Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Do you want to be comfortable or would you like to improve?

Yeah, I usually work out 2-3 hours per day
Everybody has heard someone talk about being in "the zone" when they are training.  I have seen hundreds of people in a zone when they are working out but its not the one you think. The zone I want to talk about, and I want you to avoid completely if you are trying to make physical change, is the comfort zone. The first time you workout it is very hard to get into the comfort zone. Everything is new to you and physically nearly everything is challenging beyond what you are used to. This produces the typical soreness in the days that follow.  You feel like you must have done the most productive workout in the world, wether it be running stairs, lifting weights, or swinging around a pole while sweating to the 80's.  Logically, you continue on with this same attack. The problem is very soon the challenge your body was not accustomed to becomes not such a challenge anymore. Our bodies being by nature quite lazy, stops changing simply because it no longer has to.  You have hit the comfort zone. To kick start the process again you need to introduce a new stimulus, one you are not used to. This is one of the reasons (there are several) "Long Duration Slow Exercise" is so ineffective at producing long term results as far as body composition changes go. You are limited by how you can add stimulus. This is the same reason why many people can play sports like soccer, hockey, and golf on a regular basis but not lose any weight. You quickly become accustomed to activities you do on a regular basis. If you want your exercise to produce a body that looks like it has not been comfortable most of the time, you need to add intensity to pull yourself out of the comfort zone, and you need to do it often. This means something different for everyone. If your weak, work to get stronger. If your slow, work to get faster. Most people are both but don't really work on either one. Treat your workouts like a challenge and not just something you do for a set amount of time. If you up your performance you will change guaranteed.  Have a good day. 

2 comments:

  1. Awesome wake up call.

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  2. Great point Coach. So easy to just keep doing what you're familiar with and what you're good at. I've always thought of this issue when I see people in the gym reading a book or magazine while they're doing "cardio." Makes me want to ask "How's that working for ya?"

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