The Capacity Method™
Not a new plan.
A different foundation.
Most athletes who get stuck don't have a training-plan problem. They have a capacity problem. Here's how I look at that, and what it means for you.
The problem with working harder
The fitness industry talks about what to add. Not about what should be underneath.
A running coach gives you a schedule. A dietitian gives you a meal plan. A biohacker stacks supplements and puts a ring on your finger. A fitfluencer shows you what he eats before his workouts.
All useful — if the foundation is solid. But most people I talk to don't have the foundation in order. They push through the week on a half-charged battery, every week again, and wonder why they're not improving.
Then a new schedule isn't the answer. More protein isn't the answer. A Whoop with scores isn't the answer either.
The answer is the layer underneath. How you sleep. How you recover. How stress runs through your body. How your mind affects the rest. How your body handles training when you sit in a spreadsheet twice a day. That's what makes your training work — or makes it impossible.
The lens
One system, not loose parts.
My approach is inspired by kPNI (clinical psycho-neuro-immunology). A field that looks at how your brain, hormones, immune system, gut and muscles work as one whole.
For you, that means this. Poor sleep changes how you recover. Chronic stress makes you less trainable. Your gut affects your energy. Your hormones follow the week you actually had — not the week on your training schedule.
That sounds like a lot at once. In practice it's manageable. Because once you know how the system interacts, you also know where the gains are. Not everywhere at the same time. In the one place that counts most for you right now.
That's the core: finding the right levers and pulling them in the right order.
The four pillars
How the Capacity Method works
Take stock
Where are you, really? Not what your watch says. Not what you think. A concrete check of sleep, recovery, energy, nutrition, stress and mind. With the right questions and, where relevant, data from Oura, Whoop, Garmin or blood work.
Prioritize
We pick one to three things that make the biggest difference for you, and leave the rest alone for now. For most athletes that's sleep or stress. Sometimes nutrition. Rarely training first.
Implement
A plan on paper isn't change. We make it concrete enough to fit your work week, your family, your training rhythm. One thing at a time, sustained, for effect that lasts.
Monitor and adjust
What works, stays. What doesn't, we adjust — based on signals you learn to recognize: resting heart rate, sleep quality, morning energy, how your sessions feel. Simple feedback loops, no data overload.
In practice
What does this look like for you?
For the marathon runner who has plateaued
Six months of hard training, schedule followed to the letter, still no PR. The schedule isn't the problem. You're not recovering enough between sessions. We tackle sleep and nutrition around your runs first. Only then do we fine-tune the training rhythm. Result: steadier build-up, sharper on race day.
For the Hyrox athlete with a full-time job
Five sessions a week, two meetings a day, energy like a rollercoaster. First we sort out the stress side: micro-breaks, a steady meal rhythm during the day, recovery windows in the evening. After that you can train heavier in the same amount of time, with faster recovery.
For the injury-prone triathlete
The same complaints, over and over: calves, achilles, knee. Before we touch technique, we look at capacity: sleep, nutrition, inflammation levels, periodization. Prevention is the real work.
Is this for you?
The approach works for the right people.
For you if:
- You train 4 to 6 times a week, seriously, toward a goal.
- You have a job that actually demands something of you.
- You notice that working harder no longer pays off the way it used to.
- You're open to fixing the foundation before stacking new training blocks on top.
- You want change that still stands a year from now.
Not for you if:
- You have a weight-loss or cosmetic goal without an athletic component.
- You're looking for a training schedule and nothing else.
- You have no room to change anything about your sleep, nutrition or weekly rhythm.
- You have medical complaints that need diagnostic work-up first.
Not sure if this fits you? Book an intro call. Twenty minutes, no sales pitch.
Ready for the next step?
Book an intro call
Twenty minutes, free, online. We'll look at where you are and whether working together makes sense.
Pick a momentSee the coaching options
Three options, from a single session to sixteen weeks of coaching.
View coachingSee the course
Presteer Slimmer: a four-week online course on recovery, energy and training rhythm. Currently in Dutch.
View the course