Guides
How to train, step by step.
43 guides
Strength standards23 September 2026Strength standards, and what they can tell youThere is one large set of published strength standards and everybody in it entered a competition. That is worth knowing before you measure yourself against it.
Powerbuilding21 September 2026Powerbuilding: training for strength and sizeHeavy main lifts with bodybuilding volume behind them. It sounds like two goals sharing one week. It is closer to two goals that want different things.
Periodization18 September 2026Training blocks, and what they are forA block is a run of weeks with one job, ending in a week that pays for the ones before it. The structure matters more than which named model you pick.
Training to failure17 September 2026What training to failure is worthThe last rep is supposed to be the one that counts. The studies that tested that found something more useful and considerably less dramatic.
Splits16 September 2026The bro split, judged on the evidenceOne muscle group a day, trained once a week. It deserves better than the punchline and less than its defenders claim, and which one depends on what you train for.
Interference effect15 September 2026Lifting and running in the same weekCardio does not kill your gains and lifting does not ruin your legs. What is left when the measurements come in is mostly a question of what you do on which day.
Proximity to failure14 September 2026Reps in reserve, and how close to failure to trainReps in reserve is a count of what you left behind, and it is the same scale as RPE read from the other end. The interesting part is what the number should be.
Exercise order12 September 2026What exercise order actually decidesBig before small is the rule everybody is handed. The research behind it says something narrower, and the narrow version is the one that tells you what to do.
Splits11 September 2026The full body workout, and who it is really forEverything trained every session, two or three times a week. The objection is always about the session. The evidence is about the week.
Supplements10 September 2026The pros and cons of creatine monohydrateThe best evidenced supplement in lifting is also the most oversold. Both are true at once, and the gap between them is the part worth reading.
Rep ranges9 September 2026Double progression, and why it worksTwo things progress instead of one: the reps inside a range, then the weight. It is the method that keeps working after adding weight every week has stopped.
Rest8 September 2026How long to rest between setsShort rests still make you stronger. Longer ones make you stronger still, and only once you already train. The clock matters less than the advice suggests.
Splits7 September 2026The upper/lower split, and why four days fitsTwo sessions repeated, four days a week, and every muscle trained twice by Friday. The least fashionable split, and the one that fits most weeks.
Overload4 September 2026What progressive overload actually meansThe demand has to keep rising or the body has no reason to change. That is the whole principle, and the weight on the bar is only one of the things that can rise.
Endurance3 September 2026Strength training for runnersRunners are told to lift and the advice usually stops there. The research is more specific than that, and the part it is specific about is the load.
Splits3 September 2026Push pull legs: the PPL split, three days to sixThe split people mean when they say they are on a program. It decides where your sets go, which matters, and not much else, which is the part worth knowing.
The watch28 August 2026Garmin Strength Training: What Your Watch Can DoYour Garmin is already a good strength training and weightlifting tracker. Recording sets, reps and weight was never the hard part. Deciding what you should lift next is.
Tracking13 August 2026How to take body measurements that tell you somethingBody measurements answer the question a scale cannot. The scale gives you one number for two things that move independently. A tape says which one moved, and it only says it if you take it the same way every time.
Sessions11 August 2026Two lifts, back to backPairing two lifts buys you time and costs you nothing you were using. Here is how to set one up, the five arrangements Reckoner refuses, and the one thing pairing changes about your next week.
Effort2 August 2026What RPE actually measuresIt is not how hard the set felt. It is how many good reps you had left when you racked the bar, and it decides whether next week owes you more rest or a lighter week.
Show moreShowing 20 of 43
Can’t find it? Suggest a topic