There are things to pull from every source. Even a Jackass (donkey) can have something of value to offer if you have the humility to hear it.
From an unlikely source, in context of CrossFit, bodybuilding, I learned some very important pieces to fitness. From Mike Mintzer and his unique approach to High Intensity training I learned 7 key principles and after watching today's workout, I think it's time everyone in this gym learn them too.
The First Principle: Identity
Often you hear the idea of "muscle confusion." Especially in ads. What is ridiculous about this statement is the blatant violation of identity. A muscle does not have a brain, and cannot become confused. It might seem like I'm being overly picky about words, maybe, but the issue is that a muscle is only a muscle and as such it will respond accordingly. Everything has it's own identity, it's own being. This might be too philosophical for a lot of people, but it's important to remember this overarching concept. It literally guides everything else.
The Second Principle: Intensity
Intensity can mean only one thing. Maximum. The math of intensity is simple, (force X distance)/Time. So what this means in simple terms is to increase intensity you can either increase the force, increase the distance, or decrease the time, or a combination of them. Intensity is important to understand and a proper understanding a few key things about muscles and their identity. The short version is that only when intensity is increased does a response follow. Without the proper intensity, you will not get results. How do I know when you've met this proper level of intensity? When nothing more can be done. A real quick and easy observation to know whether max intensity has been met is, after the workout do you sit down on the erg to pull a 2k at a new PR? Pretty clear that the workout was not done at proper intensity.
The Third Principle: Duration
Intensity and duration are inverse. Meaning, the higher the intensity the shorter the duration, you just can't go very long at max intensity. Keep workouts short and intense.
The Fouth Principle: Frequency
There are two things that happen after a workout, a general stress and a specific stress. Both must be recovered from in order to see progress. If you work at max intensity frequently, you will burn out. You must rest and recover.
The Fifth Principle: Specificity
Cause and Effect are very real and ever-present. When you workout, depending on what you do, you will get a specific result. When you lift heavy, you will get stronger. You will never see a result that does not follow directly from a cause. However, the true cause can sometimes be difficult to find and can cause some confusion, as evident in the current nutritional advice often proposed by nutritionists. The observation that people were eating saturated fat and experiencing heart disease was confused to be cause and effect. Other observations fit better, but I digress. The point is, there is a specific response to a specific stimulus and you can never escape this fact.
The Sixth Principle: Adaptation
Given all of the above, your body will adapt to the stress you put it under, however, there is a limit to how much stress it can effectively handle at any given time. It will adapt to that too though, meaning, if you continue to push the edge of how much stress you can adapt to, it will get better at adapting to more and more stress. There are two types of stress Eustress (good stress) and distress (bad stress). If you give the proper eustress your body will respond. As an example, when you are exposed to the sun, you will develop a sun tan, your skin will darken. If you are exposed to too much sun, your body will be overwhelmed and blister, if it continues you can become burned. This is too much and more then your system is capable of adapting to. The same things happens in workouts. Too much of it combined with inadequate recovery and you have a recipe for problems, just like a blister or burning from the sun.
The Seventh Principle: Progression
The culmination of all 6 principles is progression. If you are progressing, then you have the right level of intensity, duration, frequency, etc. If there is not progress, there is usually too little intensity. That's the hard stuff, the painful stuff.
So, lift heavier, run faster, push harder and results will happen faster!
See you in the gym!
For further reading see:
Hans Selye
Reishi
Adaptogen
Mike Mentzer
PS. don't confuse the analogy, I do not consider bodybuilders or Mike Mentzer to be a "jackass."
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