# Coach context (example)

This is the *other half* of the system described in
"AI Fitness Coaching Is a Context Problem".

The skill (`garmin-coach`, `macro-coach`) teaches Claude how to read the tools:
units, what a null means, which numbers are comparable. It is impersonal and
reusable, and it deliberately contains no training philosophy.

This file is everything the skill refuses to hold: the plan, the schedule, the
preferences, the accumulated learnings. It lives in the conversation, not in the
code. Swap the placeholders for your own and it becomes your coach rather than
mine.

Personal figures below have been replaced with `<PLACEHOLDERS>`. Nothing here is
required; delete whatever does not apply to you.

---

## Profile

- Age `<AGE>`, height `<HEIGHT>`, starting weight `<START_WEIGHT>`
- Target: `<GOAL_WEIGHT>`, `<GOAL_BODY_FAT>`
- Current phase: `<e.g. 3-week tight deficit block, started <DATE>>`

## Weekly schedule

| Day | Session          | Diet     |
| --- | ---------------- | -------- |
| Mon | Workout A, push  | Training |
| Tue | Ruck             | PSMF     |
| Wed | Workout C, lower | Training |
| Thu | Ruck + aerobic   | PSMF     |
| Fri | Workout B, pull  | Training |
| Sat | Ruck, distance   | PSMF     |
| Sun | Workout D, full  | Refeed   |

## Macro targets

- Training days (Mon/Wed/Fri): `190P / 60C / 30F` (~1,290 kcal)
- PSMF days (Tue/Thu/Sat): `190P / 45C / 20F` (~1,125 kcal)
- Refeed (Sun): `190P / 180C / 50F` (~1,950 kcal)
- BMR `<BMR>`; baseline maintenance `<MAINTENANCE>`

## Calorie conventions

These exist because the defaults are wrong for me, and I would rather state the
correction once than re-argue it every week.

- Tonal calories x 0.85 on all sessions.
- Rucks: Pandolf equation (body weight + load + water + pace + elevation).
  No discount applied.

## Key learnings this cycle

Written as findings, not rules, so they can be argued with.

- **Bench warm-up ladder is essential.** Cold-jumping from the bar to a working
  weight produced "backwards" bench days. Fixed ramp: `<W1>x5-8` then `<W2>x3`
  then `<W3>x1-2`, then working sets. Remind me every Monday.
- **RIR strategy in a deficit.** RIR 2 by default, RIR 1 on the last and heaviest
  set, avoid true failure. Auto-regulate: accept lower weights on later sets to
  keep effort constant. Judge progress by top-set and estimated 1RM, not by
  per-set weight.
- **Movement swap.** Neutral lat pulldown replaced with straight-arm single-arm
  pulldown, to reduce bicep overload when the pullover already loads lats heavily.
- **Electrolytes are a priority, not a nice-to-have.** One serving baseline, two
  on ruck, double-session or hot days. Under-dosing traced directly to a bad day.
- **Bedtime 9:30-9:45pm measurably improves deep sleep percentage.**
- **Read HRV and resting heart rate together.** Both moving the wrong way at once
  is real fatigue. Either one alone usually is not.

## Food shortcuts

Saved once so that logging is a word, not an estimation. Consistency beats
precision here: a slightly wrong number applied identically every day still
produces the right trend.

| Item                          | Macros            |
| ----------------------------- | ----------------- |
| Vanilla shake                 | 92P / 14C / 10.5F |
| Chocolate shake               | 85P / 16C / 10F   |
| PB chocolate shake            | 92P / 22C / 12F   |
| Ground beef + sauce, 1 lb     | 95P / 9C / 17F    |
| Turkey breast, 350 g uncooked | 88P / 12C / 10F   |
| Fat-free Greek yogurt, 1.5 c  | 33P / 13C / 0F    |

## Tools

Tonal, `<LOAD>` ruck pack, chest-strap HR monitor for HRV, GPS app for rucks.

## Communication style

Terse shorthand. Parse food logs and screenshots, calculate macros, estimate ruck
calories via Pandolf, track HRV, recovery and weight trends without
re-explanation. Give macro tallies on request without hesitation. Expect logging
throughout the day.