All protocols

Combine goals that are close together on the adaptation spectrum, since they interfere less with one another; speed, power, and strength are generally complementary and can be trained together.

If combining endurance intervals with speed, power, or strength, keep endurance volume low enough to avoid residual fatigue.

When combining endurance with other goals, choose less impactful modalities to reduce interference and recovery cost; examples given include cycling instead of running and swimming as a low-impact option.

Avoid doing roughly 30+ minutes above about 60% heart rate before lifting if you want to minimize interference.

Match calorie intake to the current goal and training block: increase calories to support recovery when endurance work is interfering, use a small surplus for hypertrophy or muscle gain, reduce calories during fat-loss phases, and return to maintenance during conditioning or transition phases. For muscle gain, aim for about 10–15% above baseline (roughly 250–400 extra kcal/day for someone normally eating 2,500 kcal/day) and avoid excessive overeating that leads to unnecessary fat gain.

If training load is high, first consider ramping up recovery rather than immediately cutting training.

Allocate 10 total points across business, relationships, fitness, and recovery to understand where your energy is going and whether it matches your goals.

Recovery should be at minimum half of your fitness allocation in the quadrant system, and preferably at least 20% of the total allocation (2 out of 10 points).

Use recovery practices such as meditation, sleep, going to a concert, reading for pleasure, or play—whatever gives you energy back.

If your quadrant allocation needs to change, define specific life actions that make the new allocation possible.

Use explicit work boundaries to protect training and recovery time, such as not working after 7 p.m. on certain days or not starting before 8 a.m.

Create a hard rule to stop work and train at a fixed time, e.g. 3 p.m., regardless of what is happening.

Keep the quadrant visible by screenshotting it as your phone background and placing it in your main place of failure, such as on your laptop or workstation.

Put the plan in the hands of someone who can hold you accountable, such as a spouse, training partner, or business partner.

Write deadlines, travel, holidays, and other non-negotiables into a physical calendar before designing training.

Design training around deadlines, travel, holidays, and family obligations rather than pretending they do not exist.

Decide how many days per week you can truly train based on your real schedule.

Be conservative about how much time you think you have for training rather than overestimating.

When budgeting workout time, include the warmup and the down-regulation breathing at the end as part of the total session.

If you can only train three days per week, choose a training style built for three days rather than trying to force a four- or five-day plan.

Balance movement patterns, muscle groups, front/back, and side-to-side across the week rather than necessarily within each workout; avoid relying on only one modality such as cycling every day.

If gym access is poor, restrict yourself to options you can do at home, such as running, kettlebells, and bands.

Choose movements you can perform correctly.

If using bodyweight exercises, decide in advance how you will progressively overload them, such as by increasing complexity, repetitions, or hold time.

Progress movements in order: assisted execution first, then unassisted bodyweight execution, then loaded eccentric control, then isometric holds in the bottom position, then the concentric portion, then speed, and finally fatigue.

Use as support to assist squat practice and improve squat execution.

Put the highest-priority session on the day of the week when your schedule and energy are most consistent; for example, put lower-body work there if it is a priority.

Place long-form cardio on a day when it can take multiple forms and be combined with social or family time.

Include regeneration-focused sessions in your training week; examples include body work and hot-cold contrast.

Choose small-muscle-group pump work, such as a fun 'gun show' biceps/triceps session, on low-motivation days because it is easier to start and less disruptive to recovery.