What’s the lowest body fat percentage I can sustain without risking injury or losing strength? How much should I focus on hypertrophy? What’s my ideal competition body weight? How should I manage body composition throughout my season?

As a self-coached sprinter, I knew that body composition mattered. But I was overwhelmed by the complexity of the subject and the sheer quantity of often-contradictory information. After many hours of research and years of experience, I’m ready to cut through the noise and share my learnings. In this essay, you’ll learn:

• What body composition is, why it matters, and how to measure it
• Specific, research-backed targets for each body composition metric
• Why feedback loops are the best way to improve body composition, and how to establish them

I’m back in the Bay Area and back into my usual routine! Here’s what happened this month:

Track & Fitness

Most of the tracks in the Bay are closed now. I’ve been running at Acalanes High, about 30 minutes away from my house. Here’s an updated list of open tracks in the Bay Area! I’ve settled into my offseason training routine: Mondays and Fridays are speed days while Wednesdays are focused on acceleration. I have to be extra careful with my warmups, since it’s been cold in the mornings!

Although HTML lets developers define <figure> elements with images and captions, Markdown doesn’t provide a built-in syntax for it. Instead, authors need to insert raw <figure> HTML elements into their Markdown files. This is pretty painful - it breaks up the flow of Markdown files and is a non-starter for non-developers. This post details an alternative: by writing a remark plugin, we can extend Markdown’s syntax to support image captions!

Sprinting is one of the most explosive movements an athlete can perform - it requires maximal effort, coordination, and concentration. A single misstep at high velocities can derail an athlete’s entire season with a hamstring tear. Warming up before sprinting helps athletes prepare for sprinting by gradually increasing body temperature and intensity. Here’s how I think about my sprint warmup:

I have lots of life goals, both short-term and long: I’d like to work on my side projects, become a better writer, read great books, run faster, get stronger… Yet I’ve always struggled to avoid the siren call of social media, video games, and other empty calorie activities.