I'm currently right at the half-way point through my latest 30 day challenge, a second 30 day workout challenge. It's really heightened my understanding of progressive training: starting small and gradually increasing the difficulty. The idea is simple: if you want to be able to lift a huge weight, something way out of your league, you can't just force yourself to do it. Straining and grunting, you'd only give yourself a hernia. Instead, the way to do it is to find a weight you can lift, an initial weight, and start there. Then, increase it by a small amount every week and have a lot of patience. Ideally, the initial weight should be right about at your limit, something you can pick up with effort but without unhealthy straining. But even this isn't a strict requirement. In principle, you could start by lifting two handfuls of thin air, just as long as you gradually add weight regularly thereafter.
The principle obviously isn't limited to weightlifting. With just about any goal or project, it's a good idea to take baby steps, starting with something small. One of the most common mistakes people make when they set out to accomplish something, is they bite off more than they can chew. Then they get discouraged because their magnum opus turns out to be more of a parvum opus ;) When I look at people doing things that are out of my league, I remind myself that they started out by doing a lot of things that are in my league. The legends and geniuses of the world got where they are by doing a lot of practice at lower levels, and progressively training themselves, upping the difficulty a little bit at a time.
Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
At times, because of the ebb and flow of our energy and mood and so on, we have to actually move backward: if I go to the gym and I'm feeling like I shouldn't have even gotten out of bed, I might actually lower the weight instead of raising it. It still beats the alternatives: not lifting at all, or failing the lift and getting discouraged. And I've found that as long as I don't totally neglect the routine entirely, the net movement is positive.
Before the last two weeks, I had totally neglected my body for a few months, and then as a cherry on top, I spent a gluttonous week in Las Vegas ;) When I finally got my rear back in gear, I knocked off a good 15-20 lbs from all the weights with respect to what I was lifting before. Not a big deal: my muscles were at that level before, and so they're very quickly "remembering" that stage, so I'm moving forward with little effort. It's a lot of fun. Soon I'll surpass where I was before taking my workout hiatus. If I'd tried pretending I could just resume where I'd left off, I would've had a rude awakening!
The Plateau
In progressive training, there's a phenomenon which I call the Plateau: you've been gradually increasing the difficult and watching your skills and abilities blossom, but you reach a point where it seems like you're maxed out. This is the plateau, and it's something to celebrate because it shows that you're making lots of progress, that you're on the right track.
To push past the plateau, it's best to actually forget all about that goal for awhile and switch things up slightly. For example, if I find I'm "stuck" at a certain bench pressing weight, I'll take regular benchpress out of my routine, replacing it with a slight variation, like 30 degree inclined bench. To be safe, I'll start with a weight which is much lighter than where I hit the plateau on the regular bench. Then I'll repeat the progressive training process until I hit a plateau on the new exercise. Now, odds are I can return to the original lift and push past the sticking point.
The Self-Image Advantage
One of the benefits of progressive training is psychological. If I swallowed a magical potion which gave me a 500 lb bench press instantly, three things would happen. First, my skin would burst apart violently, since it couldn't stretch enough to handle my bulging biceps. Second-- once I got out of the hospital-- I'd find I don't know my own strength. I'd tear the cupboard door off the wall the first time I went to grab something inside. I'd give my girlfriend a bearhug, and next thing you know she's being hauled away by paramedics ;) And third and finally, I'd lose most of my magical strength, since I don't really know how to workout to maintain it.
Progressive training is almost like a "check and balance" built into the universe to prevent this sort of thing. By increasing skills slowly and surely, we give ourselves time to adjust to our own development. It's because of this that we can enjoy any sort of continuity in our lives.
In some cases, there are magic potions: for example, you can win the lottery and become a multimillionaire overnight. That may not make your skin rip open, but if you're not used to being filthy rich, you'd find it a little more alien and disorienting than you expected. Chances are, you wouldn't be able to adjust your mind fast enough to the new reality, and you'd end up wasting a lot of the money, subconsciously sabotaging yourself until you got back to a bank account you were more comfortable and familiar with.
Interesting, and going off on a slight tangent, the mechanics of self-image work the other way, too. That's why athletes train by visualizing themselves with the performance they want. Let's take the magic potion from the previous example, but change it a little. Rather than give me actual hulk strength, this new potion just makes me think that I'm a musclebound titan, and that I've always been one. The new magical self-image will clash violently with my true, 100-lb-pressing self, and the result is that I'll feel a very intense motivation to go work my butt off until I make the illusion real.
Progressive Training Is A Metaskill
The kind of gradual training I'm telling you about is an example of what I call a metaskill: a skill which acts upon other skills. You can read all about these in my article, Skills And Metaskills. The upshot is that, like any other metaskill, this ability can be twisted around and applied to itself. In other words, you can progressively work out your abstract progressive workout skill!
Thus, for example, by applying these techniques to weightlifting, I'm teaching myself how to better apply them to other areas, like public speaking, writing, mathematics, etc.
Start Today!
One of the great things about ProgTraining is, it's easy to start-- almost by definition. When I decided to get back into weightlifting, I admit I felt a little bit of resistance. But because I lowered the weight a bunch as part of the "two steps forward, one step back", that resistance was lessened considerably. My first lift after the long hiatus, was not difficult but fun. If I had never pumped iron in my life and I wanted to start, I'd start by just lifting the naked bar (which weighs 45 lbs). All the fear and resistance disappears because it's so easy.
If you want to start pursuing a goal or project, you can start today. Want to start public speaking? Start out by saying something funny right now, in front of the computer! If you want, you can pretend I'm your audience, watching through the monitor. Wanna be more like Arnold Schwarzenegger? Just lift your arms-- lift thin air! Tomorrow you can find something that weighs five pounds and lift that, and by then you're well on your way ;) Want to be better at striking up conversation with strangers? Just start by asking someone what time it is ;) With progressive training at your disposal, you no longer have any excuses not to begin taking steps toward all the things you always wanted!
FURTHER READING
Boot Camp
Become More Intelligent By Doing New Things
Positive Affirmations
The principle obviously isn't limited to weightlifting. With just about any goal or project, it's a good idea to take baby steps, starting with something small. One of the most common mistakes people make when they set out to accomplish something, is they bite off more than they can chew. Then they get discouraged because their magnum opus turns out to be more of a parvum opus ;) When I look at people doing things that are out of my league, I remind myself that they started out by doing a lot of things that are in my league. The legends and geniuses of the world got where they are by doing a lot of practice at lower levels, and progressively training themselves, upping the difficulty a little bit at a time.
Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
At times, because of the ebb and flow of our energy and mood and so on, we have to actually move backward: if I go to the gym and I'm feeling like I shouldn't have even gotten out of bed, I might actually lower the weight instead of raising it. It still beats the alternatives: not lifting at all, or failing the lift and getting discouraged. And I've found that as long as I don't totally neglect the routine entirely, the net movement is positive.
Before the last two weeks, I had totally neglected my body for a few months, and then as a cherry on top, I spent a gluttonous week in Las Vegas ;) When I finally got my rear back in gear, I knocked off a good 15-20 lbs from all the weights with respect to what I was lifting before. Not a big deal: my muscles were at that level before, and so they're very quickly "remembering" that stage, so I'm moving forward with little effort. It's a lot of fun. Soon I'll surpass where I was before taking my workout hiatus. If I'd tried pretending I could just resume where I'd left off, I would've had a rude awakening!
The Plateau
In progressive training, there's a phenomenon which I call the Plateau: you've been gradually increasing the difficult and watching your skills and abilities blossom, but you reach a point where it seems like you're maxed out. This is the plateau, and it's something to celebrate because it shows that you're making lots of progress, that you're on the right track.
To push past the plateau, it's best to actually forget all about that goal for awhile and switch things up slightly. For example, if I find I'm "stuck" at a certain bench pressing weight, I'll take regular benchpress out of my routine, replacing it with a slight variation, like 30 degree inclined bench. To be safe, I'll start with a weight which is much lighter than where I hit the plateau on the regular bench. Then I'll repeat the progressive training process until I hit a plateau on the new exercise. Now, odds are I can return to the original lift and push past the sticking point.
The Self-Image Advantage
One of the benefits of progressive training is psychological. If I swallowed a magical potion which gave me a 500 lb bench press instantly, three things would happen. First, my skin would burst apart violently, since it couldn't stretch enough to handle my bulging biceps. Second-- once I got out of the hospital-- I'd find I don't know my own strength. I'd tear the cupboard door off the wall the first time I went to grab something inside. I'd give my girlfriend a bearhug, and next thing you know she's being hauled away by paramedics ;) And third and finally, I'd lose most of my magical strength, since I don't really know how to workout to maintain it.
Progressive training is almost like a "check and balance" built into the universe to prevent this sort of thing. By increasing skills slowly and surely, we give ourselves time to adjust to our own development. It's because of this that we can enjoy any sort of continuity in our lives.
In some cases, there are magic potions: for example, you can win the lottery and become a multimillionaire overnight. That may not make your skin rip open, but if you're not used to being filthy rich, you'd find it a little more alien and disorienting than you expected. Chances are, you wouldn't be able to adjust your mind fast enough to the new reality, and you'd end up wasting a lot of the money, subconsciously sabotaging yourself until you got back to a bank account you were more comfortable and familiar with.
Interesting, and going off on a slight tangent, the mechanics of self-image work the other way, too. That's why athletes train by visualizing themselves with the performance they want. Let's take the magic potion from the previous example, but change it a little. Rather than give me actual hulk strength, this new potion just makes me think that I'm a musclebound titan, and that I've always been one. The new magical self-image will clash violently with my true, 100-lb-pressing self, and the result is that I'll feel a very intense motivation to go work my butt off until I make the illusion real.
Progressive Training Is A Metaskill
The kind of gradual training I'm telling you about is an example of what I call a metaskill: a skill which acts upon other skills. You can read all about these in my article, Skills And Metaskills. The upshot is that, like any other metaskill, this ability can be twisted around and applied to itself. In other words, you can progressively work out your abstract progressive workout skill!
Thus, for example, by applying these techniques to weightlifting, I'm teaching myself how to better apply them to other areas, like public speaking, writing, mathematics, etc.
Start Today!
One of the great things about ProgTraining is, it's easy to start-- almost by definition. When I decided to get back into weightlifting, I admit I felt a little bit of resistance. But because I lowered the weight a bunch as part of the "two steps forward, one step back", that resistance was lessened considerably. My first lift after the long hiatus, was not difficult but fun. If I had never pumped iron in my life and I wanted to start, I'd start by just lifting the naked bar (which weighs 45 lbs). All the fear and resistance disappears because it's so easy.
If you want to start pursuing a goal or project, you can start today. Want to start public speaking? Start out by saying something funny right now, in front of the computer! If you want, you can pretend I'm your audience, watching through the monitor. Wanna be more like Arnold Schwarzenegger? Just lift your arms-- lift thin air! Tomorrow you can find something that weighs five pounds and lift that, and by then you're well on your way ;) Want to be better at striking up conversation with strangers? Just start by asking someone what time it is ;) With progressive training at your disposal, you no longer have any excuses not to begin taking steps toward all the things you always wanted!
FURTHER READING
Boot Camp
Become More Intelligent By Doing New Things
Positive Affirmations
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