RPE vs Heart Rate: Which Is Better for Tracking Training?
RPE vs heart rate for tracking training: what each one measures, where each falls short, and why using both together tells you the most about your load.
Read more →Field notes
Blog
Insights on intentional training, performance journaling, and getting the most out of your practice.
End of Season Review Questions for Athletes
End of season review questions for athletes: a simple four-part reflection to capture what you learned this season before planning the next one.
Read more →Benefits of Journaling for Athletes: What the Research Actually Shows
The benefits of journaling for athletes, ranked by strength of evidence: goal tracking, self-talk cues, pre-competition writing, and expressive writing.
Read more →What Makes a Good Coach-Athlete Relationship?
What makes a good coach-athlete relationship? The three qualities that matter most, and what you can do from the athlete side to build them.
Read more →RPE vs RIR: What's the Difference and Which Should You Use?
RPE vs RIR explained: how rate of perceived exertion and reps in reserve relate, how accurate they are, and when to use each to track your training.
Read more →How to Monitor Athlete Wellness Without Expensive Tech
How to monitor athlete wellness without expensive tech: a simple check-in system coaches can run with any team, and how to read it without overreacting.
Read more →How to Tell Your Coach You Need Rest
How to tell your coach you need rest without feeling like you're letting the team down, with a simple way to bring specifics instead of excuses.
Read more →The Best Mental Training Apps for Athletes in 2026
The best mental training apps for athletes in 2026, from sport psychology audio to visualization and reflection, with prices and what each one trains.
Read more →Should You Trust How You Feel or Your Data? (Myth: Feelings Are Unreliable)
Should you trust how you feel or your training data? Why subjective ratings are more reliable than athletes think, and how to use both together.
Read more →What Is a Daily Check-In for Athletes?
What is a daily check-in for athletes? A quick answer on what it tracks, how long it takes, and why a few honest ratings each day add up fast.
Read more →How to Track Sleep and Soreness Without a Wearable
How to track sleep and soreness without a wearable using a 30-second daily check-in, and how to spot patterns in your recovery over a few weeks.
Read more →How to Ask Your Coach for Feedback (Without It Feeling Awkward)
How to ask your coach for feedback in a way that gets a specific, useful answer, with three simple questions to try and the best times to ask.
Read more →Questions to Ask Athletes After Practice (That Get Real Answers)
Questions to ask athletes after practice that get honest, useful answers instead of shrugs, plus how to make the habit fit into a busy session.
Read more →How to Build a Training Routine That Sticks
Most training routines collapse the first hard week. Here's how to build for your worst week (not your best), anchor sessions to existing habits, and last.
Read more →How to Improve Focus During Training
Focus is less about willpower than about giving your brain a specific target. Here's how to set one before training, use resets, and build the habit.
Read more →Why Most Athletes Quit Journaling (And What to Do Instead)
The problem is usually the system rather than motivation. Why most journaling habits die in week two, and how to build one that survives hard training weeks.
Read more →What Happens When Athletes Start Journaling
The first week feels pointless. By week three, patterns emerge. Here's the typical arc of starting a training journal, told through one BJJ athlete's story.
Read more →Training Journal: App vs Notebook
Both work. The right choice depends on how you train, what you want to track, and whether you value tactile writing or pattern detection across weeks.
Read more →Does Visualization Actually Work for Athletes?
Process visualization, mentally rehearsing the movement rather than the outcome, produces measurable gains. What the research says, and how to use it.
Read more →Is Soreness a Sign of a Good Workout?
Soreness signals novelty rather than quality, and you can train hard and effectively without it. What to track instead to know if you are making progress.
Read more →Do You Need to Train Every Day to Improve?
[Improvement happens during recovery](/blog/how-athletes-track-recovery), not during training. Why sustainable training frequency beats maximum frequency, and how to find your personal cadence.
Read more →What Is Intentional Training? Meaning and How to Start
What is intentional training? Set one focus before each session, train with it in mind, then take a minute after to capture what you learned.
Read more →How Long Should a Training Journal Entry Be?
Short. 60-90 seconds, a few lines. Here's what makes a complete entry, why brevity is the whole point, and what the minimum viable journal looks like.
Read more →What Does RPE Stand For? Meaning and the 1-10 Scale
RPE stands for rate of perceived exertion. The full 1 to 10 scale, how to turn it into a training load number, and what it captures that a monitor cannot.
Read more →What Is a Training Journal?
A training journal captures what you did and what you learned: duration, effort, and short reflections that turn each session into a building block.
Read more →How to Balance Multiple Martial Arts in Training
Splitting time evenly across disciplines feels slow. Here's how rotating priorities in 3-4 week blocks accelerates progress in every art you train.
Read more →The Best MMA Apps in 2026 (Picked by What You Need Them For)
The best MMA apps in 2026 for logging training, conditioning, round timing, mobility, learning technique, and watching fights, with prices and tradeoffs.
Read more →How Long Is a Fight Camp? How to Structure an MMA Camp
How long is a fight camp? Most run 6 to 10 weeks. A three-phase structure for building volume, sharpening your game plan, and tapering to fight night.
Read more →How to Keep an MMA Training Journal
MMA training spans striking, grappling, wrestling, and sparring. Here's a 2-minute post-session log that handles the variety and surfaces patterns over time.
Read more →How to Track Progress in Jiu Jitsu
BJJ progress is invisible day to day and feels nonlinear. Here's what to actually track: session ratings, recurring positions, and focus areas.
Read more →The Best BJJ Apps in 2026 (Picked by What You Need Them For)
The best BJJ apps in 2026 for logging rolls, learning technique, mobility, and competing, with current prices and who each app is actually built for.
Read more →How to Review Your Rolls After Training
A 5-minute post-rolling review that turns mat experience into actual skill: pick your most interesting round, name what worked, set a clear intention.
Read more →What to Do Between BJJ Competitions
Most improvement happens between competitions, not during them. Here's how to debrief your last match, pick 2-3 focus areas, and review progress weekly.
Read more →How to Get Better at Jiu Jitsu Faster
Mat hours have a ceiling. Here's how a 30-second pre-class focus and 60-second post-class debrief extract more progress from training you're already doing.
Read more →How to Keep a BJJ Training Journal
A simple post-class routine for BJJ athletes: what to log, when to write it, and how a 90-second habit changes your training after a few weeks.
Read more →Training Log vs Training Journal (Meaning and Differences)
Training log vs training journal: a log records what you did, a journal captures what you learned. What each is for, and how to combine them.
Read more →How Often Should Athletes Journal?
After every session is the gold standard, but only if entries are short. Here's how to find the right journaling frequency for your training.
Read more →What Should Athletes Write in a Journal?
You don't need to write a lot. You just need to write the right things. Here's what every athlete journal entry should include.
Read more →How Do Athletes Track Recovery?
Training is only half the equation. Here are simple ways to track recovery so you can make better daily decisions about when to push and when to back off.
Read more →What Is Mental Performance Training for Athletes?
Mental performance training is a set of practical skills you can practice, not just positive thinking. Here's what it covers and how to start.
Read more →Train Hard vs Train Smart: What's the Difference?
Train hard vs train smart: hard work is effort and volume, smart work is specificity, load management and learning. Why you need both to improve.
Read more →What Is a Training Block? Meaning, Length and Examples
A training block is 3-6 weeks of training built around one goal like strength or endurance. Here's how periodization works, and how to plan your own.
Read more →How to Recover from Losing Your Confidence in Sport
You can't just decide to be confident. But you can rebuild it with the right approach. Here's how to stack small wins back into belief.
Read more →How to Stay Motivated When Training Gets Boring
Boredom usually means your brain has disengaged. The fix isn't to overhaul your program. It's to [add intention back into the sessions you're already doing](/blog/what-is-intentional-training).
Read more →How to Stop Overthinking During Competition
Telling yourself to 'just relax' almost never works. Here's what to do instead when your brain won't shut up during competition.
Read more →How to Deal with a Training Plateau
Plateaus are normal. Every athlete hits them. But how you respond matters more than the plateau itself. Here's how to break through.
Read more →Why Am I Not Improving Even Though I Train Hard?
Effort without direction is just fatigue. Here are the common reasons athletes plateau despite consistent hard work, and what to try instead.
Read more →Why Do I Feel Burnt Out from Training?
Training burnout is common and worth taking seriously. Here's what's probably happening and what to do about it.
Read more →How to Set Training Goals That Actually Help
Most training goals don't change how you train. Here's how to set process goals that actually tell you what to do on Tuesday.
Read more →Post-Game Debrief: Questions and a Team Framework
Run a post-game debrief in 10 minutes. Eight questions to ask your team after a win or a loss, plus a simple framework for what to actually record.
Read more →What to Do After a Bad Game or Competition
After a bad game, the urge is to dwell or forget. Neither helps. Here's how to process a bad performance and turn it into your next improvement.
Read more →How to Prepare Mentally for Competition
Physical preparation gets planned weeks in advance. Mental preparation usually gets five minutes in the locker room. Here's a simple process for competition day.
Read more →How to Train on Days You Don't Feel Like It
The answer is more nuanced than 'just show up.' Here's a quick decision framework for when to push through and when to back off.
Read more →How to Cool Down After Training (And Why It's the Best Time to Reflect)
The five-minute window after training is the most valuable time in your session for learning. Here's how to use your cool-down for both recovery and reflection.
Read more →How to Warm Up with Intention (Instead of Going Through the Motions)
Your warm-up sets the tone for your whole session. Here's how to add intention without adding time.
Read more →How to Journal for Sports Performance (It's Not What You Think)
Performance journaling isn't a diary. It's closer to a pilot's flight log. Here's what it actually looks like and why it works.
Read more →How to Use RPE to Track Your Training
RPE is the simplest way to measure training intensity. Here's how the scale works, how to turn it into training load, and what it can tell you about your progress.
Read more →How Elite Athletes Review Their Training
Elite athletes don't just train harder. They review what happened with the same seriousness they bring to the training itself. Here's how to borrow their approach.
Read more →How to Build a Pre-Game Routine That Actually Helps You Perform
Most pre-game routines are just nervous habits. Here's how to build one that settles your nerves and focuses your attention on what you can control.
Read more →How to Stop Making the Same Mistakes in Training
It's not a discipline problem, it's a memory problem. Here's a 60-second post-practice habit that breaks the cycle of repeating the same mistakes.
Read more →The Best Training Journal for Athletes in 2026 (Apps and Paper)
The best training journal for athletes in 2026: honest picks across apps and paper journals, with prices, who each one suits, and what to look for.
Read more →How to Know When to Push vs Rest in Training
"Listen to your body" isn't enough. Here's a simple readiness check-in that helps you decide whether to push through or dial it back.
Read more →How to Track Training Load Without a Coach
If you train without a coach, nobody's watching your volume and intensity across weeks. Here's how to track training load yourself with two numbers per session.
Read more →How to Set Intentions Before Practice (So You Stop Training on Autopilot)
[Setting an intention before practice](/blog/what-is-intentional-training) is the difference between 'I showed up' and 'I showed up with a plan.' Here's a 30-second method that changes how you train.
Read more →How to Reflect on Training Sessions in 90 Seconds
Most athletes train session after session [without capturing what they're learning](/blog/best-training-journal-for-athletes). Here's a 90-second post-practice debrief that makes reflection a habit.
Read more →Goal Setting and Journaling for Sports Performance
What the research says about goal setting for athletes, what makes a goal effective, and how a performance journal keeps you following through.
Read more →The Science of Expressive Writing: How Journaling Became a Tool for Health, Performance, and Growth
There's decades of research showing why you feel lighter, clearer, or more focused after a journaling session.
Read more →