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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.
July Challenge REcap/ august Challenge
With a new month comes a new challenge workout on the whiteboard.
July’s challenge was much harder than people anticipated.
It was:
for time:
20 Zercher Squats @ 95/65
30 cal row
450m farmer’s carry @ 53s/35s
450m is a long time to carry those kettlebells-and that’s what I wanted to be the crux on the workout-how well can you hold on and keep moving for over a quarter mile.
The August Challenge is a repeat from last year. It’s short and spicy.
August Challenge
for time:
20/15 cal ski
10 dock climbs
20/15 cal ski
The dock climb involves getting from the pavement to standing up tall on the loading dock. It’s 48 inches tall, so you may have to climb, scramble and crawl to get there.
Last year my time was 2:01, and yesterday I bested that time with a 1:54.
I’m excited to see how this one plays out.
—Justin Miner
July 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.
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: 333,471
Daily Average: 10,757
Not running as much is having an impact on my steps, obviously. Last year in July I had 150k more steps-which makes sense. I was running a lot more than I am now. Keeping that daily average over 10k is appropriate for me, even if I’m not logging tons of miles.
SLEEP
Average Sleep Score: 80
Average Duration: 6 hours 47 minutes
The years long battle to increase my sleep duration continues, but I am holding steady with a solid average of 80. My average sleep score in July 2025 was 77-so it’s an improvement from last year. The sleep score range was tight too, not too many big drops, like a night in the 60s, or something like that.
I did have a few weeks of a low HRV in July. Honestly, I don’t pay much attention to it. I enjoy tracking it and seeing that data, but if my HRV is unbalanced and I feel okay, I don’t care that it’s unbalanced. I’ve settled on this; all the data is cool, but my overnight resting heart rate tells the whole story. If my resting HR is low, my sleep score is probably good. If my sleep score is good, my HRV is typically good. And if I slept well, I probably trained and moved a lot that day.
TRAINING
Total workouts: 20
Runs: 6
I’ve been having fun training, even though it looks a little different than in past summers. I’m not on a plan, but instead, I’m following a weekly checklist. I have 6-7 things, or types of workouts I want to do each week and I pick them off as I go. My perfect week is 2 Olympic weightlifting sessions, 1 heavy day of squats or deadlifts, 1 machine cardio day, 1 trail run, 1 running workout.
I took most of the week off during vacation. It was nice. In year’s past I would hammer running hard during vacation, often doing double session runs. It was nice to not do that this year.
Final Thoughts
I always learn a thing or two when I do this monthly reflection, which is why I always encourage you to build a similar practice. It’s an easy way to check in and see how you’re doing and where you may be able to improve. Thanks for reading!
—Justin Miner
Monday Check IN
Hello and happy Monday.
Just like that August is here.
First things first, happy anniversary to Hannah - 7 years married and 14 years together today. Our famous first picture together at the Ironman Fitness pull up contest in 2012 is below. I got 18…A best I haven’t topped since!
We celebrated yesterday by climbing some mountains. We did the classic Franconia Ridge Loop. It was humid down below and cloudy up top, but it was a great time out nonetheless.
Katelynn’s last day was on Friday. She’s headed back to St. Joe’s to be a grad assistant for some of the incoming fall sports. It was a pleasure having her around for the 10:30 and noon classes for most of the summer. Her help will be missed! Especially her love for iced coffees (because I got to have her pick them up for me).
Hope everyone has a good start to the week, see you in the gym.
—Justin Miner
Friday Thoughts 141
Welcome to this week’s edition of Friday Thoughts, where I share what’s been on my mind this week. Enjoy!
Training Ramblings
I’ve had a great week of training, and I’ve got to say, my body is feeling really good after that week off. I’m still operating with my checklist, certain movements or styles of workout to get each week, and it’s working well. Last night when I went to bed, I was surprised to see that I had 12,000+ steps on the day. Then I remembered, I did a running workout in the morning. Nothing crazy either - 5×200m with a 200m recovery, so all in all just over a mile.
I felt like my running workout in the morning was kind of lame. Only 1000m worth of running hard, plus another 1000m with the recovery, but those 2000 extra meters got me 2500+ more steps in the day.
Obviously more running impacts my steps, and I haven’t been running much. It was nice to notice last night that even though I did a very low volume running workout that took me 15 minutes, it’s still have a positive impact on my day. I probably wouldn’t have even hit 10k steps without that workout.
Two Hours Per Week / 104 hours per year
When people join the gym they’re sometimes unsure if they can make an impact with just two workouts per week.
Oh yes you can.
But you need to stick with it. It’s only 104 hours of your entire year!
No Wonder
The scale of this is crazy. It really puts into perspective how big those soccer fields are. And why they’re such good runners.
Slow Feet Don’t Eat
My new favorite toy is the OVR, which can measure stuff like vertical jump, or in this case here, ground contact time (GCT).
GCT is measuring how much time your foot is on the ground before stepping or jumping. This gives us insights in you your reactive strength, elasticity and rate of force development.
What’s so important about it?
Less ground contact time typically means more athletic - more explosive, quicker reactions. Springiness-if you will.
There isn’t one perfect exercise to do this, and this is want I want to highlight.
This coach was gamify GTC for his athletes, and it got them all to train hard and push each other. There isn’t a magic exercise or protocol, but being able to put a number on something gets everyone in the game, cranks the intensity and gets a good training effect.
More Reading Stats
Believe me, the irony of learning about and sharing these things on social media is not lost on me.
If you don’t know, I’m a big time reader and have been for a while. Recently I’ve been on a sci-fi kick. During vacation I read Three Body Problem, which was honestly not all that great-but I also can’t stop thinking about it.
This week I’ve been reading Old Man’s War, which has been on my TBR for years, and I’m enjoying it as much as the internet said I would.
Thanks for reading, see you in the gym!
—Justin Miner
Protein CHat
You probably know that keeping a daily food log is one of the best ways to boost your nutritional awareness.
If you're ready to take things a step further, the next step is figuring out how much protein you're actually eating.
Most people know protein is essential for building muscle, but it goes beyond that. It plays a huge role in recovery, hormone production, immune function, and overall cellular health.
And yet, people are surprised at how little protein they’re getting once they start tracking it.
Instead of chasing some perfect equation like 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight, just aim to eat a little morethan you’re currently eating. That’s why tracking matters. You need to know where your baseline is.
Let’s say you're eating around 70 grams of protein per day and want to work up to 125 grams. Don’t try to leap there overnight. Start by consistently hitting 100 grams. See how that feels. Learn what it takes to get there before adding more.
TIPS FOR PROTEIN SUCCESS
Eat protein at every meal.
Find high-protein snacks you enjoy and keep them on hand.
Don’t overlook “sleeper” proteins.
For example, a bagel has around 10g of protein, and no one suspects that.Add a protein shake or a scoop of protein powder to your oatmeal.
Experiment with protein powders. Try a few different kinds to see which ones you like and how they sit with your stomach.
Once you figure out a solid protein target, it becomes a great anchor for creating structure around your meals. You’ll start making food choices that support your training, recovery, and muscle-building goals—consistently.
—Justin Miner
SQuat Fundamentals
We could all use more practice with the fundamentals. Check out these key teaching points we use at GAIN to help upgrade your squat mechanics:
Get Organized
Start from the ground up—literally.
“Screw” your feet into the floor by turning your heels slightly toward each other (imagine spinning your kneecaps away from each other). This creates external rotation at the hips and gives you a stable base before you even move.
Find Your Foot Pressure
After organizing your hips, you might feel pressure shift to the outside of your feet. That means you’ve overdone it.
Instead, aim to distribute your weight evenly—right in the middle of your heel and the ball of your foot. At the gym, we call this finding your midfoot. It takes some practice, but after a few reps, it’ll start to click.
Back then Down
Break the squat into two parts:
Push your hips back—like you’re reaching your butt to a wall behind you.
Then let your chest angle forward and bend your knees.
This sequence helps engage your hips properly and reduces stress on your lower back and knees. It might feel awkward at first, but it’ll soon become a fluid movement.
Stay Strong at the Bottom
Keep that midfoot pressure.
No collapsing knees—push them apart like magnets repelling each other.
As you stand up, drive through the middle of your foot, like you’re trying to break the floor beneath you.
If your heels pop up, you’re too far forward—lean back slightly.
If you’re tipping backward, get your toes down and re-center.
Finishing at the Top
As you rise, keep your knees pushed out.
At the top, squeeze your glutes to finish the rep, open up your hips, and set yourself up for the next one.
Breathing Basics
For most squats, keep it simple:
Inhale as you go down
Sharp exhale as you come up
Yes, there’s a time and place for breath holds and bracing—but for now, focus on rhythm and control.
I hope one of these cues makes something click for you. There’s always room to refine the fundamentals.
—Justin Miner
BAck To it
Here was my exact workout yesterday after taking 9 days off from strength training over vacation.
When you’re first starting out, missing a week or two can be a big deal. It can really impact your training or throw off your routine.
When you’ve been training as long as I have though, a week off here or there isn’t really a big deal.
But just like a newbie, easing back is a smart play.
All together this took about 20 minutes. I was rushing to finish so I could mow the lawn.
I spend 3 minutes opening my hips with the box hip opener, and variations of the step to box.
The first part was pull ups and dips. I took the perfect amount of time off from pull ups where they felt amazing. A couple more days and that probably wouldn’t have been the case.
Ring dips on the other hand, I had not done for a while, so I spent a couple more minutes warming up my shoulders with the rings.
I settled on 4 sets of 5 pull ups and 3 dips. There were submaximal reps to ease back into it. I probably “could” have done 8 pull ups and dips each set, but I would regret that later.
After that I wanted to do something hard and fast to get the heart rate up.
This was a version of something I had some people at the gym try this yesterday.
4 sets:
30 sec air bike @ controlled sprint (not all out, but building steady for the 30 seconds)
3 sandbag shoulders (heavy, fast, explosive and athletic)
10 push ups (crank them out while on fire)
-rest 1-2 minutes-
All in all a great first workout back. Probably something heavier today, maybe some deadlifts, maybe some cleans, perhaps both.
—Justin Miner
Monday Check In
Happy Monday!
I’m excited to get back into the gym today after vacation.
Hanging at the lake was awesome, we all had a good time. I logged some great sleep, my resting heart rate is low and I’m eager to get back to throwing weights around in the gym. As I mentioned on Friday, I didn’t train much over through week - I always pack kettlebells and never use them. I was very active though, walking a lot, sneaking some running in, bike rides, hikes, swiming and the like.
Looking forward to catching up today, see you in the gym!
—Justin Miner
Friday Thoughts 140
Welcome to this week’s edition of Friday Thoughts! I’ve been hanging with the family on Balch Pond all week and we’ve been having a great time swimming, fishing, tubing and all the other lake activities. I’m looking forward to getting back in the gym on Monday.
Training Ramblings
I always pack kettlebells to take on vacation and never use them. I kept the streak going again this year. I did get a couple runs with Hannah in, went wakeboarding and water skiing for the first time in 15 years, and got 10k steps on most days. I’ve been active, not training, and it’s been nice.
No Shoes
I recently talked to some of your about this challenge. The idea is simple, how long can you go without wearing shoes? I’ve only put mine on this week to go for a run, hike, bike or to go into the grocery store. My feet feel tougher already and it was a nice reminder of how often we have something on our feet. Imagine wearing gloves all day everyday, and never taking them off.
Strong is Cool
Sound the lunk alarm on yourself PF.
Le Tour Chefs
Awesome to see high performing athletes fueling with real fuel - and what a production to help support them. This is impressive!
That’s all for today, see you in the gym next week!
—Justin Miner
Journey before destination
There is no winning fitness.
There will be no moment of arrival.
There won't be a point you can stop.
You need to keep playing.
Chess, hockey and football are all finite games. They have rules. A start and an end. Clear winners and losers.
In fitness, business and life, however, there are no rules. There is no clear finish line.
You can keep playing though. And that's how you win; staying in the game.
But what about the races I train for? What about my goal to lose 10 pounds? What about my Whole 30?
"Finite games can be played within an infinite game, but an infinite game cannot be played within a finite game. Infinite players regard their wins and losses in whatever finite games they play as but moments in continuing play."
- James P. Carse, Finite and Infinite Games
You've got to play the long game. It's the only way to be successful and keep playing. Maybe it looks different over time, or you have different goals [finite games] that motivate you and get you in the door. But the game is always there. There's no destination.
I hope this perspective doesn't overwhelm you. Instead, I hope it brings you relief. There is no rush. No need to hurry to the finish line. To end on a cliche, it's the journey not the destination. Keep yourself in play.
Justin Miner
Up and down / floor time
Sometimes you’re hit with something so unexpected, and so awesome. A long-time GAIN client, who wouldn’t be upset with me if I shared, was terrified of getting up and down from the floor.
So much so, that if we created a workout pairing like:
3 rounds:
10 barbell push ups
10 glute bridges
They would do all 3 sets of glute bridges in a row. This way, they wouldn’t have to get up and down. Of course, this defeated the purpose of my well-crafted pairing, creating 3 opportunities to get up from the floor in a short period of time.
Anyway, that was many years ago, and just the other day this person showed me of a video of them boogie boarding. Boogie boarding! Riding the wave into the sand and popping off the earth to catch another. It was awesome.
Although training was initially intimidating, and way out of their comfort zone, they stuck with it over the years. And through consistency, persistence, and recreating their relationship with training and the gym, they’ve far surpassed any goals they used to think possible.
—Justin Miner
How Low do You Go
How deep should you squat?
My answer may surprise you.... It depends!
Trying to set a powerlifting world record? You should probably know what the required depth is and be sure to uphold that standard.
At GAIN, we have a simple standard for squat depth, it can change each and every day for each person.
Your should squat as low as possible while maintaining good technique, stability and control.
That means not too much spine movement, no heels lifting off the floor, nothing funky going on.
If we want to be effective, capable humans, we should be able to get into a nice low squat and hang out - or least be able to get off the couch and the toilet without too much trouble.
Depth will be a moving target. Overtime, as your skill and strength improves, hopefully your mobility will too. That means better ownership on the bottom, resulting in a more impactful, bigger range of motion squat.
Not there yet? Not a big deal at all. In fact, who cares? Half squat is more effective in building strength and movement competence that no squatting whatsoever.
So how low should you go? As low as skill allows, but always chase more depth through sound movement and consistent strength and mobility training.
—Justin Miner
Monday Check In
Greetings from the lake!
I’ll be away this week on Summer Vacation with the family. Luke and Katelynn are covering all the classes.
Get into the gym and have a great week!
—Justin Miner
Friday Thoughts 139
Welcome to this week’s edition of Friday Thoughts, where I share what’s been on my mind this week, Enjoy!
Vacation
Next week the Miner Family is headed to Balch Pond in Wakefield, New Hampshire for summer vacation. Luke and Katelynn will be covering all the classes. I’m excited to get away. The plan is to swim, boat, fish, waterski, wakeboard, lounge and read.
Training Ramblings
This week I learned that deer flies are even more challenging to deal with while on a bike. When running I can run and swat, but that is much more difficult on the bike!
The workout was this:
bike 4 miles, run 4 miles, bike 4 miles.
I biked to a trailhead, ran the the high point in Barrington and back (554 feet, btw), then biked home. What makes this route so much fun is that I get to bike down this Class VI road, which is basically an unmaintained trail. It was a really fun adventure.
AXIOM SCORE
Last week I filled out my Axiom score - created by former GAIN Coach, Alex Hutchins, Axiom is a comprehensive fitness test trying to answer, “what does it mean to be fit?” There are 10 tests to enter and after completing them you get a score out of 100, and insights on where you could improve. I’m pumped for Alex and think this is really fun to play with. Here’s a screen shot of my score.
Wolverine’s 2k
Rowing a sub 7-minute 2000m is legit!
Fibermaxxing
This jumped out to me after Hannah said to me one night, “Do you know they’re making ‘fiber popcorn now?"‘ Don’t people know that corn is already famously fibrous!”
Studies Show
Reading
Save your brain, read a book. I’m happy to say I’m in the 16% of daily readers. I’ve been a reader ever since getting out of college, but mostly boring how to create a successful business/self-help type books. In the last 6-7 years or so I’ve gotten really into fiction and it’s cranked up my reading (and listening for those who demand clarification). Last week I finished my 21st book of the year. Mostly fantasy, but I’ve bee on a sci-fi tear recently, and really enjoyed the classic, Rendezvous with Rama.
Protein Emails
No notes.
See you in the gym!
—Justin Miner
Mobility Class Saturday
REcovery?
Saunas, cold plunges, and IV-drip bars are taking over.
If you’re considering adding an expensive recovery routine into your daily habits, I think there’s a big question to answer first.
Are you training hard enough?
Is there lower hanging fruit? Would the time spent “recovering” be used elsewhere? Another strength training workout? A 30 minute walk? Maybe some stretching on the floor while you’re watching TV?
In the sports performance world these methods can make a big difference. For us everyday people though, I think some protein and a walk could move the needle just as much—if not more.
—Justin Miner
Medicine Ball Weight Selection: heavier isn’t always better
When you're lifting in the gym, we love to see weights go up. Heavier lifts usually mean you're getting stronger.
But when it comes to medicine ball exercises, like slams, side tosses, chest passes and the like, more weight isn’t always better.
With movements like goblet squats, deadlifts, and bench presses, the goal is to build strength—your ability to produce force. The more strength you have, the more force you can create.
Medicine balls aren’t about strength though, they’re about power.
Power is how quickly you can apply force. It’s not just about being strong, it’s about being fast and strong.
Using a ball that’s too heavy can mess with your mechanics, slow you down, and actually reduce the power you're able to produce.
So while a 20-pound ball might look impressive, if it makes you move like you’re stuck in mud, it’s not doing the job.
10 crisp, snappy slams with an 8-pound ball > 10 sluggish slams with a 20-pounder.
Heavy is better for strength. Fast is better for power. Keep that in mind the next time you reach for a med ball.
—Justin Miner
Monday Check IN
Happy Monday.
We had a good time at the GAIN Wiffle Ball game on Saturday. Thanks to everyone who came out to play in the heat!
I spent a lot of time on bikes with the boys, which has been really fun. Especially pulling them in the bike trailer.
I successfully backed a boat trailer down a boat launch without getting frustrated.
And, I worked out on Saturday morning. I did 800s and db bench press - it was a fun workout.
That’s all, see you in the gym this week!
—Justin Miner
Friday THoughts 138
Welcome to this week’s edition of Friday Thoughts, let’s get into it.
MOBILITY CLASS
Reserve your spot for tomorrow morning’s Mobility Class with Ariel and kick the weekend off right.
WIFFLE BALL
Join us for Wiffle Ball - Saturday @ 3pm.
We’ll meet at the Community Campus field near the pickleball courts.
See you there!
TRAINING RAMBLIngs
There’s this idea in the training and fitness world to “never miss a Monday.”
I actually always thought it was a good rest day. Mondays were busy for me, and coming off big weekend runs it made sense. So I made this rule, never miss a Tuesday. I;ve posted about it in the past. It’s not an official rule, and I don’t really think about it much these days.
This week I took a rest day on Tuesday. I thought, that’s weird, I never miss training on a Tuesday.
I looked back through my training long and it’s the 3rd Tuesday workout I’ve missed 2026. Not that impressive of a streak or anything, but it’s foundation to my training week. In 2025 I only missed 4 Tuesdays.
These days I typically do train on Monday, but I like to keep it short and simple, and sometimes themed. Last year I did “machine Monday,” and would do intervals on the SkiErg or bike every Monday. Way back I did “minimalist Monday,” where I just deadlifted and did nothing else.
This week it made sense to skip my Tuesday workout. But looking back, having a hard training day on Tuesday has been a staple in my training plan. And maybe my most important training day of the week.
What’s your most important day of the week to train?
SOUND ON
This is Spanish weightlifter Marta Garcia, turn the sound and up listen. You can hear the bar coming off the floor, contact with the hips and the feet sticking the landing. With great training room acoustics. So snappy!
Training Doesn’t Stop…It Changes
I’ve been enjoying the posts from this strength coach who specializes in training jujitsu athletes. A lot of the time, his advice is just good training advice for most everyone.
There’s almost always something you could do to train and improve.
James Clear on Consistency
The More You Know
See you in the gym!
—Justin Miner
Why We Don’t Do Knee Push Ups (And What to do instead)
Doing push ups on your knees is fine when you’re low on equipment, or from time to time to modify a workout to get it done.
Long term, however, knee push ups are limited and leave no room for progress.
By dropping to your knees to perform a push up, you’re shortening the lever and lightening the load you’re lifting - which is a great if you can’t do a push up on your toes. The jump from knee push ups to toes push ups is challenging though, and nearly impossible to accomplish by only training push ups from your knees.
Instead, we do hands-elevated push ups using a barbell in a squat rack. With this system we have a clear method of progress. Lowering the bar lessens your angle to the floor, thus increasing the load you’re lifting. Much like adding weight to a deadlift, you can think of this as adding weight to your push up.
The hands elevated method allows for more nuance to get the right amount of perceived exertion. By elevating the hands, we still get to train the plank position in a longer-lever, something that will pay off if your eventual goal is to get a couple of push ups from your toes.
If you don’t have a barbell and squat rack, a bench, box, counter top or stairs work well too, however, keep in mind, what makes the barbell and squat rack the perfect push up tool is the adjustability - you can be precise and lower or raise the bar by a inch, customizing the right amount of difficulty and always having a way to progress.
—Justin Miner