
HRV dipped slightly right after Thanksgiving during the first few days of the month, then stayed right at baseline for most of December—except for one day when it jumped above my baseline range. That was the first time I showed as “unbalanced” due to too much variability, which caught my attention. I’d always assumed more variability was better.
Workouts
Total Workouts: 15
Runs: 8
Lift: 4
AirBike: 2
Sled: 1
I took the sled out for 37 laps on my birthday, my first b-day sled in 4 years.
Overall, enthusiasm to train has been a bit lackluster. I’ve been getting out for trail runs and genuinely enjoying them, but lifting has been harder to get into a rhythm with. Right now, I’m trying to focus on checking the box—getting the work done with minimal fanfare and trusting consistency over motivation.
Final Thoughts
Thanks for reading along. As always, I encourage you to build a monthly reflection practice like this into your routine. It’s one of the simplest and most effective ways to keep your health, fitness, and daily habits moving in the right direction over the long haul.
— Justin Miner
Monday Check In / Daily walking Challenge
Happy New Year!
I’m excited to get back into a normal swing of things.
Each year in January I hit the reset button on many peoples’ programs and you may notice it on your this week.
It’s a chance to get back to the basics and revisit some movements and structures we haven’t done in a while.
It reminds me of this excellent Greg Glassman quote:
“Stick to the basics and when you feel you've mastered them it's time to start all over again, begin anew - again with the basics - this time paying closer attention.”
In other news, our Daily Walking Challenge starts today—sign up with this link and get to stepping. 20 minutes everyday for the next 30 days.
SIGN UP to WALK (link live until 9pm)
See you in the gym!
—Justin Miner
Friday Thoughts 110
Happy 2026! Welcome to this week’s edition of Friday Thoughts, where I share what’s been on my mind lately.
I took a couple of weeks off from the blog around the holidays, and it feels good to be back on here. We’re at the gym regular Friday hours today.
Daily Walking Challenge
It’s time for another edition of our daily walking challenge. With the cold and icy weather, people have been craving this challenge as an excuse to get outside and move a little more.
The rules are simple, just like in years past:
20-minute walk every day (consecutive minutes)
Starts Monday Jan 5
Ends February 4
Honor system, track your days on your own and strive to go 30 for 30
The goal is consistency, more movement, discipline, and building a habit or routine that could last the rest of the year.
SIGN UP HERE (free, open to anyone)
BASELINE TESTINg
There will be a new January Challenge up today, but anyone who needs to finish up on the GAIN Baseline is obviously welcome to. Here are some of my thoughts about the Baseline so far.
Most peoples’ grip strength is better than they assumed.
Same with the farmer’s carry
About 50% of people get a stronger grip score on their non-dominant hand versus their dominant hand
I know correlation doesn’t mean causation, but looking at the 20 second power output test: the longer you’ve been taking creatine the better score you got. Creatine is getting all sorts of attention lately for things like brain health and sleep deprivation. Cool. But remember, creatine is a molecule gives your body access to immediate burst of energy. So to all the people who finished the test and said, “I just didn’t have as much oomph as I wanted,” get on the creatine in 2026.
Goblet Squat - maybe the most impactful test. Many people squatted 20 reps for a weight they didn’t think they could get more than 10. What that showed is that people-especially if you’ve been training for a few years-get comfortable with a specific weight, and don’t often go past it. Understanding reps in reserve, and getting your rep ranges right is critical—especially when you’re in the post-newbie, but-not-quite advanced stage.
GAIN WORD OF THE YEAR
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary chose “slop” as the word of the year.
Here at GAIN, my word of the year was RIR — Reps in Reserve.
Understanding RIR is one of the keys to continuing to make progress and avoiding boredom in your training. It gives you a better lens for judging effort and challenge, rather than just counting reps and checking boxes.
Here’s how it works. If you finish a set of 10 push-ups with your hands elevated on a bar and feel like you could have done 10 more, you had 10 reps in reserve. RIR is an estimate—it’s a hypothesis based on how the set felt—but it’s still incredibly useful.
I love RIR because it tunes you in to your body. It forces you to pay attention. And more often than not, it reveals that you’re simply not being challenged enough.
When the goal is to get stronger, about 2 reps in reserve is the sweet spot. Maybe 0–1 RIR if you’re very serious about your training. But most people are walking around with 5–10 reps in reserve, and if that’s the case, you’re not even close to creating the stress needed to build stronger bones, more muscle, and real strength.
It might just become my word again in 2026.
Sports
I’m really torn about sports and kids.
I love sports, and played many of them and eventually played hockey in college. It took disciple, hard work and commitment. I’m happy I did it because I learned all about those sorts of things. And also I always had something to do or play when I was a kid. It was the most serious thing in the world for me.
It seems like all sports is about getting kids to a high-level. Changing schools, playing year round, not trying other sports or activities, and maybe even generally missing out on a being a kid.
I want my kids to play sports, but not too seriously.
The main reason: I want them to call me up and ask me to go for a run when I’m 60, they’ll be in their early 30s.
I don’t care if they’re high level athletes at 11, if they are, it’s likely detrimental to their relationships with physical activity in their 30s.
I have the same thoughts with lifting btw. I want them to lift as soon as they want, but the main goal will be to keep it fun, and something that hopefully they can do for a lifetime—not just hard for a couple years a fizzle out.
“Early success is poor indicator of long-term greatness. It might even be a negative signal.”
That’s a wrap for today, see you in the gym!
—Justin Miner
Friday Thoughts 109
Welcome to this week’s edition of Friday Thoughts, where I share what’s been on my mind and my feed throughout the past week. This is the 46th Friday Thoughts blog of the year, and the 250-something post of 2025. It will also be the last blog of the year. I’m shutting it down for the next couple weeks, like I typically do, and I’ll be back on here in January. Enjoy!
GAIN BASELINE
Here’s how I’ve been doing on the baseline:
SOLEC - 9 sec right, 30 sec leff
Hang - 2:02, shoutout to the 5:30pm Crew for the hanging motivation and to Ed for hanging on for nearly 3 minutes.
Grip - 147 pounds
AirBike - 24 calories
Farmer’s Carry - 106LB’s x 1:59
Goblet Squat - this is my last remaining challenge.
All the hype around this has been really fun, keep it up, people!
Holiday Hours Reminder
Modified Hours 12/24
Closed 12/25 & 26
Modified 12/31
Closed 1/1
Thankfully Not Doing THat
I’m in a bit of a training slump. No, it isn’t even fair to call it a slump. I’ve just been plain busy. Which means I’ve been getting 2-3 workouts in a week versus my usual. I was seeking some guidance from my training log and scrolled back to December of last year. I was reminded of the Ten Thousand Kettlebell Swing Challenge - 10k swings in the month. That was rough, and I’m happy I’m not doing that again. But it was a nice reminder—the whole point of doing that challenge was to keep me moving in December. Motivation is low, it’s dark, it’s busy and not having to think on what to do has its appeal.
I ended a couple hundred swings short. Instead of doing something drastic like that now, I’m just riding the wave with the optimism that my training load will pick up once things settle down. It’s also that time of year that I’m thinking about my race calendar for 2026, and that will provide me with a boost.
11 Years Ago
This was our “soft opening.” A group-style workout on December 20, 2014. Somehow, as a 26 year old, I convinced those people to show up a give it a shot. Crazy!
That’s a wrap for today and for the year. Looking forward to doing 2025 By The Numbers when I come back. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. See you around in the gym.
I’ll be back on the blog in January!
—Justin Miner
GAIN BASELINE
The new GAIN Baseline has been the talk of the gym.
These six simple tests give us an observable, measurable, and repeatable way to tell the truth about our training:
Is it working?
Are your numbers improving, holding steady, or slipping?
This kind of data is often the cure for boredom in the gym. It shows how consistency compounds over time—and the results may surprise you.
So far, many people are hanging longer, carrying heavier, and squatting more than they expected. That’s not a coincidence. The members doing well on these tests have been showing up and putting in solid work all year. This is simply their training showing up on paper.
The Six Tests
SOLEC Balance Test
Grip Strength
Dead Hang
AirBike 20-Second Sprint
20-Rep Max Goblet Squat
Farmer’s Carry
You have through the end of the year to complete the GAIN Baseline so you’ll have meaningful data to carry into 2026.
See you in the gym.
—Justin Miner
Holiday Schedule
With Christmas and New Year’s coming up, here’s our adjusted schedule for the holidays:
Monday 12/22 – Normal schedule
Tuesday 12/23 – Normal schedule
Wednesday 12/24 (Christmas Eve)
• 7:30am
• 8:30am
• 9:30am
No gaps between classes
Thursday 12/25 – Closed
Friday 12/26 – Closed
Monday 12/29 – Normal schedule
Tuesday 12/30 – Normal schedule
Wednesday 12/31 (New Year’s Eve)
• 7:30am
• 9:00am
• 10:30am
• 12:00pm
Thursday 1/1 (New Year’s Day) – Closed
Friday 1/2 – Open, normal hours
Thanks for planning ahead, and enjoy the holidays!
—Justin Miner
Foundation of easy days
I saw this quote recently:
“PRs are built on the foundation of easy days.”
It resonated with me, and I hope it does with you too—because not every session you come to the gym needs to be a heroic effort.
Most of what we do in the gym will feel pretty easy. Progress can feel slow, almost unremarkable at times.
Not every workout needs to end with you lying on the floor or walking away sore. That idea, that soreness and sweat are indicators of effectiveness, is nonsense.
Most days, you just need to go in and check the box.
Move around.
Elevate your heart rate.
Expose your body to a few meaningful ranges of motion.
Then move on with your day.
Over a long enough timeline, most sessions should feel easy.
That isn’t a bad thing.
That’s training.
— Justin Miner