Hey there!
Halfway through the year, or thereabouts. Growing up, having school holidays punctuate the calendar made things fit and you didn’t seem to lose track of the year. And having exams as well, you knew what time of the year it was. Something more than just what month it was. As an adult, sometimes I lose track. Obviously, the solution is having 2 months off for the summer :)
This week, I do not have an audio version. To the 7 of you who listen to it, my apologies. I also did not have the mental bandwidth on Friday to write my “3 quotes”. I debated whether I should just force it. Decided not to.
Two things for this edition are
on the principle of progressive overload.
Learn the secret to lifting more weight every week. In one year, you will be squatting 270 kilos. In two years, you will have the world record in your sights.just hold your nose and get through it
Instead of hating driving, I can drive. I don't have to love it. Instead of hating your physical activity routine, you can just do it. Armed with the larger theme of you taking care of yourself, you can just do that.
learn the secret to lifting more weight each week
progressive overload
Want to lift more weights than anyone else you know? Well, read on!
One of the fundamental principles in strength training is progressive overload. It simply means you try to do a bit more work than last time. Either you lift more weight, or you lift a weight for more repetitions - do more work in some fashion.
Our body works the same way. Have you heard the story of Milo of Croton, a 6-time Olympic wrestling champion? Legend has it that he lifted a young bull every day as part of his training. As the young calf grew heavier day by day, he was progressively overloading his body into getting stronger.
Let's say you can lift 10 kilos. When you try to lift 11 kilos and succeed, your body has pushed past its previous capability. It realises you are trying to do some things to it and so has to adapt. Which it does by improving neuromuscular adaptation (your brain tells the muscles to switch on better, and tells more muscles to switch on better to do the job required) and increased muscle growth. And you keep doing it, well, you get stronger.
the right amount
This is not just a fundamental principle in strength training but in the larger scheme of learning. It is only in the right zone, just outside of our comfort zone but still within our capabilities that we truly grow. Too hard, and we will give up. Too easy, and we don't learn. Just right - in the Goldilocks zone - and we stretch and grow.
Without progressive overload, you are not really training. The right amount of overload is key. This is why random workouts hurt, rather than help. This is also why maximum intensity all the time leads to injuries or reduced results over time.
world champion in 3 years
Finding the right dose, as always, is important. By pushing just a bit beyond your capability, you are guaranteed to progress. Not just in strength training, but most physical activities work on this principle.
So, you can squat 10 kilos today. Let's say you add 1 kilo a day. Let's not be greedy - let's say we can do this for 5 days a week and we chill two days. Quick computation of our squat
In one year, you will be squatting 270 kilos.
In two years, you will have the world record in your sights.
In three years... stop. Bad news.
The progress is neither linear nor infinite. It stops. That's just how it is. But the cool thing is, that's great for regular people like you and me. We should just aim at getting a lot stronger than where we are today, and not random silly numbers that actually do not matter to us.
using this principle to do pushups
While it is key to identify the edge of our comfort zone, and the weight room offers us clear definitions and numbers of where that stands, getting stronger is not an infinite game. Once you get StrongEnough, you really do not need to get stronger than that.
How can you use this principle? Well, let's say you want to do pushups. You currently have a 1-minute plank. Let's break it down.
you start by identifying a version of the pushup you can do. Let's say you can do pushups by standing against a wall. For clarity's sake, let's call the angle between the horizontal and your body 45 degrees and the current number of pushups you can do as 5.
you can increase the number of pushups you do in each training session. Instead of trying to do 6, you might want to do 3 sets of 3. A set of 3 is only 60% as hard and you will be able to do that with good technique.
Next week, you can do 4 sets of 3. Let's go up to 10 sets of 3 over a few weeks.
Now, you will be able to do a pushup at a lower angle. You repeat this process - finding the right level of increased difficulty.
And voila, you have a pushup from the floor!
This is a bit simplistic but that's essentially all there is.
it slows down
When you are just starting off, you can literally add 5 kilos to the bar every time you squat. But after 6 months, progress starts to slow down. You start doing slightly more advanced techniques - like a simple linear cycle. And as your training age increases and you get closer and closer to your potential, eking out progress via more weights slows down.
But that's okay. There's really nothing to be gained by trying to lift arbitrary amounts of weight. Once you are StrongEnough, you will have a great foundation to do other activities on top of it. You can improve your skills, you can learn new skills, you can play other sports, learn new things, mix and match a bunch of these.
The principle of progressive overloading is a powerful one. It involves you having the courage to push past your comfort zone and also leaving your ego aside to push past it the right amount. The rest will take care of itself.
And remember, the game is not to keep trying to lift more weight than last week. That's a fun game to play for a few years. Once you get there, it is fine to change the game.
clamp that nose shut and get through the ordeal
kashaayam
Growing up, whenever I or my sister fell sick, we would be handed a rather gross concoction, kashaayam, that would cure us. Standard practice. Clamp that nose shut and dunk it down the gullet. After a few seconds of trying to get that awful taste out of your mouth, you walk away - job done!
This prepares one for many unpleasant situations later on in life, looks like. Bored and not challenged at work? Grind your way through the day. Hate your exercise routine? Stuck in a boring class? It's okay, it will be over soon. You can go do fun things right after this is over. Eating delicious cake that is trending on your feed all week.
Some of these are small, say a 1-hour class you signed up for. Some of these could be taking up a larger part of your life, say, your job.
You face that situation with this pre-existing pattern of clamping your nose and getting through it. And you distract yourself with other fun things during the weekend or in the evening. And shelve this and say it is fine, coz doesn't everyone go through it?
Just coz 100s or 1000s or millions or billions of people do something does not make it the right thing to do. For you.
does everything have to be fun?
Some things are not interesting. Some things are interesting. Some things are draining. Some things we look forward to and are lost in it when we do them.
So, do you fill your life with fun and interesting things and remove everything else? It does seem like a great idea. But if everything is fun, will nothing be fun? Or does it mean you quit the job that is boring and not growing you as a person? Working crazy hours, selling something that has no connection with you, where you find no meaning. What then?!?!
The larger issue is that nonsensical game we seem to concoct, to have a semblance of structure. To fool ourselves into thinking we are in control. That game seems to be "Do this so you can do that next."
And oh, you don't like this thing. No problem. Clamp your nose and gulp it down. That next thing will be fun.
it doesn't have to be fun to be fun
Doing dishes or driving are two things that I would not associate with the word fun. They are things that I used to endure. I never thought there's anything to be learned from them.
But defining an activity solely based on "is it fun?" seemed rather idiotic. Reading Thich Nhat Hanh's had a dramatic effect on me.
The red light is your friend.
Rather than being annoyed at the traffic light, I learned to start using it to break out of a pattern of "I hate this driving thing. I want to get to my destination so I can be done with this."
Likewise, with the dishes, I have started attempting not to look forward to finishing. Because that ends up being the ONLY thought. Unfortunately, I confuse myself with "what state of mind should I be in?", and end up over-thinking most of the time. But I tell myself that it is okay.
it depends
So, do we fill our life only with energising things? Only with things that make a difference? Only with things that fill us with joy? With meaning? With purpose?
What I do know that I have no idea how to answer the above questions. I do think that these situations are not to be dealt with in a binary fashion.
The larger question to ask is not about fun, but about values. But more relevant to these things that currently we hold our breath and get over with, the answer continues to be that it depends.
Some things, you drop them.
Some things, you drop the hate. Or if hate is too strong a word, then that negative emotion associated with it.
Instead of hating driving, I can drive. I don't have to love it.
Instead of hating your physical activity routine, you can just do it. Armed with the larger theme of you taking care of yourself, you can just do that.
There are situations where we do need to hold our nose and get through them. Or are there?
Thank you for reading. I truly appreciate it.
If you have any thoughts or feedback, I’d love to hear them.