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 100
Welcome to this week’s edition of Friday Thoughts, triple digits! As always these are the things that have been on my mind and in my feed this week. Enjoy!
HRV IS BACK
Back in the green! It’s taken a long time to climb out of this not-recovering hole. I first dropped into the red on August 7th, so almost two months. I’ve been focusing on the basic sleep habits—getting into bed early, limiting caffeine intake (how much and when), and trying to get some movement in most days.
Going forward, it will be interesting how see if this low period is part of my yearly training cycle, or if this was just a big fluke. I guess only time will tell!
Vulcan’s Fury
On Sunday I’m heading to Pawtuckaway State Park for the Vulcan’s Fury Half Marathon. I’ve done the race twice before, in 2018 and 2019. I’m looking forward to getting out there, despite the fact that training has been less than ideal. I have no expectations and am looking forward to a long run in the woods.
States of Elevation
It was awesome to watch Killian’s latest mountain project. He connected a bunch of mountains by running and biking. Starting in Colorado and ending in Washington. The stats are INSANE. 500 hours of movement over 31 days. Dive into the data in the post below.
Some more fun stats about Killian’s project.
Born to Run
This isn’t surprising if you’ve read born to run.
USA Weightlifting
The weightlifting World Championships are underway in Norway, enjoy these Team USA highlights.
Stay warm out there this morning! See you next time.
—Justin Miner
Eyes and Balance
It’s rare that someone comes in and doesn’t mention wanting to work on balance.
Balance can be frustrating to train because you have to challenge it in order to improve it. I learned this acronym in Built to Move, and it’s one worth knowing:
SOLEC — Standing On One Leg, Eyes Closed.
That’s the test.
Stand on one leg, close your eyes, and see how long you can last.
Your eyes play a huge role in balance, and when you take that input away, the challenge increases dramatically. Try the test once with your eyes open, then again with them closed, and compare the difference.
There’s a wide range of what’s “good” here — even a few seconds eyes-closed is a solid start, while 15 seconds is the gold standard.
This simple test shows just how much your vision influences your stability. Give it a try today and see where you stand.
— Justin Miner
Leave Room for Improvement
I had several clients start new programs this week.
My advice to many of them was simple: leave room for improvement.
When you’re in week one of a plan and everything feels new and exciting, it’s easy to do too much. Even if it goes well, it can come back to bite you later.
Here are a few examples of what leaving room to improve looks like:
A. Deadlift x5, building to a challenging set in 5–7 sets
On week one, don’t rush to your heaviest possible weight. Leave room for next week and see what happens. More than heroic efforts, we want replicable efforts.
I fell into this trap a lot when I was Olympic lifting. I’d hit big weights in week one, then struggle to repeat them in week two or three. With experience, I learned to take about 10% off my best early on — and then build from there.
B. 3–5 rounds of:
8/s split squat
10/s one-arm dumbbell row
8-breath low plank hold
When a workout shows a range, you don’t always have to do the max. In week one, choose the lower end. Everything else in the workout will take longer than expected anyway. You can add rounds later to build overall volume.
C. Conditioning
10–12 sets:
30 sec @ fast pace
30 sec @ slow pace
When there’s a range like this, start with the smaller number. Use week one to dial in your paces and figure out what “fast” actually means for you. Over the coming weeks, you can progress by adding rounds, upping your intensity, or both.
The big idea here: it’s not one workout that matters — it’s all of them compounded over time.
The more sessions you complete, even at a slightly lower intensity, the better your long-term results. Once you start leaving room for improvement, you’re playing the long game.
— Justin Miner
209 grams of protein
I took 21,455 steps yesterday.
I spent 10-hours on the gym floor coaching and was able to sneak in a run, too. In order to have a good day, I knew that I needed to pack plenty of food and snacks to keep my energy levels high.
Chat-GPT might be the best macro calculator app, if you have enough base information to spot if something is off, like when my breakfast sandwich breakdown on had 6 grams of carbohydrates. Other than that, it was really easy—I knew all the ingredients of my food, or just snapped a pic of the wrapper to add to the running tally it was building for me. Overall pretty impressed.
Here’s everything I ate yesterday.
7:15am - First BReakfast
10:07am - SEcond Breakfast
11:50am - Pre, Pre-Run Snack (Elevenses)
1:30pm - Pre Run
3:30pm - Post 60 min trail run
7:40pm - Dinner
8:20Pm
totals on the day
Today will be a similar effort, and this is what most of my eating has been looking like lately. I’m trying to keep it simple, stuff that easy to prep and transport. I’m thinking it’s a rest day from training, so I’ll adjust accordingly by cutting out some of the pre and post training snacks.
—Justin Miner
MOnday Check In
Welcome to another week! It’s going to be a fun one, Coach T is away at a wedding and I’ll be on the coaching floor all day today and tomorrow. I’m looking forward to it. The key to success—packing enough food.
I, like many coaches, used to just starve my way through long coaching sessions, surviving by slurping down tons of caffeine.
There was a problem though, when it came time to work out, I needed a nap.
My key to having a good day: packing enough food to fuel and recover from my workout this afternoon.
See you at the gym!
—Justin Miner
Friday Thoughts 99
Distractions
Cleaning companies often reach out wanting to give me a quote to clean the gym. Years ago, I actually answered one. They asked how big our locker rooms were, how many bathroom stalls we had, if there was a smoothie bar or a basketball court . I laughed and said, “We don’t have any of that.” Their reply: “Well, then you’re not a gym.”
That interaction stuck with me.
These days, the “fitness country club” model is everywhere. All the latest and greatest equipment, smoothie bars, saunas, ice baths, workspace—you name it. Honestly, I think some of that stuff is pretty cool. But the problem is, it’s still missing the point.
We’re missing one key point: it matters how you move.
Movement quality—how well you can move and control your body—rarely gets mentioned but it’s the ultimate caveat to every training protocol out there. Just knowing which exercises are “good” doesn’t guarantee you’ll do them well. But once you understand that movement is a skill, you can practice it forever. Usually, in order to do that, you need a coach.
The gyms without the frills, without the smoothie bars or golf simulators or locker rooms—places like GAIN—those are the ones that actually care about movement and real coaching. Everything else is just a distraction.
More HRV Ramblings and Training Update
I’ve been chatting with a lot of you about this lately and here’s an update and a couple more takeaways.
Still tanked, but on the upswing. More importantly, sleep has been long and scores have been high. I’m feeling well-rested and refreshed in the morning. Overnight HRV averages are swinging more, and I think that’s a good sign.
After reflecting on my summer of training, maybe it isn’t so crazy that it’s dropped like this. I was going hard! I ran a lot of double days, and not only that—I made training a top priority almost every day. After getting sick in September and losing that training rhythm, it’s been nice to just exercise without it being on the forefront of my mind.
I have periods like this every year, usually in the fall, after a big running summer. Had my foot on the gas all the summer and then training motivation is low. I focus on shorter, low-barrier-to-entry workouts to keep my sputtering fitness spark alive.
This raises an interesting question.
Does this massive HRV drop happen every year?
Has the pattern always been there? I just didn’t know because I didn’t have a watch telling me?
I don’t know, and the only way to find out is keep collecting the data.
I’ve reached the orange square!
The Watch Isn’t Always Right
Despite the scary look graph above, I really have been feeling good this week when training. I just don’t “feel” like training or have the enthusiasm I’m used to. That’s why when I headed out to do my local trail loop on Sunday morning there way no way I expected to randomly throw down and set a huge PR.
I stalled for a good hour before finally getting out the door. I’ve run this loop about 50 times. It’s 4.6 miles with 550 feet of elevation gain. It’s a big climb at the start and then ups and downs the rest of the way.
I set my PR way back in 2020, and for the past couple years I’ve been thinking that time is untouchable. I would often hit the trail intersection around mile 3.5, and see that I would have to finish in 5 minutes to beat my PR. It seemed so out of reach, to the point I was questioning the accuracy of my time.
And then, someone on Strava beat my course record.
I was annoyed, but also relieved—it was possible to break.
So when I was running up the big climb on Sunday morning I noticed my legs felt amazing, my heart rate was high—like very high, but it felt, comfortable. So I thought, I’m going to keep pushing to the top at the 1 mile mark. I’ve had plenty of runs go well until the high-point where I realize came out too fast. But not this time. I knew the average pace I needed to stay under and on the downhill I tried to stay way under it. It felt great. Like the cumulation of a hard summer of training.
I kept saying that to myself on the loop: you ran a faster mile this year than in 2020, you can run faster!
I ended up shaving 41 seconds off my time, I was pumped. I missed taking the crown back, but it’s within reach, and more importantly I beat my own previous time.
The watch didn’t tell me that was possible. But I listened to my body and knew I felt good. Even though I was dragging my feet to get started, I just knew I could—because I listened to my body.
Dear Garmin, the hold HR chart was better
Almost hit that 220-age number. My watch also adjusted my estimated max HR after this run, it was the highest it’s been in a while!
It’s So Easy
Thanks for reading, see you next time!
—Justin Miner
Typical Training Session at GAIN
At GAIN, strength training is the main event. Around it, we build accessory work, direct core training, and usually some conditioning. Of course, this is a generalization—each individual member follows a training plan designed specifically for their abilities and goals.
These categories provide the framework we use to build out a training session and, eventually, a long-term program.
Warm Up
Every session starts with a warm up. The goal is to raise your body temperature, open up your ranges of motion, and get your blood pumping. We love including medicine ball throws for power development and working on balance and stability right out of the gate.
A. The Main Event — Strength Training
The first exercises of the day are where we focus on building strength. These are the movements where we track progress—weight lifted, reps completed, or another measurable marker. Progress is gamified here, allowing you to inch forward at a pace your body is ready for. Slow and steady always wins—just because you could doesn’t mean you should.
The main lifts typically include squats, split squats, deadlifts, and the bench press. These compound movements use multiple joints and muscles, expose you to healthy ranges of motion, and build total-body strength. The rep schemes, sets, and formats change for variety, but these foundations always remain.
B. Accessory Work — Eat Your Veggies
Accessory movements don’t rely on big numbers or max weights to be effective. Their value comes from consistent exposure to good movement. Here you’ll see pulling and rowing variations, single-leg work like step-ups and lunges, and single-arm dumbbell exercises.
Accessory work builds strength, coordination, and healthy tissues. We load it in three tiers:
Bodyweight: Push ups, ring rows, lunges, split squats—perfect when you’re not feeling 100% but want to stay consistent.
Standard Load: Your “usual” weights—8–12 reps you can do reliably. Tracking this helps you measure progress over time.
Push It: When form is crisp and confidence is high, go heavier than normal. This helps level up what eventually becomes your new “standard load.”
C. Core
We finish with direct trunk training—rigid holds, rotational drills, or loaded carries across the gym. Think planks, band-resisted work, and carrying heavy kettlebells (a.k.a. grocery bags). Core training reinforces stability and transfers strength to everything else you do.
D. Conditioning
We cap most sessions with 10–15 minutes of conditioning. These short, high-effort cardio bouts are tough to replicate on your own and come with big benefits: improving aerobic capacity, speeding recovery, and priming your lungs for action outside the gym.
Cool Down
Training doesn’t stop when the lifting does. Cooling down resets the system—massaging tight tissues, holding stretches, and taking a few deep breaths helps the body shift into recovery mode.
This breakdown gives a clear picture of the GAIN session flow while reinforcing the idea that it’s not one-size-fits-all. Each member has a plan tailored to their abilities, but the framework—warm up, strength, accessory, core, conditioning, cool down—keeps everyone progressing.
—Justin Miner
This Time of YEar
We’re transitioning into a new season and routines and habits are on everyone’s mind.
The fall is always a busy time at the gym. Many people start their journey in September, we’re celebrating many anniversaries this month, and you’ll see lots of new faces in the gym.
While some people are just getting started, if you’ve been training for a while your routine might feel stale. Summer is over, the mornings are colder and darker, and maybe you no longer have a race or event on the calendar to train for.
This is part of the process. Training throughout the year will have peaks and valleys, and the longer you’ve been doing it the more obvious this realization is. It’s too hard to keep your foot on the gas pedal all the time.
In both scenarios, motivated or unmotivated, the key is to keep doing the thing. The beautiful thing about strength and conditioning is that the minimum effective dose is pretty low. All you need is a couple of hours per week.
Whether you’re just starting or hitting a fall slump, remember, consistency is key. None of this works without it. For both newbies and experienced trainees, sticking with it is more important than how hard you’re going. You’ll have good months, bad months, periods of motivation, and long slumps.
The best way to deal with it is to simply know it’s part of the journey.
—Justin Miner
Routine - Not the enemy
There’s a common belief that routine is bad. We’re told to keep our muscles “guessing” (whatever that means) and constantly switch things up to avoid plateaus. Sure, variety has its place, but there’s a big difference between strategically rotating exercises and randomly picking them.
The best way to make long-term progress? Keep it simple. More squats. More lunges. More ring rows. More carries. More mobility work for your ankles, hips, and thoracic spine.
Whether you’re a total beginner or a seasoned gym rat, these fundamentals are the backbone of any solid strength and conditioning program. Complicated workouts can be fun, and sometimes necessary, but most of the time, consistently mastering the basics is the superior way to train.
—Justin Miner
Monday Check in
Another Monday, another week!
I had a nice reminder to trust the process this weekend.
There’s a loop I run frequently near my house. I can tell you I’ve ran it 14 times this year, which is more than the 12 times I ran it last year. It’s about 4.5 miles with over 550ft of elevation gain, climbing and descending the high point of Barrington, a whomping 557 feet.
Way back in 2020, one of the first times I ran the loop, I set my PR on it. Under 40 minutes, and pretty much untouchable for me ever since. My average time on the loop is about 45 minutes, and each time I ran it under 45, I would think; how can I possibly get under 40 minutes—it must be a fluke, I could never have ran it that fast!
Then a few weeks ago someone got my record on Strava.
Then I got sick and felt less and less fit.
Then, I slowly built back up, careful not to push it.
When I started my run yesterday morning, the plan wasn’t to let it rip and go for the record, but I just couldn’t believe how good I felt starting the climb. And more, it felt good to push, and run with my heart rate high and huffing for air.
I ended up beating my old PR by 41 seconds. I didn’t retake the crown on my segment, but I was very close and I know I can do it.
Sometimes when you feel stuck, progress sneaks up on you. Trust the process—you might surprise yourself with what you still have.
—Justin Miner
Friday Thoughts 98
Greetings! Welcome to this week’s edition of Friday Thoughts, where I share what’s been on my mind and in my feed throughout the week. Enjoy!
Climbing out the of hole
I teased last week that I finally had a couple good nights of sleep. The trend, luckily has continued. Starting Labor Day Weekend I had a two week sickness. It manifested with a dull headache, periodic nausea and heavily interrupted sleep. When I started feeling better I got sick again, not surprising a couple weeks into the school year. That meant another stretch of poor sleep. My sleep scores dropped, and my HRV—which was already tanked from my mountainous ultra in early August—fell to levels I didn’t think possible.
I started coming back to life at the end of last week. I’ve been strict with caffeine, how much water and food I’m consuming at night and getting into bed consistently early. It’s been paying off with raising sleep scores—and more importantly, feeling well-rested in the morning.
My HRV, however, is still tanked, and dipping lower. I’m thinking (maybe hoping) that this is just part of the process. My overnight readings are getting higher, but still dropping very low, creating the lower-than-normal average. I took a week off from training, and started back lightly last weekend, and this helped. I got better rest and was able to sleep soundly through the night.
So while my training status is still strained, and has been for 5 or 6 weeks, I’m feeling hopeful that I’m getting back to normal training and fueling. While I was sick my eating habits were poor and I lost weight, not in a good way. I’ve been neglecting my lifting—as I typically do towards the end of each summer. It’s time to build my strength up, and get my lungs ready for a fast 5k in the end of October.
Ironically, it’s been stressful seeing my watch tell me I’m too stressed out to properly recovery and that I need to focus more and rest and recovery. At the same time, it has been beneficial. The first sickness I has was weird, and I felt very off, but couldn’t pin point what it was. Seeing the data after the first week or so confirmed my body was stressed. I’ve shown people the graph and they’ve suggested I just take the watch off, or that it’s broken. It isn’t though—it was actually confirming how I felt. And if I trust it when it tells me what I agree with, I should probably consider what it’s saying to it when it’s telling me something I don’t want to hear.
The main thing to get out of this is that these watches and the data are tools to help us better listen to our bodies. The ability to know when to push it, when to back off and chill—it’s all part of the process of living healthy and active lifestyle. I won’t follow the watch blindly, but I’ll continue to use it as a tool.
Normal
Starts dropping
Keeps getting lower when you think it’s flattening out
Hoping that eventually these rising sleep scores will pull the HRV up
See you in the gym!
—Justin Miner
Take a Seat
How comfortably can you sit on the floor? Criss-cross style — no problem? Or does your back start yelling at you after 30 seconds?
I’m a fan of simple things that improve your health without getting in the way of your life. One of those things: occasionally choosing the floor instead of the couch.
It’s a chance to tinker with your movement. To notice if your hips rotate, your spine moves, and your ankles actually work. No equipment needed — just sit. Shift around, explore positions, feel the stretch. When you’re done, climb back on the couch.
It’s a foolproof way to get a little more movement, better mobility, and a skill you used to own as a kid but lost somewhere along the way.
— Justin Miner
3-session trial
At GAIN, new members don’t just jump into random workouts. We start everyone with a 3-Session Trial. It’s your chance to meet our coaches, experience the GAIN vibe, and see how our individualized approach works. We’re not a group class, but we’re not one-on-one personal training either—we’re something different, and unlike any gym you’ve been to.
Session 1: The Intro Workout
Work closely with a coach on breathing, bracing, range of motion, and stability.
Talk through your injury history, training background, and goals.
Leave feeling like you could do more—we ease you in so you can build a habit that lasts.
Learn the foundations: squat pattern, push-ups, ring rows, and key core drills.
Session 2: Building On It
Add more movements and get your first taste of conditioning (cardio).
Learn our favorite cool-down mobility drills.
Focus on pressing and pulling with the upper body plus single-leg training.
Session 3: The Hinge & More
Learn the hinge pattern—a cornerstone movement for strength and longevity.
Revisit and reinforce previous skills.
Expect a slightly bigger workout as your body adapts.
Why It Matters
Over three sessions, you’ll get a crash course in all things GAIN:
Learn our favorite exercises.
Get real coaching and movement breakdowns.
Leave with a plan that’s unique to your needs and goals.
It’s more than just a trial—it’s the start of moving better, feeling stronger, and getting connected to your training.
Ready to get started? Come see what GAIN is all about HERE.
—Justin MIner
Big Breath dRill
Breathing is important. The hard part is getting people to actually focus on it. Breathing can feel boring, even uncomfortable, because your brain is usually running a million miles an hour and slowing down is tough. That’s why I’ve found simple drills work best.
Here’s one you can try this week.
Why focus on breathing?
A few minutes of focused breathing can:
Improve mechanics. Treat it like a mobility drill for your whole body. Better breaths unlock better positions.
Change your state. Depending on the sequence, a few minutes of breathing can help you chill out or fire up. This drill is more about feeling awake.
Improve posture. When you know what a good breath feels like, you’re less willing to trade it away to poor positions.
I could tell you to “use your diaphragm” or “expand into your ribs and back,” but honestly, that often complicates things. The best way to get better at breathing is just to practice filling up as much as you can.
At first, you’ll probably breathe mostly with your chest and shoulders. But as you get more reps in, you’ll pull in more air, feel expansion throughout your whole trunk, and improve your mechanics. After a long exhale and hold, the next breath will be even better.
The Drill
Lay on your back, feet up on a wall.
For 90–120 seconds, take big, deep, expanding breaths with a sharp, quick exhale.
Exhale all the way on your last breath, then hold.
Breathe again when you’re ready.
Repeat for 2–3 rounds.
The longer you can hold that exhale, the better your next round will feel.
Give it a shot this week.
—Justin Miner
Monday Check In
I missed a lot of training this past month. I’m finally feeling normal, and now I’m in that familiar spot we all hit sometimes: resisting the urge to make up for lost time.
Just because you could doesn’t mean you should.
The temptation is to cram in missed workouts and “catch up.” Instead, I’m choosing the slow ramp: shorter sessions, fewer total sets, easy aerobic work, and lots of patience. Doing too much too soon is the fastest way to end up…missing more.
It’s frustrating, sure. But the long game always wins.
Happy Monday, here’s to a good, sustainable week ahead.
—Justin Miner
Friday Thoughts 97
Greetings! Welcome to this week’s edition of Friday Thoughts, where I share what’s been on my mind and in my feed throughout the week. Enjoy!
Sleep
I’m coming off the two best nights of sleep I’ve had in a month. I have lots of thoughts and theories, obviously, but I’m not getting into them today because I slept in and got to get moving!
Perfect Pun
No explanation needed, this is gold.
Running cue
This is a nice running cue to visualize. Getting the arm swing right can be tricky.
The GOAT PB
Teddie is the best peanut butter, hands down, no question about it.
Thanks for reading, me and the boys are coaching the 4pm class tonight, see you there!
—Justin Miner
Gym Lingo: Iso Hold
“Iso hold” is short for isometric hold.
And isometric is short for isometric contraction.
An isometric contraction is when a muscle contracts but the muscle length doesn’t change. In other words, your muscles are working without any joints moving. Instead, the contraction keeps everything in place.
Think of it like this:
Sitting tall in a chair with perfect posture means you’re isometrically contracting lots of muscles at once.
Holding a plank (when done well) is a classic isometric contraction.
Even during a pause squat or a bench press with a pause, your muscles are firing isometrically while you hold that position.
At GAIN, some of our most common iso holds are:
Split squat iso holds
Anti-rotation press iso holds
Bottom of push-up holds
Wall sits
And if you were around for our Zoom workouts… bat wings
Why do we use them?
Iso holds make you stronger in specific ranges of motion.
They help build strength and rigidity.
They’re also a fantastic way to train around an injury when big ranges of motion aren’t possible.
Iso holds are simple, brutally effective, and one of those training tools that never really go out of style.
—Justin Miner
Training vs Working out/specific and non specific goals
One of our clients just came back from something she had been training for all summer—a canoe trip. Her goal wasn’t to race or set records; she wanted to feel confident getting in and out of a wobbly canoe and make it through a couple of long days of paddling.
Before the trip, her “goal” was more tongue-in-cheek: to age gracefully. Vague, yes, but it got her in the gym twice a week for a year. Once the trip was on the calendar though, that goal turned into something specific—survive the trip—and that gave her the motivation to push harder in the gym.
Now the trip is over, and she told me, “I need another goal!” Part of me agrees. But part of me thinks it’s time to shift back to the bigger, non-specific goal—training for the long game of aging well.
This brings up an important distinction:
Training = working toward something on the calendar. A race, a trip, a PR. Specific.
Working Out = maintenance. Holding on to what you’ve built. Keeping the wheels from falling off. Less specific.
Both matter. We can’t always be chasing the next event, but we also can’t just drift without ever checking in on how we’re doing. The longer you play the game, the more valuable this distinction becomes.
When I was younger coach and athlete I believed you should always be training. Always have a target. But over the years, I’ve learned the downtime is important too. There’s value in training without a looming deadline. Honestly, it’s refreshing to not be chained to a strict program year-round.
The trick is knowing when it’s time to sharpen your focus and when it’s time to step back.
—Justin Miner
No homework required
New people always ask me for homework between their gym sessions. My answer? Go for a walk.
When you’re just learning strength training, chances are you’re still breaking old habits and figuring out good form. Without a coach’s eye, extra reps at home usually mean sloppy practice—and sloppy practice just reinforces bad habits. Quality > quantity.
If you’re brand new, training twice a week is enough. Even with big goals, three times a week is enough. More isn’t better—it’s just more.
So ditch the pressure to do extra. If you want to move more, great, go for a hike, hit a yoga class, mow the lawn, or toss a kayak on the roof of your car. There are endless ways to practice movement without piling on bad reps.
—Justin Miner
Monday Check in
Happy Monday!
Another chance to start the week off fresh. What are you going to accomplish this week? What are your big plans? What are you thinking about doing or trying this fall?
There’s 107 days left in 2025, take advantage of it!
-Justin Miner