Training Programs

It is essential that you adhere strictly to the prescribed durations and intensity levels outlined in your recovery sessions. Resist the temptation to “do more” or exceed the recommendations, even if you’re feeling energized. The purpose of this phase is to facilitate full-spectrum recovery—neurological, muscular, hormonal, and emotional. Overreaching during recovery blocks can delay adaptation, increase inflammation, and compromise progress moving forward.

Recovery is not passive—it’s strategic. Trust the process, execute with precision, and allow your body and mind the space they need to regenerate, recalibrate, and come back stronger.

Optimize Fueling to Prevent Hunger and Sustain Energy

Throughout each day, make it a non-negotiable habit to assess your hunger cues and energy levels at regular intervals. Your overarching objective is to avoid allowing hunger to set in, as this signals a delay in caloric replenishment and can compromise both metabolic efficiency and training output.

To proactively manage this, ensure that every meal or snack includes a balance of high-quality dietary fats—such as avocados, raw nuts, seeds, and extra virgin olive oil—and complete proteins, including but not limited to lean poultry, wild-caught salmon, grass-fed beef, tofu, or eggs. This combination slows gastric emptying, stabilizes blood sugar levels, and supports sustained energy availability.

During this phase of development, do not fixate on counting calories. Instead, focus on documenting the quantity and quality of food consumed (e.g., “2 boiled eggs and 1 tablespoon olive oil” or “1 cup cottage cheese with blueberries”). Alongside this, record your perceived hunger and energy levels before and after meals. If you notice sharp spikes in energy followed by rapid drops, it’s a sign that your intake may be insufficient in total volume or nutrient density. Conversely, if you feel sluggish after eating, this may indicate a food intolerance, poor macronutrient balance, or a mismatch between the food and your physiological needs.

Given that most individuals cycle through the same 10–15 core foods each week, you’ll only need to update your food journal when you introduce a new item into your regular routine. Pay close attention to how new additions—especially carbohydrates, fats, or proteins—impact your satiety and sustained energy levels.

Energy Awareness During Training

Your fueling strategy should be continuously evaluated during physical activity, not just at rest. Early-phase energy (post-warm-up) is a crucial biofeedback marker. If you feel strong and focused at the start but begin to fade mid-session, your fuel type may be appropriate, but the total caloric load is insufficient for your training demands. This is especially common in endurance or high-intensity intervals where glycogen depletion can quickly outpace intake.

On the other hand, if you feel lethargic shortly after beginning your session—even after a proper warm-up—this points to poor nutrient timing or incompatible pre-training food sources. In these cases, your body is likely struggling to oxidize the food efficiently due to either macronutrient imbalance, gut stress, or poor metabolic adaptation.

Avoid falling into the trap of generic recommendations or trendy fueling strategies. Your goal is to develop a personalized nutrition framework that considers not only the type and timing of intake but also the specific demands of your training session—including its duration, intensity, environmental conditions (e.g., heat and humidity), and physiological objective (e.g., strength, endurance, or speed adaptation).

If necessary, block out your schedule to ensure that you have time to complete these protocols effectively.  An ounce of pre-planning will go a long way regarding these two areas.  Another idea behind the Work Smart, Not Hard and Avoid Overtraining concept.

Yours in sport & health,

-Coach Robb, Coaches and Staff

Thought for the week:

“In all my experience, I have yet to encounter a truly successful individual who, at their core, did not possess a profound understanding of the relentless dedication and disciplined consistency required to achieve and sustain meaningful success.”