ONE IDEA

Recovery is as much mental as it is physical.

THE WHY

In 1956, Hans Selye coined the term General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS), which essentially underlies every aspect of physical preparation that we use today (Haff & Triplett, 2016).  The General Adaptation Syndrome says that the body goes through 3 stages (alarm, resistance, and supercompensation). The overarching lesson from this model is that with appropriate stress, the body will adapt to meet the demands of that stress, and when the stressor (volume or intensity) is too high it can lead to overtraining and you won’t get the adaptation you are looking for.

MY THOUGHTS/ PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

I believe the same model can be applied to the mind. To develop your mind, you need some level of stress or stimulus (i.e. reading, thinking, or creating). My friend once said “if you don’t have any stress, then you won’t get out of the way of the bus.” But when that stress becomes too much, it can beat us down and absorb us, and will even hinder our physical development.

I often see athlete do a good job of “taking a day off” for physical rest and recovery. But you need to do this for your mind as well.

I have been grinding away working on my business and training all year. So I have made a commitment that as of tomorrow I am shutting my computer and phone off and taking some mental space to recharge for a week. Thanks for everyone who has been following my work, and look forward to connect with you people in the new year!

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE

“Genius is the ability to renew one’s emotions in daily experience.”

—Paul Cezanne

References

Haff, G., & Triplett, N. T. (2016). Essentials of strength training and conditioning (4th ed.) Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.