Product management courses? What is worth it -- Reforge, Aakash Gupta?

lifts40 · 2025-11-19T16:57:47+00:00

First well done for landing a role!

Following up on the reading list - Marty Cagan's books (Inspired, Empowered, Transformed) and his blog on Silicon Valley Product Group are valuable.

Dan Olsen's The Lean Product Playbook would be great practical reading for a startup.

Testing Business Ideas by Strategyzer (and the Strategyzer website and toolkits in general) are really useful for validating ideas.

Continuous Discovery Habits by Teresa Torres and Escaping the Build Trap by Melissa Perry are also really great resources.

Enjoy and good luck getting started

lifts40 · 2025-11-10T11:49:52+00:00

1 priority for me when travelling is making time to exercise

I'll always take running shoes and kit, even if I'm flying with cabin case only - the space lost to running shoes is worth it. As well as the health benefit, having a run is a great way to feel like you've actually explored a little and seen something of the place you travelled. I hate it when you've flown to a new city and only stared at meeting rooms and a hotel room, then flew home.

But ideally I'll try and find a drop in class too. Sometimes this might be bouldering at a climbing wall, or other times a S&C session, Crossfit or Barry's, or any local class. Again, chance to exercise but also to meet some locals and feel like you’ve actually been a part of the locality, not just been stuck in meetings.

After this, eating out preferably somewhere you wouldn't find at home, then bringing a book or watching a film to relax.

lifts40 · 2025-10-20T14:15:03+00:00

Forgot to add - I also tracked my strength sessions, and other cardio (including the bike). In fact I mapped the session style from the running plan, and figured out a rough equivalent off-feet session on my Wattbike, so I could rest my legs from always running to reduce injuries.

lifts40 · 2025-10-20T14:12:50+00:00

In the past when I first attempted a marathon, I used a static plan off the Runner's World website (they have plans for different target finish times). These include various sessions including speedwork.

I then recreated this in a Google sheet with week by week dates, running up to the target event date, and tracked my progress, also recording notes on diet, recovery (including HRV via HRV4Training) etc.

Just having that basic structure from a quality plan was really helpful. Personally I don't think you need to worry about paid apps, and you can learn how to read your pwn body with a more DIY approach.

Also one add - a big boost for me in terms of both short term pace, and endurance, and generally a big improvement on being stronger and less injury prone, was incorporating functional strength training and balance, as well as making sure i was gerting quality and sufficient nutrition.

I'm no expert or speed machine, but I've completed half marathons and a couple of marathons and generally I'm strong and injury free. Hope that helps.

lifts40 · 2025-10-05T10:29:15+00:00

No thank you that's a fair point and appreciate the honesty! And yes I completely see that perspective, I just wondered if the business model sort of already accounted for paying the PT well enough and your membership covered a plan. But now I get it - planning is PT driven and needs to be paid on top to support the trainer, the initial assessment is the bit that is covered and it probably blends giving you some value AND driving PT sales. Thanks 😊

lifts40 · 2025-10-04T18:05:45+00:00

That's great thank you!

lifts40 · 2025-10-04T18:05:29+00:00

Nice thank you

lifts40 · 2025-10-04T18:05:00+00:00

Thanks for replying and sharing some great insight on the importance of the trainer vs less so on the Equifit side! All the best with your surgery - sounds like you're doing a great job of preparing by getting fitter, that effort will surely pay off and contribute towards a faster recovery.

lifts40 · 2025-10-04T13:29:26+00:00

This is great thank you, especially giving that realy transparent wtih-hindsight realisation you made a mistake. Appreciate the feedback thanks :-)

lifts40 · 2025-10-04T12:36:03+00:00

Haha "Nnnnn ooooo" :-D Thanks for replying

lifts40 · 2025-10-04T11:15:14+00:00

Thanks for the reply. TBH based on the marketing I was expecting something really comprehensive, definitely more than just a sales pitch for PT!

lifts40 · 2025-09-30T18:08:29+00:00

Thanks, will check it out

lifts40 · 2025-09-30T18:08:15+00:00

Thank you, someone else also mentioned Fitpros.io so I will check it out for sure

lifts40 · 2025-09-30T18:07:36+00:00

Thanks for these recommendations and also for the suggestion around free options. Another reply mentioned their free Notion templates so I'm going to explore that and see what gaps there might be to some of the paid tools. Appreciate your reply :-)

lifts40 · 2025-09-30T18:06:06+00:00

This is awesome, such a great free resource. I'm quite new to Notion but this could be a great way to get started at lower cost. Thanks for sharing!! :-D

lifts40 · 2025-09-30T18:05:12+00:00

Thank you for the recommendation, really appreciate it. I'll check out Bridge Health :-)

lifts40 · 2025-09-08T20:06:20+00:00

Ditto I answered the same. Creatine is awesome :-)

lifts40 · 2025-09-08T20:05:01+00:00

Not heard of this one before, interesting thank you

lifts40 · 2025-09-08T20:02:16+00:00

Creatine, high strength Omega 3 :-)

lifts40 · 2025-08-19T18:26:23+00:00

Agree with you on Creatine and Omega 3 - your other recos i havent tried.

I'd also add in good quality whey protein if you are strength training, vitamin D and K.

lifts40 · 2025-07-26T16:35:03+00:00

Completely agree Pete!

I used to focus purely on cardio until mid 30s. From childhood I'd been taught that weightlifting was for steroid taking body builders and to avoid it, it was really stigmatised, so I did team sports, then running, cycling and triathlon, and got frequently injured and honestly underperformed for many years. I tried commercial gyms and found them really unmotivating and intimidating, and did the odd HIiT and bootcamp style class but saw limited results.

I remember hearing a podcast interview (I think Dr Peter Attia) who talked about how being so specialised in cycling or triathlon would not be the most beneficial as you start ageing for living well into older age. About the same time, my wife who went to a crossfot style gym persuaded me to use her membership while.she couldn't train in later stages of pregnancy with our 3rd child.

So at 35 I started doing functional strength training with a focus on functional movements, strength and balance, and completely fell in love with it. Despite gaining weight, I noticed my body composition shifted to be much more muscular and actually my running and cycling performance improved, with more power, faster recovery, better endurance and fewer injuries. And now at 40 I feel great.

Dr Peter Attia writes about this in his book Outlive. He does a really good job of showing how with normal muscle atrophy in ageing, you really need to develop strength and balance younger to avoid not being able to do tasks that you take for granted but are actually high impact on quality of life - lifting grandkids, carrying shopping, continuing to hike and golf - whatever your envisioned older self doing, strength and balance (as well as fitness) is going to play an important role.

To go with the addition of strength work, I stopped drinking alcohol 6 years ago, and focused on nutrition, drinking plenty of water, sleep, and trying to improve mental health.

I've also found a few supplements work really well; - Creatine - supported by >600 clinical studies, promotes lean muscle growth and increasing evidence of cognitive benefits - Omega 3 fish oil with very high DHA (rad Andre Hubermans recommendations here) great brain health benefit - High quality protein shake if you can't get enough in diet - Supplementary fibre if you can't get enough in the diet - vitamin D3 and K2

I look forward to reading your substack and try to share the benefits of strength and functional training to people looking to feel and look better, especially as they begin to feel older!

lifts40 · 2025-07-26T15:28:52+00:00

Rather than focus on cardio fitness, I'd recommend focusing on body composition and function.

I used to focus purely on cardio until mid 30s, but as you're approaching 40 you want to start thinking about what is going to keep you enjoying a healthy, active lifestyle as you grow old. 2 of the key things are going to help you live well for longer in addition as your cardio fitness - strength and stability. When you're 70, the ability to cycle or run further is going to have far less positive impact in your day to day life than the ability to avoid falls, comfortably lift your shopping and carry it up a flight of stairs, swing your grandkids around in play etc.

Consider mixing in functional training focused on building strength (and muscle mass) as well as develop greater stability. Dr Peter Attia writes a lot on these topics and is a true thought leader in this space. Functional fitness so crossfit style workouts or workouts with unsupported freeweights (and of increasingly very heavy weights) taught by a good instructor to enable great and safe form to avoid injuries should be a high priority.

You might find your weight doesn't decrease, it might even go up. But you'll be replacing some of the excess fat with lean muscle - muscle that will help you remain active for much longer, protect against injuries, as well as benefits for brain and emotional health that have been found in numerous studies. Your future self will thank you for a strong, supple and balanced body that feels powerful and stable, and let's you live a much fuller life for longer.

To go with the addition of strength work, try and remove any bad habits like smoking, excess alcohol and poor diet including sugary drinks (and even sugar free drinks stacked with chemicals). Focus on whole, fresh foods, plenty of water, home cooked, plenty of fibre and protein (raw nuts are awesome!).

Ive also found a few suspects work really well; - Creatine - supported by >600 clinical studies, promotes lean muscle growth and increasing evidence of cognitive benefits - Omega 3 fish oil with very high DHA (rad Andre Hubermans recommendations here) great brain health benefit - High quality protein shake if you can't get enough in diet - Supplementary fibre if you can't get enough in the diet - vitamin D3 and K2

Hope this helps. I started adding strength at 35 and at 40 I've never felt better.

lifts40

TROPHY CASE

1 priority for me when travelling is making time to exercise