If you run out of money you’ll have nothing left when you might need it, think of that like using a credit card. Exercises that cost more during a training session:
● Deadlifts
● Squats
● Kettlebell Swings
● Pull Ups

These exercises require more energy, power and strength from larger muscle groups to perform for multiple sets.

Exercises that cost less during a training session:

● Planks
● Rows
● Bridges

These exercises, while still being full body exercises, require less overall to perform for multiple sets.

Spending your energy on exercises that challenge you or get you closer to your goals is great. Just remember, you have to distribute your money properly, you cannot spend it on everything  every single day. At some point you may have less money to start each training session because you will be exhausted and potentially burnt out from overspending over time.

Let’s go back to the hypothetical $100. We’ll say that your training session is broken up into 3 sections:

● First Section - $30 on Power and Core Exercises
● Second Section - $60 on Building Strength
● Third Section - $10 remaining

As you can see, the money goes quickly. This example isn’t meant to deter you from working hard during your training sessions, it is a reminder that everything has a price. If you train with heavier weights on a particular exercise you should be doing less reps and vice versa. When heavier weight is used during an “expensive” exercise it fatigues the body in a different way than doing more reps with less weight. Heavier weight (intensity) usually causes a more drained and weak feeling for a few days while performing higher reps per set (volume) can be felt as soreness and muscle fatigue. You can do more volume or intensity for a given exercise each day but you cannot do both.

Distribute your energy towards your training goals for that particular session.
What do you want to work on that day?
Where do you want to invest the $100?

This idea can be scaled into a week timeframe as well. Let’s say that you used heavier weight for leg exercises on Monday, it is a smart idea to spend more money on upper body exercises the next training day instead of working your legs hard again. This not only allows us to spend smart on a given training day but to spend smart as we go through an entire week or month of training. It is important to be aware of where we devote our energy and how we can approach a given day or week so we don’t overspend.

Training can look different every day. Circumstances will change how much energy (money) we have for a particular session. Things that can negatively impact your “$100” include:

● Recovering from being sick
● Coming off an injury
● Lack of sleep
● Stress
● Training too hard for too long

Things that can positively impact your “$100” include:
● Active recovery (walking, light exercise)
● Training smart
● Getting proper nutrition, hydration and sleep

This approach is meant to help conceptualize training and how we can view it and plan for it. The idea is to have money in the bank at the end of the week, month and beyond. If we train smarter, we can train longer and if we train longer we can continue to pursue our goals.