After taking 6 days off after a good solid 6 weeks of heavy weight-training two weeks ago, I was pumped to get back in, lift some things, put them back down and pick them back up again (seems so strange that we can actually enjoy such a mundane task).
Anyway, after two awesome days of getting back into it and smashing some new records, I was pretty damn sore during the following DOMS-days.
A pretty standard situation though, right?
Well, not all the time. And bear with me as I’m sure you can relate.
Adaptation.
You see, if we stick to a program for a good amount of time, our bodies start to adapt to the required workload. And inevitably, always making it funny to see how sore we can actually get from doing practically the same thing a week later after having a rest week.
Agreed?
But, if we go longer, say, a whole month or so without training, then we’re in for it. And we are definitely destined to achieve a whole new world of pain when restarting our training cycle.
Normal?
When first starting out with a training regime, it shouldn’t and doesn’t always have to be this way. And the initial anxiety and possible pain factor can and does actually scare a lot of people away from even commencing.
Take the reality TV show, The Biggest Loser, for instance. Their whole gimmick involves yelling at their clients, pushing them to their limits of pain, and making them sweat (or is that in-fact tears? Hmm yep, looks like both actually).
But despite this huge (and confusing) selling point people buy into that is a sign of a “good workout”, even after months of training religiously and building your body up, it still shouldn’t always be about trying to literally obliterate yourself every time you enter a facility.
And in a lot of cases, this style can actually hinder or reverse your progress.
Have you ever seen or heard of bootcamp style fitness groups that constantly start up “6-week challenge” types of events? For the majority of time, these smash-and-crash style of programs result in the same exact people returning to the same exact challenges the next time around.
Kinda backwards, right?
My opinion.
A bit of proper programming and properly progressing through the stages of training that coincide with an individual’s skill level, can and IS a much better way of going about achieving goals.
And, if done right, the individual will definitely be a lot better off by not destroying their central nervous, immune, and even urinary system every time they work to an extreme intensity.
Like I’ve said in the past, obliteration does have its place, but an ongoing attack on your body every single time you train can not only lead to high levels of fatigue and sicknesses (and longer lasting ones at that too), but pain, injuries, or even one of the most extreme occurrences known as rhabdomyolysis.
Things like what’s happening in the video below just don’t seem right to me.
And despite me literally NOT attacking CrossFit in any way possible, this kind of image can make or break an individual’s desire to begin a training regime.
Literally destroying an individual so much so that they lose control of a basic human function isn’t a sign of an “awesome workout”, just more a sign of stupidity and taking the human body too damn far.
But hey, that’s just my opinion.
Although.
Humans are pretty cool (well, not all of them) and we do have that amazing ability for adapting to requirements and environments.
Things like Wolff’s Law (where our bones literally remodel themselves to cope with repeated stress and demand) and merely the fact that we have evolved into upright walking mammals that build and create things, make this apparent.
But conversely, what’s weird to think is that whilst every single one of us is different, we’re all capable of learning the exact same things.
And as I literally sit here right now writing this paragraph on the beach, I can’t help but firstly reminiscing of the warmer months (damn you, winter), and secondly, thinking of the people that would’ve been saved over the summer from the ocean.
It’s got to make you wonder if YOU’D personally be ready if you were suddenly pulled into a rip or caught unaware in the ocean, right?
Life skillz.
Swimming seems to be one of those “essential” life skills, but other situations like having to outrun or sprint for your life from, let’s say, a lion, is also is up there too, right?
Well yeah, maybe running from a lion is a little too unrealistic. But what if someone was after your wallet, precious iPhone, or even your life?
Would you just keel over and submit? Or, would you be ready to run for your life and/or defend?
Now look, I’m definitely not saying that we should all possess the skill to run like Usain Bolt or even fight like Bruce Lee, but having the best possible personal set of skills that we ourselves can personally acquire, should be a high priority in our life along with being ready for whatever situation.
No one likes a drifter, and if you’re one of those people that are just ticking off days till the weekend, time with some beloved electronic devices and waiting for that day where your life magically changes, then you may really be missing out on a hidden potential that we all can unlock.
Like I’ve already said, what is really cool about all of our bodies is the fact that we can learn skills. We might pick up and learn things at different rates, but we’re all capable of mastering a lot of different things in life.
I think that’s pretty cool.
But it can’t stop there.
Having the will, desire and even simply the excitement to better ourselves every day is a fire that should exist in all of us.
Philosophical end.
I love the Japanese philosophy of Kaizen known as “continuous improvement”. Learning every day, bettering ourselves every day. That’s how it should be.
That old saying of “learn something new every day” that teachers/parents used to say to us really is true.
Can you imagine if everyone put 100% into their life every day and aimed high for their achievements?
It seems like it would be chaos.
I mean, how many billionaire entrepreneurs/leaders/creative minds/etc. would fit on Earth, all possessing the drive to get as much done as possible?
What about if you kicked your life up a gear?
Could you be one of those people aiming high, chasing dreams and bettering yourself every day?