The Cognitive Stack is Soma’s framework for scaling mental load.

It’s not just about what task you run — it’s about how deep you layer it.

Every task has a shelf life.

Every athlete, a tolerance.

The Stack solves both — by turning a single drill into a progressive, multi-layered training system that evolves with the athlete.

As a coach, you’ve likely seen it before:

A cognitive task that once challenged your athletes suddenly stops delivering. Even after tweaking time or intensity, it just doesn’t hit the same. That’s not because the task is broken—it’s because your athletes have adapted.

That’s where Soma Modes come in.

Instead of constantly searching for new tasks, Modes allow you to evolve existing ones—adding layers of complexity, challenge, and brain load without reinventing the wheel.

Cognitive drills—no matter how well designed—have a shelf life.

Even with adjustments to duration or difficulty, athletes quickly learn to anticipate and automate responses. When that happens, the neurological load decreases… and performance plateaus.

It’s not a failure of the task. It’s a failure to scale the challenge.

Soma Modes are pre-built ways to layer pressure, variability, and complexity on top of any existing cognitive task.

They allow you to build a Cognitive Stack—a scalable training system where each layer adds a new type of demand.

Rather than starting from scratch, you take a task your athlete already knows… and you evolve it.

For example:

You may apply a mode that requires the athlete to maintain their heart rate in Zone 4 throughout the task—adding sustained physical demand to the cognitive load.

Or, you may layer a second decision-making task on top—forcing them to switch between two types of demands in real time.

Suddenly, a simple drill can require multiple layers of pressure.

This is how you build a Cognitive Stack—applying intentional load, not random variety.

THE CORE (The Task)

Everything Starts Here.

This is the foundation everything else stacks on.

THE GRIND (The Duration)

Set The Dose.

The longer it runs, the deeper the cost.

Duration dictates depletion.

THE PRESSURE (The Intensity)

Load = Duration

x Intensity.

It's not just how fast, it's how long you can survive fast.

Speed amplifies everything.

THE MULTIPLIER (The Mode)

Same Task.

Different Animal.

It twists the rules.

Loads the brain.

And drags you somewhere you didn't think it could go.

Using Modes to apply these layers makes training more scalable, more versatile, and more neurologically engaging—keeping your athletes sharp, adaptable, and always progressing.