Lately, I’ve been reminded just how much specificity matters. With time at a premium, my strength training has been cut down to two 30-minute sessions per week—but by focusing on the areas where I’ve been injured or weaker in the past, I’m staying healthy while my run volume ramps up (I’m not coming home stiff or sore like I used to!). Even in a time crunch, with smart planning you can get stronger in ways that actually transfers.

In my last newsletter "How to Lose Muscle in 1 week", I talked about how fast you can lose muscle, but for some athletes, it’s not just about adding more.

Take Alysia Rissling, for example. When we were training her, adding more strength wasn’t necessarily what helped her break all eight American Bobsleigh start and track records after four years of underperforming. We focused on improving her sprinting technique more than pushing raw numbers in the weight room because we knew that was her biggest performance gap. And we were right—it transferred directly to better performances.

Dan Pfaff’s recent email echoed this point. He shared a case study of a world-class sprinter whose strength numbers were improving, but speed wasn’t. The issue? The strength work wasn’t transferring.

Strength isn’t just about numbers. It’s about expression. How much of it can you actually use when it matters? Do you have any similar stories to this to share? I'd love to hear.

ICYMI: I recently sat down with Explora Creative to talk about how I built my strength coaching business online. If you’re curious about the behind-the-scenes of coaching, programming, and growing an online business, you’ll want to check this out:

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Lastly, here's some stuff I've been experimenting with lately:

• ​Head-supported row – Taking spinal stabilization out of the equation to focus purely on upper back development feels really nice in this variation. Plus, I love a little extra neck training.
• ​Hinged fly to overhead reach – I saw this variation recently and loved it in practice. A juicy hamstring stretch, and the ability to work on more of the mid and lower trap fibres in one go was a win.
• ​Weighted Copenhagen plank w/fly – If you’re still doing these bodyweight, it’s time to level up.
• ​Crossover step-up – I was inspired by the glute med ranking we showed in THIS newsletter since lateral step ups and forward step ups were high on the activation list. Crossing over in the step up seems to stretch the lateral hip even more and I bet this would rank high on the original research, too. Square your hips up for even more stretch.
• ​Knee-supported single leg deadlift – Similarly inspired by the glute med ranked exercises, we've demo'd staggered stance hinges with the knee touching a box before. Maintaining this slight flexion in the knee while doing hinges helps to stretch the glute at the hip and get more activation there.

(Most of these are making their way into March’s $20 Strength Club programming—if you need structured workouts, this might be for you.)

Yours in physiology,

Carla