As we welcome you to our last edition for 2025 we delve into a few key topics regarding pushing yourself harder, being smarter re online splits and better sleep hygiene. We thank you for the 2025 journey and can really promise and look forward to a more valuable and action packed 2026, the fitness industry is in a boom and its not slowing down - were here for that journey and will walk it alongside you.
What’s In Store
What’s In Store:
MOTIVATE: Stop playing scared, your next level physique is on the other side of discomfort.
THINK: Beginners are getting buried in complexity before they even start. Let's fix that.
LEARN: The effect of technology on learning
PRACTICE: How to build great sleep hygiene
CURATE: There’s a lot going on, let’s cut through that with a few updates from the around the web
MOTIVATE
(Straight up motivation to fuel your workouts)
Intensity is slowly being questioned - you shouldn’t avoid it
The core message:
“Fear is not the enemy. It’s a compass showing you where the edge of your comfort zone lies.” -
Unknown (but probably someone who finally added cardio to their routine)
Adding context to fitness
This quote flips the script on fear. Instead of seeing it as something to avoid, it reframes fear as the exact place you need to push into if you want real change.
We’ve all been told some version of this:
“Too much cardio will kill your gains.”
“Lifting heavy will wreck your joints.”
“Going low-calorie will ruin your metabolism.”
So what happens? You tiptoe around intensity. You train like you’re protecting something fragile. And you never leave the safe, comfortable zone you built for yourself.
Look, I’ve been there. I had a deadlift PB that I hovered around for months. Every time I got within 5kg of it, I’d talk myself out of going heavier. Not because I didn’t want the number, but because I’d convinced myself I might get hurt. That pushing harder would somehow backfire.
But here’s the truth:
Growth doesn’t happen in your “safe” settings.
It happens when you flirt with the edges. When you realize that avoiding discomfort is just another way of avoiding progress.
And let’s be clear: this isn’t about recklessness. It’s not about training like an unhinged motivational meme with “NO PAIN NO GAIN” plastered on your shaker bottle. It’s about intelligent, systematic progression, the same way professional athletes build capacity.
Think about how elite athletes train.
They don’t just wake up and run marathons. They don’t throw on 200kg randomly and “go for it.” Their programs are engineered to safely push their limits, week by week, phase by phase, year by year.
An Olympic sprinter will spend months building tendon resilience and force production in the off-season before even touching top speed work.
A Tour de France cyclist might spend 80% of their training in low-intensity cardio (Zone 2) before layering in brutal VO₂ max intervals.
An NFL player rehabbing from injury will do isometric holds, partial range lifts, and controlled eccentrics before even attempting full-speed cuts.
Their bodies weren’t built in chaos. They were built in discomfort, structured, progressive discomfort.
So why can’t we do the same?
Why are we afraid to increase running volume by 10% each month?
Why are we terrified to trade 5 minutes of scrolling for an extra set of split squats?
Why do we assume that pushing slightly harder will destroy everything we’ve built?
Here’s the truth:
Your body is adaptive. But only if you give it a reason to adapt.
If pro athletes, who are already at the edge of human performance can train harder safely, you (with a desk job and some weekend gym time) can absolutely do the same.
Not all at once. But over time.
Practical Implementation
This week, ask yourself:
What’s one area where I’ve been training or eating in fear, not confidence?
What story have I been telling myself that’s keeping me stuck?
What would happen if I pushed that boundary by just 5%?
Progress isn’t a personality trait. It’s a process, built through structured exposure to discomfort. So if you’re stuck… maybe it’s not a lack of potential. Maybe it’s a lack of pressure.
Apply some. Just a little more than yesterday. And watch what starts to change.
THINK
(Your dose of critical thinking to bullet proof the mind)
I was recently looking into a hybrid training program, weights + running. Seemed simple enough. Until the algorithm took over.
Suddenly my feed was full of:
Tempo runs
Threshold runs
Zone 2, 3, 4 heart rate charts
Long slow distance
Interval pace pyramids
At some point I stopped and thought:
If I didn’t know what I was doing… I’d quit right here.
To be clear I tried this approach myself and frankly - I was toast before I even got started, I added way too much cardio volume on top of my existing weight training schedule, not only was I not recovering I was nearing injury at a rapid pace. The simple answer I needed to start at a much much lower intensity and build that base before I moved to the next phase.
How We Got Here
Fitness culture loves nuance. More variables = more science-y = more “optimized.”
But here’s the rub: optimization is useless if it paralyzes you.
For a beginner, trying to figure out your pace zones or alternate three energy systems in a week is like giving someone calculus before they can multiply.
And it’s not just running, it’s everything.
We see beginners trying to:
Do push-pull-legs-iso splits before they’ve learned to hinge or squat
Track five supplements before they track a single meal
Mimic elite programs that were never meant for them
Why?
Because the internet sells the final form... not the first step.
How to Shift or Improve Approach
Here’s what I recommend instead:
Run 3x a week - all at a conversational pace
Lift 3x a week - simple full-body or upper/lower splits
Progress every 2–3 weeks - add time, distance, or load
Ignore 90% of what you see online - seriously
Now please…
Sometimes we can sound like a “just get on with it” kind of newsletter. But that’s not the point here.
This advice is for beginners, for the people who feel overwhelmed before they even start.
Copy-pasting a seasoned athlete’s program off YouTube or Instagram isn’t just intimidating... it’s borderline dangerous. The loads, the volume, the complexity, it’s not built for your body, your recovery capacity, or your lifestyle.
And yes, we absolutely believe that detail and complexity matter. Tempo, energy systems, fiber types, recovery windows... they all play a role. But here’s the thing: those things matter for the last 10%.
For 90% of people just trying to get consistent, lose some fat, or feel better in their body, what matters most is not quitting in week two because the plan was too complicated to begin with.
You can add complexity once you earn it through consistency.
So start simple. Start today.
And evolve your training as you evolve.
You don’t need a perfect plan. You need a plan you’ll actually follow. Simplicity isn't laziness, it's strategy. Build momentum first. Tweak details later.
LEARN
(Top tier research broken down to better understand fitness and health)
Smartphone addiction is not just a “throw away” issue anymore, it makes learning more difficult
Core research question
Does smartphone addiction have a measurable negative effect on learning and academic performance, and can a large-scale synthesis of existing studies resolve the mixed and inconsistent findings previously reported in the literature? More specifically, is there a consistent relationship between smartphone addiction and learning outcomes, and do factors such as type of phone use, multitasking, study design, or region moderate this relationship?
Research methodology
Study type: Systematic review and meta-analysis
Studies included: 44 studies (45 independent effect sizes)
Total sample size: 147,943 students across 16 countries
Population: Primarily K–12 and university students
Inclusion criteria:
Measured smartphone addiction/problematic use
Reported learning outcomes (GPA, test scores, cognitive performance)
Provided sufficient data to compute effect sizes
Analysis:
Effect sizes converted to Pearson’s r
Random-effects model used due to high heterogeneity
Extensive moderator analyses (purpose of use, multitasking, region, grade level, research design, test instruments)
Bias checks: Fail-safe N and Egger’s regression suggested low publication bias
Key outcomes
Overall finding: Smartphone addiction has a small but statistically significant negative effect on learning
Effect size: r ≈ −0.12 (p < .001)
Dose effect: The more frequently phones are used while studying, the greater the negative impact on learning and academic achievement.
Strongest negative associations:
Multitasking during class
Texting and socializing
Video gaming (largest negative effect among usage types)
Consistent across groups:
Negative effects observed in both K–12 and university students
Present across continents (Africa, Asia, Europe, North & South America)
Cognitive impact: Skills critical for learning, attention, self-regulation, and executive function, appear particularly affected
Practical takeaways
Smartphone addiction is not neutral for learning, even modest overuse can meaningfully impair academic outcomes at scale.
Multitasking is the biggest problem, not simply phone ownership or casual use.
Policies or personal rules that limit phone use during studying or class time are likely to improve learning outcomes.
“Productive” or educational phone use does not offset the negative effects when addictive or compulsive use patterns are present.
Interventions should prioritize self-regulation, attention control, and behavioral boundaries, not just technology bans
Study limitations
Conceptual ambiguity: Smartphone addiction is defined differently across studies, relying heavily on self-report measures.
Causality limits: Most included studies are correlational, the analysis cannot fully prove cause and effect.
High heterogeneity: Large variability across studies (I² ≈ 94%), indicating substantial contextual differences.
Rapid tech evolution: Findings may shift as smartphone use patterns and platforms change over time.
My takeaway
What stands out most is not the size of the effect, but its consistency. A small negative effect across nearly 150,000 students adds up to a meaningful real-world impact. This paper reinforces the idea that smartphones do not harm learning simply because they exist, but because they fragment attention at precisely the moments when deep cognitive work is required.
The most compelling insight is that multitasking is the true enemy. When people believe they can focus while constantly checking their phone, they are quietly trading depth for stimulation. And this doesn’t just apply to learning, it applies directly to your 2026 fitness goals.
Think about what actually drives progress: planning meals, grocery shopping with intention, cooking ahead of time, getting to bed early, executing training sessions properly, or even sticking to a weekly routine. None of those happen passively. They all require small but consistent acts of attention and follow-through. If your attention is constantly fractured, it’s not surprising that meal prep gets skipped, sleep gets delayed, and workouts become reactive instead of intentional.
From a practical standpoint, this isn’t about demonizing technology. It’s about recognizing that attention is a limited resource and a trainable skill. If attention were treated with the same seriousness as sleep, nutrition, or training volume, long-term fitness outcomes would likely improve dramatically. Progress in 2026 won’t be limited by knowledge, it will be limited by your ability to consistently act on it.
Link to the paper below:
PRACTICE
(Weekly practical workout, diet and health protocols)
Pre-Bed routine: build sleep hygiene like a pro
You’ve seen the memes: “Can’t sleep. Trained hard. Ate clean. Mind racing over an email I sent in 2017.”
Here’s the thing, sleep isn’t just about getting to bed on time.
It’s about setting up your nervous system, environment, and mindset to want to fall asleep.
If there’s one habit you need to get right this side of 2025, it simply has to be sleep.
We’ll write about it a ton more in 2026, but please, start now. The dividends it pays for energy, focus, fat loss, muscle repair, emotional regulation, even longevity... are massive. Don’t treat sleep like an afterthought. Start treating it like a skill.
So this week, let’s build a repeatable pre-bed routine that prioritizes recovery, hormone balance, and mental stillness, without you scrolling into oblivion.
What you need
60 minutes of commitment before bed (start with 30 if needed)
A low-stim environment (lighting, sound, and stimulation)
A few tools: supplements, breath, a good book, and some self-awareness
How to do it
Here’s a sleep hygiene protocol to wind down your mind and body in layers:
1. Power down devices: T-minus 60 minutes
No screens: phone, laptop, TV, all off.
Blue light suppresses melatonin. But more importantly? The content overstimulates your brain (especially short-form).
Use amber lights or dim your lighting.
Pro tip: Put your phone in “Do Not Disturb” and leave it in another room.
2. Lower stress inputs: T-minus 45 minutes
Avoid stressful conversations, decision-making, or mentally stimulating work.
Let your body know: the workday is over.
Journal if needed, write down tomorrow’s to-dos and release them.
3. Read fiction (Yes, Fiction): T-minus 30 minutes
Light fiction reading is ideal. It lets your mind wander without solving problems.
Avoid self-help or business books—they activate the “fix it” part of your brain.
A calm novel or even a short story will do.
4. Breathing & nasal prep: T-minus 15 minutes
If you struggle to breathe through your nose at night:
Try a warm saline rinse or nasal strips (like Breathe Right).
Use a drop of peppermint essential oil to open the airway.
Then do 5 minutes of slow nasal breathing:
Inhale for 4 sec → Hold for 7 sec → Exhale for 8 sec (repeat x5)
This activates your parasympathetic nervous system (a.k.a. the “rest and digest” switch).
5. Optimize room conditions
Temperature: 16–19°C (60–67°F)
Lighting: Pitch black if possible (use blackout curtains or an eye mask)
Sound: Use a white noise machine or low fan hum if needed
Socks: Yes, warm feet help trigger faster sleep onset
6. (Optional) supplement stack: Only if needed and cleared with your healthcare provider:
Magnesium Glycinate (200–400mg) – Calms the nervous system
L-Theanine (100–200mg) – Smooths out mental chatter
Apigenin (50mg) – From chamomile; helps with sleep onset
Glycine (3g) – Can drop core temperature and improve sleep quality
Tart Cherry Extract – Natural source of melatonin
You don’t need to take all of these. Start with one or two.
Final Tips
Start with a 30-minute version if an hour feels like too much. Don’t panic if you don’t fall asleep immediately. The point is to signal safety and stillness. Be consistent. Your body learns through repetition, not random hacks.
Remember: Sleep is not the last thing you do.
It’s the reward your body gives you for creating the right inputs.
You want better recovery, better training, better fat loss?
Start the night before.
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:
High volume training fails when attention drops
In this reel, Eric Helms explains an often-overlooked variable in high-volume training: presence. Being mentally engaged, controlling reps, and avoiding distractions may be the difference between volume that builds muscle and volume that just creates fatigue
Watch here
Recovery isn’t ice baths and gadgets
In this post, Eric Pak breaks down why most popular recovery “hacks” mainly reduce soreness and fatigue perception, but don’t meaningfully improve muscle growth or adaptation. The real drivers of recovery remain boring but powerful: adequate sleep and sufficient nutrition — with some modalities even blunting hypertrophy if misused.
Read here
Why habits beat outcome goals
In this post, Adam Grant breaks down evidence from 27 studies showing that behavior-based goals are up to three times more effective than outcome goals. Sustainable improvement comes from focusing on daily actions you can control, not distant results.
Read here
Inflammation is now a treatable cardiovascular risk
In this post, Filippo Cademartiri explains why inflammation is no longer viewed as a bystander in heart disease. New ACC guidance positions inflammation as a measurable, actionable driver of cardiovascular risk, with hsCRP emerging as a key marker, even in patients with well-controlled LDL cholesterol.
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
