Friday Thoughts 14
Happy Friday, here’s this week’s edition on Friday Thoughts.
Holiday Hours reminder: Closed 12/265, 12/26, no PM classes 12/29, Closed 1/1.
Technical vs adaptive challenges. If you’re reflecting on the year, and coming up with goals for next year, make sure you’re not trying to solve an adaptive problem with a technical solution. Technical problems have known solutions that can be solved by an expert, or with more information. Like resetting your wifi or even flying a plane. Adaptive challenges, on the other hand, are much trickier. They require a change in mindset, values or identity and are multifaceted. Read more about it here.
Allowing myself to have a screen in bed got my bed time consistent. Screens in bed! I know. But for the past 8 weeks I’ve been in bed before 9pm. Every single night. I wanted to up my sleep game, and had a tendency to fall asleep on the couch. I haven’t had my phone in my bedroom in over 10 years, so it was a “rule,” that I was firm on. I decided to forego my rule and try reading on an iPad. Half of me is screaming, the screen will kill your sleep and it’s bad for your eyes! But the results are speaking for themselves. I’m in bed sooner and sleeping more every night with that one simple change. That’s an example of an adaptive challenge. I didn’t need to read another sleep book telling me more information about sleep and how it’s important. I needed to change my habits and my beliefs.
Recursive Training. I heard this term on a podcast this week. The idea is that you train to get more and more and more push ups. Eventually, that leads to burnout because you cannot progress linearly forever, otherwise we would all have 1000 pound deadlifts and 30 pull ups by now. Proper programming accounts proper stimulus so you could still be challenged and progress your push ups by using things like tempo, load, speed, range of motion and cardiorespiratory demand. But the question is should you? Is there a point where enough is and enough, and you only need to maintain the amount of push ups you have, rather than continually striving for more? I think there is, just like there’s a point where you’re strong enough too. As you become more advanced in training, your program shifts more to maintenance mode. Just like an in season athlete the primary goal is to keep what you have, or just don’t get worse.
Check out this throwback post from 8 years ago. They’ve dialed back the frequency but the fact that they’re still training at GAIN means they’re consistent. Elisabeth will be our first 9 year member next month!
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
