From Dan’s Bench

Resilience ≠ Bulletproof

There’s a trap many high performers fall into—one I’ve seen in clients and lived through myself.

It’s the belief that resilience means being untouchable. That if you’re strong enough, fit enough, disciplined enough—you won’t break.

But real resilience isn’t about being bulletproof.
It’s about adapting when the game changes.

One client is moving through a reintroduction to barbell training. She progressed fast—too fast for most—but we pulled back intentionally.

Why?

Because jumping from strength-endurance into heavy lifts isn’t just a physical jump. It’s a nervous system shift. We’re not testing toughness—we’re respecting adaptation. As we discussed, this phase isn’t about proving capability; it’s about preparing the system to thrive long-term.

Another client, on the other hand, has been hammering away at longer rucks, strength-endurance efforts, and prepping for an endurance race. His progress has been impressive—he's noticed core and shoulder stability gains showing up on technical trails. But the real win? He’s learning to modulate. To pace. To break 50-rep sets into smart chunks. To adapt his training for a life on the move. To shift mindset from “get through it” to “learn from it.”

Both of these cases reflect what I believe is the core of Arc Fit’s coaching philosophy:

👉 Performance is impressive.
👉 Adaptability is essential.

Progress doesn’t mean your body can handle everything. It means you’re learning how to respond when it can’t. You’re reading feedback, not ignoring it. You’re training for longevity, not just grit.

In short: Resilience is dynamic. It evolves.
It’s not about being unbreakable.
It’s about knowing how to rebuild—smarter—every time you bend.

And if that’s not part of your training framework…
You’re not building resilience. You’re just delaying the next setback.

Workout of the Moment

A proper warm-up for a max strength lift (think squat, deadlift, press) isn’t just about breaking a sweat—it’s about prepping the exact tissues, joints, and neural pathways you’re about to demand output from.

Here’s a step-by-step outline:

1. General Prep (5 min)

   • Light movement to elevate heart rate and body temp (bike, jump rope, dynamic mobility).

   • The goal: wake up your nervous system, not exhaust it.

2. Movement Pattern Prep

   • Drills that mimic the core lift: e.g., glute bridges, banded goblet squats, or hip airplanes before a back squat.

   • Focus on range, control, and position.

3. Barbell Movement Practice (No Load)

   • Empty barbell × 8–10 reps, strict form. This is where your brain maps the movement.

4. Progressive Loading

   • Add load in 10–20% jumps of your target work weight:

     • Example for a 225 lb work set:

       • Barbell × 8

       • 95 × 5

       • 135 × 3

       • 185 × 2

       • Work Set: 225 × 5

5. Rest with Intention

   • Rest ~2–3 minutes between heavy sets to allow proper recovery (ATP restoration, not scrolling TikTok).

This approach primes both the body and the brain—reducing injury risk while setting you up for strong, confident reps.

Lifting heavy isn’t just about force. It’s about control, rhythm, and respect for the process.

Streaming

The Dr. Gabrielle Lyon Show – Enhancing Health & Performance: Improve Your Heart Rate Variability | Joel Jamieson

In this powerhouse episode, Dr. Joel Jamieson dives into the truth about heart rate variability (HRV)—what it actually measures, how to use it (and how not to), and why it's one of the most misunderstood tools in performance and recovery. He explores how elite athletes don’t just train better—they recover better, and why aerobic fitness is the hidden driver behind long-term adaptability, injury resilience, and aging well. If you’ve been tracking HRV but unsure what the numbers mean (or whether they matter), this conversation reframes it through a lens of practical coaching and longevity science.

Spotlight

I’ve made some behind-the-scenes updates to your Arc Fit Notion hub to make things smoother and more intuitive. Here’s what’s new:

🔄 Streamlined Navigation

When you request access to your new training plan, open up your Calendar View, click the Star on the top right of the page to add to favorites. Your training plan will now be featured on the task bar on the left of the screen for easy tracking to help reduce toggling between pages—just click in and get to work. This view now hosts everything you need:

• Training Plan

• Check-in summaries

• Async messages

• Linked training resources discussed below

You can still leave comments in other parts of the app, but I’ll periodically clean them up and post key notes in one place for easier tracking.

⚙️ New Functionality

1. Built-in Timer for Max Strength Sessions
Use it to track rest between work sets:

• Complete your set

• ✅ Check the Set status box

• ⏱ Start/reset the timer

• Rest for ≥ 2 minutes before your next lift

2. Status Checkboxes
Each movement now includes checkboxes to help track how many working sets you've completed—no more second-guessing mid-session.

3. Workout Logging with Emojis
You can now visually log a completed workout right in the calendar:

• Open the session on your app

• Scroll up above the titled workout

• Tap the “Add Icon” smiley face

• Choose an emoji (your call)

• It’ll display above the workout title in the calendar
  Want a full view of your training history? Log into the web version for an expanded calendar layout.

📚 In-Session Training Resources

Need a quick refresher mid-lift? Now you can access key resources right inside the session view:

• Click “View Details” under your titled workout

• You’ll find links to FAQs, guides, and training principles

• Use these as on-demand references when async communication isn’t fast enough

This is a living system, and your input shapes it. If you spot ways to improve the app—training flow, resource clarity, anything—let me know. That feedback loop is what makes this system work.