Strength Elite

Eat for your goal.

This isn’t a script to “go get on gear.”

It’s what the actual data and the FDA’s own June 2026 update said about testosterone replacement therapy for diagnosed, monitored low testosterone. TRAVERSE (2023), the largest RCT ever run on this, found no increase in major cardiac events, that’s the data behind the FDA’s decision to remove the label limit on age-related hypogonadism.

This isn’t bro science or an opinion. It’s regulatory history happening in real time.

This isn’t a Pilates “hate” post! It’s about matching the tool to the job.

Pilates has real, evidence backed benefits, core endurance, flexibility, and relief from chronic low back pain (Wells et al., 2012).

What it doesn’t do is build meaningful strength, muscle, or bone density, those adapt to heavy load, not light reps (Kloubec, 2010; Watson et al., 2018).

Do both if you want.

Just know what each one is actually for.

There’s just so many reasons / facts that not strength training as a runner seems almost like planned sabotage.

More sets doesn’t mean more muscle…past a point, it just means more fatigue.

A 2025 dose-response meta-regression puts the ceiling around 10–12 sets per muscle per week, beyond that, added volume buys you almost nothing.

Train to the top of the curve, not past it.

Static stretching pre session shows minimal to no effect on injury rates in the research, and can actually cause a small acute drop in force and power output if done right before max effort work.

The real drivers of injury reduction are load management, eccentric strength, and tissue capacity built through progressive training, stretching mostly buys you a subjective feeling of readiness rather than a measurable protective or performance effect.

What actually works is dynamic movement prep that raises tissue temperature and rehearses the ranges you are about to train, plus long term mobility work built through loaded positions like deep squats and split stance work.

This builds real usable range under tension rather than passive flexibility that does not transfer, and it is why your warm ups should look like lighter versions of the session, not a static stretch routine bolted on the front.

Decades of knowledge in the book.

One book, everything you need to know about strength training, the how & why. Templates and programming for beginners, intermediates and advanced lifters.

✅ Templates

✅ Programs

✅ Your way forward to get strong!

Deload weeks work because fatigue accumulates faster than fitness in the early phase of any training block, and if you never dissipate that fatigue your true capacity stays hidden under the surface.

For strength training this means dropping volume by 40 to 60 percent while keeping intensity moderate to high, so you still touch heavy loads and keep the nervous system sharp without grinding down joints, connective tissue, and recovery capacity.

For running the same logic applies but the lever is usually total mileage and long run distance, cut by a similar margin while keeping some quality sessions in at reduced volume so aerobic and neuromuscular adaptations do not regress.

The mistake most people make is treating a deload as a reward or a rest week they only take when they feel beaten up, when it should be planned proactively every 3 to 6 weeks depending on training age and load.

Done well a deload leaves you feeling noticeably fresher within days, often followed by a jump in performance the week after, because you have finally let supercompensation catch up to the work you already put in.