The Goal: Build measurable lean muscle while maintaining aerobic capacity—without accumulating so much training fatigue that sleep, work, or consistency suffers.
I ran more this past spring and summer than I have in years, purely for the enjoyment of it.
I loved the high and the simplicity of it—get up, tie your shoes, and go. I loved being outside and having that time alone with my thoughts and my breath. I even loved the discomfort of doing something new and the reminder that progress requires patience, recovery, and adaptation.
Toward the end of summer, though, I found myself enjoying it a little less. My body was responding in a way that told me something was missing—or maybe that the way I was training just wasn’t quite fitting anymore.
I ran a half marathon in September, and afterward I sat down and got really clear about what I want from fitness over the next several months.
So, for the next 15 weeks, the priorities are hypertrophy, recovery, and aerobic maintenance.
I wrote out a clear goal and a plan: follow structured hypertrophy programming consistently for 15 weeks, track my training and nutrition, and use regular weigh-ins and measurements to objectively monitor progress.
Each week, I’ll also check in with myself much like I’ve checked in with nutrition clients over the years—looking at sleep, stress, digestion, recovery, performance, and how I actually feel.
I’m sticking to the fundamentals:
✅Eat enough to support muscle growth.
✅Lift heavy and progressively.
✅Keep enough running to maintain my aerobic fitness.
✅Prioritize sleep and recovery.
✅Track progress and adjust when the data tells me to.
Nothing particularly revolutionary (and no steroids, starvation deficits, or unsustainable 16-week challenges required😘).
The real challenge, and probably the most important part, is doing the basics consistently enough to see what happens.
So stay tuned for my diary of very basic habits, repeated day after day. I’ll show you what consistency actually looks like—and what happens when you give the fundamentals enough time to work.
Day 1. Let’s go.
MSMAMACHIC 