In the last email, I talked about the hierarchy for stress management — one of the four pillars of physique change.

Today, I want to talk about training.

When it comes to training, we’re often taught to focus on the wrong things — flashy techniques over foundational principles that drive results.

That’s because the most important levels — adherence, volume, and intensity — aren’t catchy, and they require nuance.

The Training Pyramid has six levels. Here's our most up-to-date version, which you'll see in the upcoming third edition of our Muscle and Strength book (coming December 26th):

Let’s walk through them, from the bottom up.

1. Adherence

At the base of the pyramid is the most unsexy truth in fitness:

The best program is the one you can actually stick to.

If you don't enjoy your training, or it doesn’t fit your life, it will fail. Not because you’re lazy, but because you’re human.

Frequency, session length, schedule flexibility, and enjoyment — all of this determines whether you show up consistently.

A "perfect" program you quit after weeks is beaten by a "pretty good" one you run for years.

Before worrying about anything else, ask:

• Can I realistically train this many days per week?
• Do these sessions fit my work, family, and recovery?
• Can I see myself doing this six months from now?

If the answer is no, you need to make changes.

Better to do CrossFit (if you enjoy that) than an "optimal" bodybuilding program you hate.

2. Volume & Intensity

Volume and intensity determine the stimulus you’re giving your body.
Too little, nothing happens.
Too much, you bury yourself in fatigue.

There’s no universal "optimal" volume, only what you can recover from, what your life stress allows, and what’s sufficient to support growth.

More is not always better.

When progress stalls, you need better-managed volume and intensity.

(Readers of The Muscle and Strength Pyramid books may notice that we removed frequency from this level. Recent research indicates that the independent effect of frequency is minor or negligible, depending on whether your goal is strength or hypertrophy. Frequency is explained as a tool to better distribute the training dose.)

3. Progression

Training without progression is just exercise. A stimulus stops being effective once you fully adapt to it.

At this level, the question you should ask is:
​How do you apply overload in a way you can sustain?

That might be:

• More reps at the same load.
• More load at the same reps.
• Better execution at the same effort.
• More total quality work over time.

Progression doesn’t mean forcing PRs every week. It means adjusting things to keep you growing without breaking yourself.

If you’re constantly grinding, failing reps, or restarting programs, progression is being poorly managed, and you need to learn how to adjust it.

(I'll share more on this soon in a massive Progression article update.)

4. Exercise Selection

Only now do we talk about which exercises you use.

If your goal is to be strong in particular lifts, then you need to train those specific lifts. But if your goal is just to be big and strong, don't shoehorn yourself into doing something that hurts you or you don't enjoy.

If barbell squats break you, make friends with the leg press.
If leg presses cause lower back pain, try Bulgarian Split Squats.
If Bulgarian split squats hurt your soul, welcome to the club. (Leg training is hard. You need to embrace the suck.)

Jokes aside, for muscle growth:

• Choose exercises you can perform confidently with good form, pain-free, with a full range of motion, for which you have equipment access.​
• If an exercise beats you up before the muscle gets close to failure, it’s a poor choice.

There are no universal "best" exercises, only exercises that make sense for you.

5. Rest Periods

Rest is valuable. Sweat isn't a virtue signal.

Short rests save time, but often reduce performance and volume quality. Longer rests allow:

• More reps.
• More load.
• Better execution.
• Greater total stimulus.

If your goal is muscle or strength, resting "until ready" beats arbitrarily short rest periods. Only shorten rests if you're pressed for time. It’s really that simple.

6. Tempo (and Other Shiny Objects)

This is the top of the pyramid for a reason.

Tempo tweaks, fancy pauses, slow eccentrics, novel methods all matter very little compared to levels 1–5.

Don't let yourself get lost in the weeds.

The Big Takeaway

Fitness content often zooms in on specific topics, leaving out the big picture.

This leads to endless arguments about tempo, novel exercises, and optimization gimmicks, instead of giving you the framework needed to break through plateaus.

1. Nail adherence (by doing stuff you enjoy).
2. Manage volume and intensity.
3. Progress patiently.
4. Choose sensible exercises.
5. Rest enough.
6. Then — and only then — worry about further details.

​
(I'll share our updated guide to program building around these principles in the coming weeks, along with updated sample training programs.)

So, what level of the pyramid do you think you’ve been over- or under-prioritizing?

For me, it was barbell back squatting for years, despite lacking the requisite range of motion, leading to chronic pain that would wake me at night. 🤦‍♂️

I’d love to hear from you. Hit reply — I read and respond to every message. 💪