Fitness & Nutrition Myths
Blake Reichenbach
ISSA-Certified Personal Trainer · Weightlifter · Product Manager · Creator of PRactical
ISSA-Certified PTWeightlifterSoftware PMCreator of PRactical
Blake Reichenbach built PRactical from a simple belief: tracking your training should feel as clear and useful as the workouts themselves. He writes about strength training, workout planning, exercise consistency, and practical fitness habits from the combined perspective of someone who trains, coaches, and builds software products for a living.
Fitness Background
Blake's fitness perspective comes from both formal education and first-hand time under the bar. As an ISSA-certified personal trainer and weightlifter, he writes about strength training, workout structure, exercise selection, progressive overload, recovery, and the small decisions that make training easier to follow consistently.
His articles are written for people who want practical answers: how to log dumbbell weight, how long to rest between sets, whether to choose push-pull-legs or a bro split, and how to approach mobility without making training feel overwhelming. The goal isn't to make fitness sound complicated. It's to make better training decisions easier to understand and easier to repeat.
Software and Product Experience
Blake also works as a product manager in the software industry, which shapes how he thinks about PRactical as a tool. Product management requires understanding user problems, prioritizing what matters, removing friction, and building experiences that feel intuitive instead of cluttered.
That product mindset is central to PRactical. The app isn't just a personal fitness project — it's a product shaped by the same principles Blake values in software: clarity, reliability, speed, and respect for the user's attention. The best workout tracker should help people train, not distract them from training.
Why Blake Created PRactical
PRactical came from the overlap between Blake's love of lifting and his frustration with workout apps that didn't match the way he wanted to train. He wanted something that made it easy to record useful information, review progress, and stay focused — without unnecessary complexity.
The result is an app built around a simple idea: good training and good software should both feel practical. A well-designed workout app should make the next set easier to track, the next workout easier to start, and the long-term habit easier to maintain.
Editorial Approach
Blake's writing is grounded in personal training experience, weightlifting experience, and a practical understanding of how people use fitness tools in real life. His goal is to give readers clear, useful guidance they can apply to their own workouts — while being transparent about the difference between general training education and individualized medical care.
Blake's articles are educational fitness content, not medical advice, diagnosis, physical therapy, or treatment. If you have concerning pain, an injury, numbness, weakness, symptoms that travel down an arm or leg, a medical condition, recent surgery, pregnancy/postpartum concerns, or symptoms that worsen with exercise, speak with your doctor or a qualified healthcare professional.
Articles by Blake
Fitness & Nutrition Myths
Muscle Confusion Is a Myth. Here's What Actually Builds Muscle.
P90X made muscle confusion famous. Exercise science has since made it infamous. Here's why constantly switching programs keeps you perpetually in the neural adaptation phase — never applying the progressive load that actually drives growth.
Fitness & Nutrition Myths
Does Being Sore Mean You Had a Good Workout?
DOMS is a signal of novelty, not quality. Experienced lifters who train consistently rarely get sore — not because their training isn't working, but because their tissue has adapted. Here's what DOMS actually tracks, and what to measure instead.
Fitness & Nutrition Myths
Are Peptides Legit? What the Science Actually Says About BPC-157 and TB-500
Peptides like BPC-157 and TB-500 are being called miracle recovery compounds by podcasters and biohackers. The problem: of 36 studies on BPC-157, 35 were in rodents or cell cultures. Here's the full picture — including the legal and doping implications.
Fitness & Nutrition Myths
Is AG1 Actually Worth $80/Month? An Honest Breakdown
AG1 has the largest podcast endorsement budget in supplements. But the core premise — that healthy people eating a decent diet are nutritionally depleted — doesn't hold up. We break down the proprietary blends, the actual evidence, and what that $79/month looks like in real food.
Fitness & Nutrition Myths
Do You Actually Need Electrolytes?
LMNT, Liquid IV, and Pedialyte Sport are everywhere. The muscle cramp claim driving most of their marketing is mostly wrong — exercise cramps are usually a neuromuscular fatigue issue. Here's who actually needs electrolyte supplements.
Fitness & Nutrition Myths
Cold Plunge and Ice Baths: What the Science Actually Says
Cold plunging has gone from fringe biohacking to backyard staple. The stress-reduction benefits are real. But there's a finding most influencers skip: cold immersion immediately after lifting may blunt the inflammatory response that drives muscle protein synthesis.
Fitness & Nutrition Myths
Zone 2 Cardio: Real Benefit or Fitness Podcast Buzzword?
Zone 2 has been all over longevity podcasts for two years. The mitochondrial science is legitimate. But the '3+ hours per week' prescription is an endurance athlete target — not a recreational lifter's prescription. Here's what the evidence actually supports.
Fitness & Nutrition Myths
The 12-3-30 Treadmill Workout: Does It Actually Work for Lifters?
325 million TikTok views and a legitimate study. But the most-cited finding — that 12-3-30 burns more fat than running — is being badly misread. Here's what the research actually shows, and how to use it intelligently if your main goal is getting stronger.
Fitness & Nutrition Myths
Do Detox Cleanses Actually Work?
Your liver filters 200 liters of blood per day. The word 'toxins' in cleanse marketing is a fear word with no clinical meaning — no brand will tell you which compounds they're removing. Here's what cleanses actually do, and why they're counterproductive for lifters.
Fitness & Nutrition Myths
Fibermaxxing: The 2026 Diet Trend That's Actually Mostly Right
Unlike most wellness trends, fibermaxxing is built on solid science — 97% of men fall short of the recommended fiber intake, and the health benefits of closing that gap are well-documented. The problem is the way most people are going about it.
Tracking & Data
Should You Log Dumbbell Weight Per Hand or Total?
If you curl two 30-pound dumbbells, should your log say 30 or 60? There's a clear answer — and a good reason it matters for tracking progress over time.
Training Fundamentals
How Long Should You Rest Between Sets? A Goal-Based Guide
Short rests, long rests, no timer at all — most lifters pick a rest period by feel. Here's a goal-based framework that actually matches the demands of your training.
Tracking & Data
How Much Does the Smith Machine Bar Count Toward Your Lift?
The Smith machine bar is not a standard 45-pound barbell. Here's how to find the actual starting resistance, log your lift accurately, and stop second-guessing the number.
Training Fundamentals
Should You Take Creatine Before or After a Workout?
Creatine timing gets more attention than it deserves. Here's what the research actually says — and why consistency matters far more than when you take it.
Training Fundamentals
How Often Should You Do Cardio? Weekly Targets for Real Life
The official guidelines are specific. The weekly schedules that actually get followed are not. Here's how to hit your cardio targets without overthinking the format.
Training Fundamentals
How Often Should You Train Core? A Practical Weekly Guide
Daily crunches aren't required. Here's how often to actually train your core, what frequency evidence supports, and how to fit it into a real training week.
Programming
Should You Train for Volume, PRs, or a One-Rep Max?
Volume builds the base. PRs measure progress. A one-rep max tests the limit. Here's how to use all three without confusing testing strength with building it.
Programming
Push-Pull-Legs vs Bro Split: Which Workout Split Should You Choose?
PPL and the bro split are two of the most debated training structures in lifting. Here's an honest comparison based on frequency, recovery, schedule fit, and what actually works long-term.
Injury Prevention
How to Train for Mobility, Flexibility, and Fewer Workout Setbacks
Mobility work is not a few random stretches when something hurts. Here's the framework that connects warm-ups, range of motion, strength, and recovery into something that actually protects you over time.
Injury Prevention
How to Protect Your Knees During Workouts
Knee protection isn't about avoiding knee motion — it's about building the strength and control that lets you load safely. Here's what actually works for squats, lunges, and leg training.
Injury Prevention
How to Protect Your Shoulders When Lifting
The shoulder is the most mobile joint in the body — and mobility without control is where problems start. Here's how to warm up, strengthen, and program around your shoulder health.
Injury Prevention
How to Protect Your Spine While Working Out
The spine is strong and adaptable — but it benefits from smart loading, good bracing, and gradual progression. Here's a practical approach to back-friendly training.
Injury Prevention
How to Exercise Safely with Sciatica or Sciatic Nerve Irritation
Staying gently active is usually better than complete rest for sciatic nerve irritation. Here's what movements tend to help, what to avoid, and when symptoms require professional care.
Tracking & Data
How to Actually Use Your Workout Log
Logging and using a log are two different habits. Most lifters have the first. Here's how to build the second.
Tracking & Data
What Your Training Log Can Tell You About Why You're Stuck
Plateaus don't appear without warning — they accumulate. Here are the five signals that show up in your log weeks before progress actually stalls.
Tracking & Data
The Case for Logging Every Set
Warm-up sets aren't preamble — they're the first data point of every session. Here's why logging them changes what you can know about your training.
Tracking & Data
Own Your Workout Data
Three years of training is a lot to lose in 30 seconds. Here's what happens to your history when you delete a tracking app — and how to make sure it doesn't.
Tracking & Data
Your Workout Log Is Lying to You
Most training logs contain errors — not from carelessness, but from small mistakes that go unnoticed. Here's how to find them before they mislead you.
Tracking & Data
How Often Should You Review Your Training Data?
There are three meaningful review cadences for a training log. Each answers a different question. Together, they turn record-keeping into a decision-making system.
Tracking & Data
Volume Load: The One Training Metric Most Lifters Ignore
Sets × reps × weight. It's the clearest single-number summary of whether a program is working — and almost nobody looks at it.
Progressive Overload
Progressive Overload After the Beginner Gains Are Gone
At some point the weight stops going up every session. That's not a plateau — it's just what intermediate training looks like. Here's the new model.
Progressive Overload
When to Add Weight vs. When to Add Reps
Most lifters make this call on instinct. Some always add weight when they can. Some stay at the same weight forever. Here's an actual framework.
Progressive Overload
How Long Should It Actually Take to Add Weight to the Bar?
The timelines that get repeated online are calibrated for beginners. Here's how long intermediate progress actually takes — by lift, and why.
Progressive Overload
Volume, Intensity, Frequency: Which Lever to Pull When Progress Stalls
When a lift stalls, the instinct is to work harder — more sets, heavier weight, an extra session. This usually makes things worse. Here's how to read the data first.
Progressive Overload
The Difference Between a Deload and Just Skipping the Gym
The word 'deload' gets applied to any stretch of reduced training. Most of it isn't a real deload. Here's the difference — and why it matters for what comes next.
Progressive Overload
Why Your Squat and Deadlift Progress at Different Rates
The deadlift moves in bigger jumps but less often. The squat is smaller increments but more consistent. These are properties of the lifts — not signs one is stalling.
Strength Plateaus
How to Tell If You've Actually Hit a Plateau (Or Just Had a Bad Week)
A plateau and a rough session look identical in the moment. One needs a program change. The other needs you to leave it alone. Here's how to tell them apart.
Strength Plateaus
The 3-Week Rule: When It's Time to Change Something in Your Program
Three consecutive sessions without progress on a main lift. That's the number — not one, not two, but three. Here's what to do when it comes up.
Strength Plateaus
Is Your Bench Press Stalled Because of Programming, Technique, or Recovery?
The bench press stalls more often than any other main lift. Most lifters go straight to the program — when the problem is often technique or recovery.
Strength Plateaus
Why Intermediate Lifters Plateau More Than Beginners
Intermediate plateaus are more frequent, more stubborn, and harder to diagnose than beginner plateaus. Here's the structural reason — and what to do about it.
Strength Plateaus
What Your Rest Times Are Actually Telling You About Your Recovery
Most lifters use a rest timer as a productivity tool. It's also one of the most sensitive real-time indicators of recovery status you have — if you know how to read it.
Programming
How to Build a Workout Template That Doesn't Waste Your Time in the Gym
A template isn't a program — it's the repeating structure of a session. A well-designed one eliminates every in-session decision except the weight on the bar.
Programming
Superset Logging: Why It's Harder Than It Looks (And How to Do It Right)
Supersets are one of the most commonly used training tools. They're also one of the most consistently mis-logged. Here's where the data goes wrong — and how to fix it.
Programming
How to Track a PR When the Rep Range Changes
A 5-rep PR and an 8-rep PR are not the same record. Here's how to keep your PR history meaningful when periodization shifts the rep range you're training in.
Programming
Training to Failure vs. Stopping Short: How Your Log Should Reflect the Difference
Five reps at 225 lbs. The log doesn't show whether those five reps were a grinding limit or a comfortable working set. Here's how one additional data point fixes that.
Product Updates
How to Switch Workout Tracking Apps Without Losing Your History
Switching apps is straightforward in principle and quietly complicated in practice. Your data doesn't follow automatically. Here's how to move it without losing it.
Product Updates
What to Look for in a Workout Tracking App (If You've Been Lifting for 2+ Years)
The features that make a tracking app right for a beginner are almost exactly wrong for an intermediate lifter. Here's how the evaluation criteria shift.
Product Updates
The Problem With Social Features in Workout Apps
A social feed inside a tracking app changes the product's fundamental orientation. Your PRs become posts. Your session becomes a story. Here's why that's a problem.