primeGreen light day - full-body strength plus a short interval finisher, the biggest session of the week
2026-10-30 · target strain 13.5 · Heavy compound strength + VO2 finisher
The call
Everything lines up for a hard day. Recovery is 86% (green), HRV came in at 73.4 ms against a 14-day baseline of 65.4 - a genuine suppression-free reading - and resting HR is 55 bpm vs a 59.8 baseline, about 5 beats below normal. Sleep was excellent: 8h34m asleep, 97% sleep performance, 95.9% efficiency, sleep debt only 0.37h.
Just as important, you're under-loaded. Total strain over the last 7 days is 22.9 across 3 logged workouts, and your last real session was the 45-min lift on Oct 25 (strain 11.8). Day strain has sat between 4.3 and 5.0 for four straight days. You're rested, fuelled, and adapted - today is the day to spend some of that. Target day strain ~13.5, the biggest of the week.
The session (~85 min)
- Warm-up (12 min) - 5 min easy bike/row/brisk walk; world's greatest stretch 5/side; leg swings 10/side each direction; banded dislocates x15; 10 squats, 10 glute bridges, 5 push-ups; then ramp sets of lift A (bar x8, ~50% x5).
- Back squat (18 min) - 4 x 5 @ RPE 8 (~80-85% 1RM), rest 2:30-3:00. Add 2.5-5% on your last heavy squat if bar speed is good.
- Bench/DB press + RDL superset (18 min) - Press 4 x 6 @ RPE 8 alternated with Romanian deadlift 3 x 8 @ RPE 7, slow eccentric. 90s between alternations.
- Accessory circuit (14 min) - 3 rounds, 60s rest: chin-ups/pulldown x 8-10; walking lunges x 10/leg; half-kneeling single-arm press x 10/side; hollow hold 30s.
- Conditioning finisher (15 min) - 6 x 60s hard / 90s easy on bike, rower or hill. Hard = Zone 4-5, ~88-93% max HR, RPE 8-9. Cut to 5 rounds if output falls off more than 10%.
- Cool-down (10 min) - 5 min easy spin/walk to get HR under 110, couch stretch 60s/side, pigeon 60s/side, pec doorway stretch 45s/side, 10 breaths at 4s in / 8s out.
Alternatives
- Easier: skip the finisher and do 2 accessory rounds - still a solid strength day at ~strain 10-11.
- Harder: add trap-bar or conventional deadlift 3 x 3 @ RPE 9 after squats and extend the finisher to 8 x 60s (~strain 15-16). Doable today, but budget for a lower recovery score tomorrow.
Notes
- Fuel: carb-containing meal 2-3h before; 20-30g protein within an hour after.
- Hydrate: 500-700ml with electrolytes during the session.
- Watch: overnight SpO2 was 92.3%, a little under the usual range. If you feel breathless beyond normal effort or are coming down with something, drop the intervals and finish after the accessory circuit.
- Bail criteria: if bar speed on squat set 3 is visibly slower than set 1, stop at 3 working sets and move on - don't grind reps.
- Tomorrow: plan a Zone 2 walk or easy ride, 30-45 min. Expect some DOMS after five quiet days.