Hello and welcome to another jam packed edition of the Fitness Hacker newsletter. We have a theme of “less” in two pieces, not because is less is more but just because we understand where life can take you. Lets dive in:
What’s In Store
What’s In Store:
MOTIVATE: Why you can’t achieve your dream physique with your current self
THINK: Training with less days does not mean a typical approach, you need to dial up the intensity
LEARN: Intensity terminology is more important than you think
PRACTICE: What can you actually achieve in just 2 meals
CURATE: Another selection of content from around the internet and social media
MOTIVATE
(Straight up motivation to fuel your workouts)
To reach a new level, you have to become a new you!
The quote
“To achieve something you’ve never had, you must become someone you’ve never been.” - Unknown
The intent behind that quote
This isn’t just motivational fluff. It’s a direct challenge to your identity. It suggests that the gap between your current reality and your desired outcome isn’t just about effort, it’s about evolution. You don’t get new results by doing more of the old you. You get them by building a different you.
Why it matters for fitness
Most people approach fitness like they’re adding a side quest. “I’ll just slot in a workout or two. Eat a bit better. Cut the soda. Should be fine.” But the truth is, the version of you that created your current body isn’t the one that can build the next one.
You might think you need a new routine, when in fact, you need a new identity:
The old you sleeps in. The new you sets an alarm.
The old you eats “good enough.” The new you counts, tracks, refines.
The old you needs motivation. The new you runs on systems.
The old you gives up at 80%. The new you finishes the job.
This isn’t a minor upgrade. It’s a full-on OS reboot.
What’s tricky is that many of the habits you’ve built, even the ones that feel like self-care, might actually be anchors (this one bites for most of us). Comforts. Excuses dressed in logic. And to grow beyond them? You need to burn the script and write a new one.
Practical implementation
Here’s a mental framework to activate this shift:
Step 1: Define your future self. Not just the weight or physique. Who is this person? How do they train, eat, talk to themselves? What do they not do anymore?
Step 2: Audit your current self. List out daily habits, thoughts, actions. Which ones can’t survive in your next chapter?
Step 3: Identify the identity gap. This is the space between who you are and who you need to become. Then, start closing that gap. One behavior, one decision at a time.
And here’s the key: You don’t need to wait to become that new version of you. You become them by acting like them. Today. Now.
Every rep, every meal, every bedtime decision, it’s a vote. Cast enough votes, and eventually, the new you becomes permanent.
THINK
(Your dose of critical thinking to bullet proof the mind)
Fewer workouts? Then it’s time to bring the heat.
The setup
So your week just imploded, work travel, family commitments, school exams, deadlines, whatever. Suddenly your 5-day split just turned into a 3-day squeeze. Most people’s first instinct? Panic… then compromise.
Cut the volume. Drop the plan. Do some “maintenance work.” Maybe hit a full-body circuit. That’s not wrong - it’s often the default advice. But here’s a different lens...
What if the only thing you truly needed to modify wasn’t the structure - but the intensity?
How we got here
Progressive overload is king. If you’ve trained smart over the past few weeks or months, you’ve built a base of volume, movement pattern familiarity, and neurological efficiency. Keep that going into this workout. That momentum is currency.
And when your weekly frequency takes a hit, the temptation is to keep things lighter or just “tick the box” for the week.
But here’s what people forget: your body doesn’t count days - it counts stimuli.
If your reduced sessions pack enough muscular and neurological punch - with heavy enough loading, enough tension, and deep effort, you can still drive progress or at least halt decay. Three sessions of high-quality, high-effort work can match or even exceed the results of five sub-maximal ones.
How to shift your approach
The lever you need to pull is intensity. And not just “I felt sweaty” intensity, but real mechanical, muscular demand. Here’s how to do it:
1. Know What True Failure Feels Like
Most lifters stop way too early.
Push to where your form starts to break but doesn’t collapse.
That final 1–2 reps where your body screams and your brain wants to stop, that’s the adaptation zone.
2. Drop the “Leave Reps in Reserve” Mentality (Temporarily)
RIR and RPE models are great for volume-based training.
But with limited sessions? You're not playing the long game, you're cashing in.
Don’t aim for 2 reps in the tank. Aim for no reps left, especially on your last sets.
3. Use Set-Extending Techniques
If you're doing fewer sets and fewer days, then squeeze every drop out of each movement:
Drop sets: Immediately reduce the weight and keep repping.
Rest-pause: Hit failure, rest 10–15 seconds, then hit failure again.
Slow eccentrics: Increase time under tension without increasing volume.
Cluster sets: Short breaks inside one big set, allow for more reps at heavier loads.
4. Favour Compound Lifts
This isn’t the week for six variations of lateral raises. Load up:
Squats, deadlifts, rows, presses , the big mechanical tension drivers.
These movements give you the most return per minute invested.
5. Get Ruthless With Distractions
No fluff. No phone. No warm-up that’s longer than your workout.
You’re here to work. Three days of tunnel-visioned savagery > five days of mild effort.
Final takeaway
When your schedule shrinks, your output per session needs to expand. Fewer training days isn’t a death sentence , it’s a test of whether you can turn the dial up. If you’ve been coasting in the 7–8 RPE zone for weeks, this is your chance to flirt with 9.5+ and find out what you’re really made of.
Lower frequency is not a free pass to cruise. It’s a call to crush.
LEARN
(Top tier research broken down to better understand fitness and health)
Exercise intensity terminology how to classify it and why it matters
Core research question
Can the field converge on a standard, cross-domain vocabulary for exercise intensity that works for public health, clinical practice, exercise science, and sport, and map that vocabulary to practical ways of prescribing and monitoring intensity for both cardiorespiratory and resistance exercise? The authors propose a five-level intensity scale and aligned “perception of effort” terms to reduce confusion and improve prescription quality and comparability
Research methodology
This is an expert statement and consensus (not a primary study). The panel reviews existing guidelines and usage across agencies and subfields, highlights inconsistencies, and proposes a harmonized framework: five intensity categories and five matching perceived-effort descriptors, plus preferred physiological anchors and monitoring tools. It critiques common practice (e.g., %VO₂max, %HRmax, METs for cardio and %1RM for resistance) and recommends threshold-based anchors for cardio and repetitions-in-reserve (RIR) for resistance, with RPE as an adjunct in both.
Key findings
Five standardized intensity categories for all modalities: Very Low, Low, Moderate, High, Very High. Matching effort descriptors: very easy, easy, somewhat hard, hard, very hard. Avoid “light/heavy” (confusing for resistance) and “supramaximal.” Prefer “High” over “vigorous.”
Cardiorespiratory mapping:
Low: below first metabolic threshold (MT1)
Moderate: between MT1 and MT2
High: above MT2 but below Wmax (work rate at VO₂max)
Very High: above Wmax
Preferred anchors: direct metabolic thresholds and GXT-derived Wmax.
Resistance mapping: intensity should reflect how hard the set is, not just load. Recommend RIR as the primary gauge; e.g.,
Moderate: ~4–6 RIR
High: ~2–3 RIR
Very High: <2 RIR
Include aligned RPE10/RPE20 bands for each category.
Critiques of common markers: Fixed %VO₂max, %HRmax, %HRR, and METs do not reliably place different individuals in the same metabolic domain; they can misclassify intensity widely. For resistance, %1RM alone is insufficient because intensity rises as proximity to failure increases and varies by tempo, rest, and contraction type.
Practical adjuncts: RPE is useful as a supporting tool (after familiarization), and the Talk Test may help cap intensity below High when lab measures are unavailable, but both show wide individual variability.
Practical takeaways
Use a single five-step language across your content and programs: Very Low, Low, Moderate, High, Very High, with matching effort terms. This keeps public, clinical, and performance contexts aligned.
For cardio: When possible, anchor to MT1/MT2/Wmax from graded testing. If you lack lab data, combine RPE bands (e.g., Moderate ≈ RPE20 12–14; High ≈ 15–16) with conservative Talk Test use to avoid creeping above High unintentionally.
For resistance: Prescribe by RIR, not %1RM alone. Program the target effort: e.g., hypertrophy blocks at 2–3 RIR (High), strength exposures at ≤1–2 RIR (Very High), deloads at ≥5 RIR (Low–Moderate). Layer %1RM only as a starting load heuristic.
Messaging: Avoid “light/heavy” and “supramaximal” in public guidance. Use the five standard labels plus effort cues so readers can self-calibrate.
Research limitations
It is an expert consensus, not a systematic review or clinical trial. Adoption may face legacy terminology inertia.
Preferred cardio anchors (thresholds, Wmax) require laboratory testing; population-level, low-cost surrogates remain imperfect. No definitive marker distinguishes Very Low from Low yet.
RPE and RIR show experience-dependent reliability and individual variability; more research is needed to tighten ranges across ages, sexes, fitness, and health states.
My take on this research
This paper is a useful reset button. We’ve all seen how muddled intensity language gets when public health, clinical rehab, gyms, and high-performance sport use different words for the same sensation. A common five-step scale that maps to physiology for cardio and proximity to failure for lifting is practical and defensible. I’d adopt the vocabulary immediately in programs and consumer content, using RIR and RPE day to day and threshold testing when precision matters. The big unlock is cultural: once coaches, clinicians, and creators speak the same intensity language, prescriptions get clearer, research gets more comparable, and athletes and patients are less confused. I’d still like to see better field-friendly proxies for thresholds and stronger RIR education for novices, but this is the right direction.
Link to the paper below:
PRACTICE
(Weekly practical workout, diet and health protocols)
Two meals. One day. Full macros? It’s doable.
The why
Life throws punches , meetings, travel, emergencies, skipped alarms. And while the “ideal” scenario is to spread your intake across 3–4 meals, real life isn’t a research lab.
The question is: Can you still hit a full day’s worth of macros in just two meals?
Let’s say your targets are:
150g Protein
300g Carbs
90g Fat
That’s around 2,850–3,000 calories depending on exact food choices.
Doable? Yes. Easy? No. But especially if you’re deep into a bulk or a long, hard training cycle , this is when you make it work.
We’re going to give you two full-day plans , each with just breakfast and dinner , that get you there.
Option 1: The clean engine
MEAL 1 – Breakfast (around 1,400–1,500 kcal)
4 whole eggs + 4 egg whites
100g oats cooked with 250ml whole milk
1 banana sliced into oats
2 tablespoons natural peanut butter
1 scoop whey protein in a shake (with water)
1 tablespoon honey stirred into oats
1 multivitamin or greens powder
Macros
~70g protein
~150g carbs
~40g fat
MEAL 2 – Dinner (around 1,500–1,600 kcal)
250g grilled chicken thigh or lean steak
250g cooked jasmine rice
1 tablespoon olive oil drizzled over vegetables
Large side of sautéed mixed veggies (broccoli, peppers, spinach)
1 medium avocado
1 large baked sweet potato
1 scoop casein protein in almond milk before bed
Macros
~80g protein
~150g carbs
~50g fat
Option 2: The dirty bulk (Travel or emergency mode)
MEAL 1 – Breakfast (around 1,450 kcal)
1 large breakfast burrito: 3 scrambled eggs, 150g lean beef, 1/2 cup cheese, potato chunks, tortilla
1 bowl granola (60g) + 250ml full-fat milk
1 scoop whey + 1 tbsp peanut butter in a shake
1 banana
1 cup orange juice
Macros
~75g protein
~150g carbs
~40g fat
MEAL 2 – Dinner (around 1,550 kcal)
Large double-patty homemade burger (180g beef) + cheese + whole-wheat bun
200g sweet potato fries, air-fried
1 serving coleslaw (with olive oil mayo)
Greek yogurt (200g) with honey and berries
1 scoop casein with almond milk before bed
Macros
~75g protein
~150g carbs
~50g fat
Final Thoughts
This isn't a long-term strategy , it’s a rescue plan. Two meals per day won’t optimize digestion, energy levels, or muscle protein synthesis frequency. But when life forces your hand, nutrient density and precision win the day.
The key lies in:
Big servings of protein-rich foods
Smart use of calorie-dense, healthy fats
Minimally processed carbs that digest well and refuel you
You’ll be surprised how resilient your body is , if you respect your needs and fuel it well, even with less-than-ideal timing.
CURATE
The roundup (a collection of some of the latest and most useful content from around the internet):
We have 4 great pieces for you this week:
There a small twist this week, these pieces are not all brand new, instead we just went about a looking for a few content pieces that we felt were very value add and useful - enjoy!
Andrew huberman and Matt Walker on mastering sleep
In this deep-dive episode, Andrew Huberman and Dr. Matt Walker break down the science and habits that make or break sleep quality. From light exposure and caffeine timing to sleep pressure and circadian rhythm control, it’s a practical masterclass on optimizing rest for performance and longevity.
Watch here
Peter Attia on flavonoids and chronic disease
Peter Attia explores the growing body of evidence on whether flavonoids—plant-based compounds found in fruits, vegetables, tea, and dark chocolate—actually reduce the risk of chronic disease. While epidemiological studies often link higher flavonoid intake with longevity and cardiovascular health, Attia dissects the data with his signature nuance, noting that many correlations don’t necessarily prove causation. Still, he highlights how flavonoids may support endothelial function, reduce oxidative stress, and improve metabolic resilience, especially as part of a whole-food diet rather than supplements alone.
Read here
Eugene Teo on minimalist training and life balance
Eugene Teo reflects on his year-long experiment with the “minimum effective dose” approach to training. Balancing new fatherhood, business goals, and performance, he found that stripping training back to its essentials, just 2–3 focused 40-minute sessions a week - delivered surprising progress. His message is simple: when life gets fuller, your workouts don’t have to disappear. They just need to be smarter, more intentional, and aligned with everything else you’re building.
Read here
Layne Norton on training volume and muscle growth
Layne Norton highlights a clever new study featured in REPS that examines how training volume affects strength and hypertrophy. Using a within-participant, unilateral design—each lifter trained one leg with high volume and the other with low volume, the study effectively removes variables like genetics or nutrition. Sixteen trained individuals followed a progressive 10-week program comparing 6–8 sets versus 12–16 sets per week. The design offers one of the cleanest looks yet at how volume really influences muscle growth.
Read here
To everyone that keeps reading and keeps helping to grow this newsletter I truly appreciate you. If you know of anyone in your immediate circle that may enjoy this newsletter please just forward this newsletter to them and tell them to subscribe at the link below:
Wishing you all the best in your fitness journey
The FitnessHacker
