A Few Thoughts On Principles

There’s infinite noise in the world of training philosophy, and even more so when it comes to specific methods. Everyone’s got a take, a trick, a system. But over time, I’ve found that just a few principles, if practiced consistently (that’s a principle, too), account for 80–90% of your progress.

Here they are:

1. Do more (when you can)

A reliable way to make progress is to do more. More reps. More weight. More sets. If you’re feeling good, do more before changing the training plan. It’s easy to get distracted by shiny new methods or programs, but simple progression is often all you need.

How do you know if “more” is the right move? Ask yourself:

Are you making progress? 

If yes, keep going.

If not, ask yourself: Am I feeling fresh?

If yes, do more.

If not, do less.

That’s it. Be honest with yourself. Don’t overcomplicate it. There’s no magic.

If you're getting 4 hours of sleep, eating like trash, and stressed out, that’s not a training problem.

2. Intensity has layers

Intensity isn’t just about going hard. It has three parts:

Intention: Are you focused? Are you present in your training? Are you focusing on specific areas to be improved? 

Objective Intensity: How heavy is the weight compared to your max? How close to your fastest effort is this pace?

Perceived Intensity: How hard does it feel?

Not every session needs to be maxed out across all three. Life doesn’t work that way. 

But you should aim to bring the noise every time you train. Not noise like chaos, noise like presence, pressure, and pride in the effort. In CrossFit®, intensity often gets confused with redlining every day. But maxing out your heart rate isn’t always the goal. If you’re doing EMOM snatches, intensity might look like laser-sharp focus on bar path, footwork, and timing but not lying on the floor in a puddle afterward. If you're doing a 20-minute AMRAP, intensity is about pacing with intention, knowing when to push, when to breathe, and how to stay in the fight. 

Slamming the gas pedal for no reason is not intensity. It's just noise.

3. The 80/20 rule

This is called the Pareto Principle. Roughly 20% of the work gets you 80% of the results. In training, that usually means 1–3 exercises, or parts of a session, carry most of the load. Big compound lifts. Key accessories. High-skill movements that demand your attention.

When time is short or motivation is low, lean on that 20%.

Do the few things that matter most. Do them with intention and intensity. That’s enough.

In a CrossFit® context, this might mean hitting your squat or deadlift progression, hammering the conditioning, or hitting the metcon for the day.  If the rest of the day is a blur of accessory work and wall balls, that’s fine, but don’t let the fluff crowd out the meat. The extra work is fun, but the lifting, positional, and raw aerobic effort will actually move the needle.

Keep the main thing the main thing.

4. The other 80/20 rule (consistency) 

Here’s another 80/20 rule: if you’re consistent 80% of the time, you can afford to be lenient 20% of the time. This rule is often applied to nutrition, but it holds up in training, too. That said, don’t mistake 80% consistency for casual effort. 

If you’re training five days a week for fifty-two weeks a year, that’s 260 days of training; 80% of 260 is 208. 

That’s still a ton of sessions. 80% consistency is not an easy number to hit. If you're consistent 80% of the time, most people will see you as “the fitness person.” That’s how high the bar is. 

Consistency isn’t sexy, but it’s what actually changes your body and your capacity. 

Perfection is fragile. Consistency is durable. You don’t need perfect days; you need reps. 

‍SHOW UP. WORK HARD. Adjust when needed. Then, SHOW UP again.