Sources

Blueprint's headline prescription is 6 hours of exercise per week.

The 6 weekly hours break down as 3 sessions of strength training plus 3 sessions of cardio.

Cardio target: 150 minutes per week of moderate (Zone 2) activity at an intensity where conversation is still possible.

High-intensity target: 75 minutes per week of vigorous exercise (unable to converse, e.g. HIIT) — stated as a minutes floor, not a session count, and never labeled "zone 5".

Flexibility, balance, and mobility exercises are instructed to be included, with no weekly frequency or minutes quantity stated.

Johnson personally does a 60-90 minute workout each morning covering balance, flexibility, strength training, and cardio.

He breaks sedentary time with roughly 2-3 minutes of light activity (walking, bodyweight work, stretching) every 30 minutes.

He stays active for 5-10 minutes after each meal.

The sample week schedules strength training on days 1, 3, and 5 (3 days/week) at 45-60 minutes per session.

Zone 2 is defined as 60-70% of max heart rate — conversational but still exerting.

High-intensity interval work appears on 3 days of the sample week (days 2, 4, and 6), including a day-4 session of 8-10 rounds of 60 seconds above 90% max HR with 60 seconds active recovery.

Day 6 is the Norwegian 4x4: 4 rounds of 4 minutes at 85-95% max HR followed by 3 minutes at 60-70% max HR, on treadmill or indoor bike.

VDOT is a single fitness number computed from a race result — oxygen cost at race velocity (VO2 = −4.60 + 0.182258·v + 0.000104·v²) divided by the fraction of VO2max sustainable for that race duration — so one honest race time sets every training pace.

The engine backing these numbers reproduces Daniels' published race-equivalence table (5K 19:57 = 10K 41:21 = HM 1:31:35 = M 3:10:49 = VDOT 50.0) and matches the Table 5.2 pace zones at VDOT 50 with 0-second deltas on all five zones.

Each training zone is a fixed %VO2max (E 59–74%, M 75–84%, T 83–88%, I 95–100%, R 105–110%); the zone pace is the velocity that elicits that oxygen cost at your current VDOT, so all five paces move together when VDOT changes.

E (Easy) is conversational aerobic running at 59–74% VO2max (engine midpoint 67.8%) — at VDOT 50 the book band is 4:56–5:34/km — and it is the default intensity for all non-quality mileage.

M (Marathon) is steady marathon-race-pace running at 75–84% VO2max (engine midpoint 81.7%), 4:31/km at VDOT 50.

T (Threshold) is "comfortably hard" running pinned to the lactate threshold (~4 mmol/L, roughly 1-hour-race effort) at 83–88% VO2max (engine midpoint 88.1%), 4:15/km at VDOT 50.

I (Interval) is hard repeat work at 95–100% VO2max (engine midpoint 97.4%) — i.e. at or near the velocity at VO2max — 3:55/km at VDOT 50.

R (Repetition) is short fast repeats above VO2max pace at 105–110% (engine midpoint 107.8%), ~3:36/km at VDOT 50, run for speed and economy with full recoveries rather than aerobic load.

Sam's 5K 22:00 computes to VDOT 44.5 (vdotFromRace(parseRace("5K 22:00")) = 44.54), which also implies ~45:40 10K and ~1:41 half-marathon equivalents at current fitness.

Sam's E (Easy) band at VDOT 44.5 is roughly 5:20–6:25/km (59–74% VO2max edges computed as 5:22–6:26/km, engine midpoint 5:45/km); note this is the computed physiological band — the book's printed Table 5.2 E bands trim the slow edge tighter, so treat ~6:25 as a ceiling for genuinely easy days, not a target.

Sam's T (Threshold) pace at VDOT 44.5 is 4:40/km (7:31/mi) — comfortably hard, not a time trial.

These bands inherit the input's uncertainty: the 22:00 5K is Sam's own "ambitious" estimate, not a timed result, so the first properly timed 5K (or a race) should re-anchor VDOT before any pace is treated as precise.

Sam's 7.5 km Wednesday/Saturday club runs are E-zone sessions and should sit inside ~5:20–6:25/km unless the plan explicitly schedules a quality session — running them at club-social pace near or below 5:00/km puts them in his M/T zones and silently converts recovery volume into unplanned hard days.

Reactivity and resistance trade off inversely — a new or heavier stimulus makes the body highly responsive but easy to overtrain, and holding a load raises resistance while responsiveness fades, which is why load must be cycled rather than held flat.

Adaptation is triggered by repeating the same stimulus in a strict rhythm (same days, same exercises, fixed intervals); constantly varied stimuli are read as "static" and produce no system-wide response.

Training must be simultaneously the same (continuity + specificity) and different (law of accommodation), and accommodation is overcome only by a qualitative or quantitative change.

Make quantitative changes (volume, intensity) every session but qualitative changes (exercises, methods) only every mesocycle; a sound program keeps many constants and a limited number of variables.

Share of competition-lift practice scales with level — beginner 100%, intermediate 70-80%, advanced up to 50% — and the ratio is shifted each mesocycle.

Daily NL (number of lifts) per exercise class at ≥70% 1RM: 10-20 minimal, 20-30 optimal, 30-50 maximal.

90% 1RM builds strength fastest but the gains are unsustainable, whereas 80% 1RM develops more strength over the long term.

1-6 reps is the optimal strength range; minimize singles and doubles, favor triples/fours when hypertrophy is unwanted and fives/sixes when it is wanted.

Effort distribution: most volume sits at RPE 6-8, only 5-10% at RPE 8-9, and RPE 9-10 (1RM tests / PR attempts) is used no more than 2-3 times per year.

%1RM enables precise planning but ignores the athlete's daily psychophysical state; RPE/RIR adapts the day's load to sleep, stress, and life factors — plan with %1RM, react with RPE/RIR.

Terminate a set at the first "stop sign": rep speed slows, tempo or inter-rep pauses lengthen, or technique changes in any way.

The training max is the heaviest weight liftable without strong emotional excitation; if heart rate rises before the set, the weight is above today's TM.

The TM can be lifted every session (up to ~6 top lifts) and for elite lifters is ~85-90% of competition max, while >90% 1RM attempts are psychophysical stress that delay progress or cause overtraining if overused — train the TM, test the 1RM rarely.

If a single exercise's daily load exceeds NL 30 or 30 minutes, split it with unrelated exercises or ≥30 min passive rest, and prefer short sessions because free-radical damage peaks toward the end.

A macrocycle spans several months to 4 years; the US powerlifting model runs 8-16 weeks of sequenced mesocycles leading to a competition.

A mesocycle is 2-8 microcycles (roughly one "block"); a single loading mesocycle should already show improvement, and complete adaptation takes at least 6 weeks.

A microcycle is 3-14 days long, with one week the most common length.

Time-tested weekly template: 3 nonconsecutive days with the heavy day mid-week preceded by a light day 48h earlier for facilitation — e.g., Monday light, Wednesday heavy, Friday medium.

The "60% rule": set light-day volume at 60% and medium-day volume at 80% of the heavy day's volume, maintaining intensity on the medium day and reducing it on the light day.

A same-exercise light day typically lowers both reps per set and weight by 20-30% (e.g., 300x5/5 heavy → 225x4/5 light).

Daily NL (number of lifts) per class of exercise counted at ≥70% 1RM: 10-20 is minimal, 20-30 optimal, 30-50 maximal for experienced strength athletes.

If a single exercise's daily load exceeds NL 30 or takes longer than 30min, split it into multiple series separated by unrelated exercises or at least 30min of passive rest.

Comparing 70, 80, and 90% 1RM, 90% builds strength fastest but the gains are unsustainable, while 80% develops more strength over the long term.

Monthly volume distribution across intensity zones: 50-60% of monthly NL at 70-80% 1RM, 30-40% at 81-90%, and 0-10% at 91-100%.

Zone definitions with reps per set: warm-up zone <70% 1RM at 4-10 reps, training zone 70-90% at 1/3-2/3 of the RM, control zone >90% at 1 rep.

Per-session NL options by intensity: 70% 1RM → NL 20/25/30; 75% → 15/20/25; 80% → 10/15/20; 85% → 5/7/10; 90% → 3/5.

A >90% 1RM day carries no NL prescription: work up to a comfortably heavy single, attempt a PR only if exceptionally strong, and recalculate the 70-90% training weights after any PR.

Work-set reps per intensity: 70% 1RM → 3-6 reps, 75% → 3-5, 80% → 2-4, 85% → 2-3, ≥90% → 1, varying within each range as much as possible.

Warm-up set reps by load: 50-55% 1RM → 3-5 reps, 60-70% → 1-3, 75-80% → 1-2, 85-95% → 1.

Between-set rest: with weights up to 90% 1RM rest until fully recovered plus one extra minute, never compressing rests; with >90% weights rest 5min or longer.

The optimal repetition range for strength is 1-6 reps per set.

Effort distribution: most strength-training volume sits at RPE 6-8, only 5-10% of total volume at RPE 8-9, and RPE 9-10 is reserved for 1RM tests and PR attempts no more than 2-3 times per year.

E1RM formula from two rep maxes: E1RM = RM1 + (n1 − 1) × (RM1 − RM2) / (n2 − n1), where RM1 must come from the 3-5 rep range and RM2 from the 8-10 rep range (e.g., 5RM 85kg and 8RM 70kg give E1RM 105kg).

If a max-rep test is done at 80% 1RM (or anywhere in 77.5-82.5%), reps at any percentage P between 70 and 99 are estimated as RM(P%) = 1 + ((n − 1)/20) × (100 − P), with a maximum error of ±1 rep.

If the test load falls outside 77.5-82.5% 1RM, use RM(P%) = RM(Pt%) + ((RM(Pt%) − 1)/(100 − Pt)) × (Pt − P), where Pt is the tested percentage; fractional results are always rounded down.

The RM lookup table spans RM@80% columns 4-14 and rows 70-100% 1RM with the 80% row as identity; e.g., an athlete with 8RM at 80% gets 4 reps at 90%, 6 at 85%, 9 at 75%, and 11 at 70%.

Linear cycling: build 4-6 week mesocycles in which each week's main session is harder than the prior week's, with weight and reps peaking in the final week.

One-variable rule (Morehouse): increase only one load variable (weight, reps/set, or sets) until it reaches a constant, then change another, progressing RPE from ~6-7 up to ~8.5-9.

When intensity is the progression variable, step it up in 2-5% 1RM increments (the Power to the People! template adds 2-3% 1RM per session).

Classic wave cycling: a 6-week mesocycle of two ascending waves — "two steps forward, one step back" — rather than a straight climb.

Step cycling: hold the load constant for 1-3 microcycles before raising it, with 1-week steps optimal for hypertrophy.

Add load when it becomes habitual (Rodionov).

In distributed loading, load the endocrine system ~2 weeks then unload ~2 weeks per month — unless RPE never exceeds 8, in which case weekly loading is fine ("the less you load, the less you have to unload").

"Stealth" deload: even while weight rises every week, cutting reps/sets drops RPE, so the first week of each 4-week block functions as a deload.

Maintenance beats churn: frequent alternation of adaptation and deadaptation overstrains adaptive capacity, so maintain with moderate loads rather than rebuild repeatedly.

After a developmental mesocycle, if not competing, build another by changing a couple of things while keeping the progression rhythm — keep raising the chosen variable once a week for 6 weeks.

6-week adaptation window (Olbrecht/Neumann): weeks 1-2 are the fast-adaptation phase and weeks 3-6 the stabilization phase, so wait ~6 weeks before swapping in a new stimulus.

Training residual: maximal strength — both neural and hypertrophy adaptations — is maintained for 30±5 days, so a gap shorter than ~one month costs little and 2-4 week alternating blocks build one quality without losing the other.

The longer a stimulus is held, the deeper the adaptation and the longer it survives detraining; conversely, the faster an adaptation is formed the faster it is lost (p.27 / pdf 33).

After a competition or a maximal-intensity session the CNS needs at least 3 weeks to recover, and you should not exceed 90% 1RM for more than 3 weeks running.

Re-entry rule: when resuming training after injury, illness, or a layoff, step cycling (very gradual progression) is the preferred structure — and a 1RM test is not advisable on a lift not practiced for some time; use %nRM instead (p.15 / pdf 21 §RPE/RIR vs. % 1RM).

Sharp load increases are preferable to gradual — and the sharper the increase, the longer the stabilization phase that must follow it.

Easy Strength Classic 2.0 uses 2-3 global and regional barbell strength exercises (power cleans and clean pulls acceptable) trained 2-3 sessions per week.

Intensity is 80-95% 1RM (roughly a 2-8RM weight) for 1-6 reps per set at a medium bar speed.

Effort cap: terminate each set before the bar starts slowing, keep RPE at 7-8, and finish the session feeling stronger than at the start.

Per-lift session volume is NL 10-20 for "easy strength" or 20-30 for better results, with ordinary rest periods of typically 3-5min.

Change the intensity every training session — cycled or varied informally/randomly — and if varying randomly, change the set-and-rep scheme every time.

In season, do not stop strength training but reduce volume by 1/2-2/3, optionally dropping from 3 to 2 strength sessions per week.

The modified York Barbell weekly template trains a lift on 3 nonconsecutive days with the heavy day midweek (Monday light, Wednesday heavy, Friday medium), the light day's volume at 60% of the heavy day's and the medium day's at 80%, with intensity maintained on the medium day and reduced on the light day.

A safe frequency for developmental (heavy) loads targeting a given quality is once every 5-7 days.

Plan Strong Tactical's core rules: train almost daily, uncouple volume from intensity, apply sharp load variability driven by the Delta 20 principle, periodically use concentrated loading, and take PRs opportunistically.

Weekly training frequency per lift is die-rolled: the press trains 2-4 days per week (3 on most rolls), the deadlift 1-3 days, and the squat 1-3 days.

Concurrent-training guards: schedule ≥90% 1RM sessions when fresh and avoid endurance training for 24 hours after higher-volume (NL ≥ 20) lifting sessions.

Triple Tier 2.0 runs three sessions per week per lift — heavy 85% 1RM (a 4-7RM) taking 15% of weekly volume, medium 75% (8-11RM) taking 30%, light 65% (12-15RM) taking 55% — holding average relative intensity stable at 71%.

ROP-H schedules 4 weekly sessions (e.g., Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri), each training one movement-pattern group heavy and another light plus specialized-variety slots, and qualifies as a wave cycle because ARI rises each week within the 4-week step.

Heavy-day scheme is (2, 3, 5)/3 — per round 2 and 3 reps with the heavy weight and 5 with the medium weight, three rounds — with the heavy weight stepping from 1RM−(Y×5) up by Y per block (weeks 1-4, 5-8, 9-11, 12-14) to 1RM−(Y×2), the medium weight always Y×2 below it, a taper of (2,3)/3, (1,3)/2, then 1/3 over weeks 12-14, and a 1RM test in week 15.

Light-day scheme: 60% 1RM for 5/5 through weeks 1-12, then 60%+Y for 4/5 (week 13), 60%+2Y for 3/5 (week 14), and 60%+3Y for 2/5 (week 15).

Minimalist ROP-H versions use 2-3 lifts and no specialized variety: a 3-session/week schedule (each session one pattern heavy, one light) or a 2-session/week schedule pairing upper-body press/pull with squat/hip-hinge.

Short sessions are preferable because free-radical damage intensifies as a session progresses and peaks toward its end; pair this with the 30min/NL-30 split rule [SF-031].