Build a workout routine
Start with the best workout routine for the equipment and time you have. Workout.lol builds a plan from your gear, and MuscleWiki maps exercises to each muscle. Nosaka argues that eccentric training builds strength cheaply, and a kettlebell swing ladder targets VO2 max. 7 picks from the Bez Tytułu newsletter, in reading order.
The picks
Workout.lol: Workout Routine Builder
Tool · workout.lol · Issue #105
Workout.lol is a small web app that builds a workout routine from the equipment you have and the muscles you want to train. The page calls it the easiest way to create a workout routine. Its listed creator is the handle @wweb_dev.
MuscleWiki
Tool · musclewiki.com · Issue #47
An exercise library organized around an interactive muscle map: clicking a muscle shows targeted exercises. It advertises over 2,000 exercises, each with video tutorials and step-by-step instructions, plus a Generator tool and mobile apps. The site describes the library as free with no registration required.
6 Exercises That Fix 97% of Your Problems
Watch · youtube.com · Issue #193
A Health in Focus video presenting exercises for strengthening the body for everyday life, including single-leg hip thrusts, resistance band rows, suspension belt squats and side planks with leg lifts. The description lists ten moves, and the video is free to watch.
You Don't Need to Train Harder, Just Smarter
Read · sciencedirect.com · 15 min · Issue #235
Nosaka argues that eccentric exercise, the lowering phase of a movement, builds strength at a fraction of the metabolic cost. He reframes delayed-onset muscle soreness, saying gradual progression delivers the adaptation without wrecking the body. The suggested routine is five minutes a day of heel drops, chair squats and wall push-ups.
How to End a Workout to Improve Recovery
Watch · youtube.com · Issue #124
A Huberman Lab clip from the guest series, episode 5, published October 2023, in which Dr. Andy Galpin and Dr. Andrew Huberman discuss how to end a workout to improve recovery. Techniques include slow-paced music and down-regulation breathing, with box breathing presented as a way to manage stress and aid recovery.
Build VO2 max before muscle endurance
Short · tiktok.com · Issue #138
Build VO2 max before muscle endurance, since cardiovascular endurance limits how long you can keep working, and kettlebell ladders help.
A firefighter recruit says he cut a fitness test time from 11 minutes to 7 in two weeks. He argues to build VO2 max before muscular endurance. The method is kettlebell swing ladders: do one swing, breathe in and out once, then two swings with two breaths, up to 20. Rest equals breath count, and breaths are later reduced to build the aerobic base.
Key points- The speaker cut a firefighter test from 11 minutes to 7 in two weeks
- Cardiovascular endurance limits muscular endurance, so train it first
- Kettlebell swing ladders are the method, inspired by Air Force pilot training
Daniel Lieberman: Exercise Has Been Medicalized
Watch · youtube.com · 8 min · Issue #75
Harvard professor Daniel Lieberman, author of Exercised, argues in this Big Think video that modern exercise has been medicalized and turned into something people feel obliged to do. Historically, people stayed active through necessary and socially rewarding activities such as hunting, dancing and sports. The video covers the 10,000 steps myth and the warrior origins of exercise, and claims treadmills were invented as prison torture machines.