“It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.”—Lou Holtz
I teach exercise science. One of the topics discussed in several of my classes is overtraining. I teach that overtraining (i.e., training such that one is unable to recover fully, and the body begins to break down physiologically and psychologically to the point that performance declines) is a matter of poorly managing the stimulus-to-recovery ratio. In short, it is not training intelligently. For most of us, we are undertraining.
Over/undertraining also applies to “well-centered fitness”—the Spiritual, Intellectual, Emotional, and Social dimensions, as well as the Physical dimension. It is a matter of the way we carry our burdens. Growth (Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, and Social) requires overload—that we be stressed to a level greater than that to which we are accustomed. It is not the overload that breaks us down, it is the way we carry it (to paraphrase Coach Holtz). Growth requires both stimulus and recovery. Physically, that requires active recovery, sleep, nutrition, and often recovery modalities, such as massage, cold/heat therapy, etc. Growth in the broader (well-centered) sense, also requires better management. That which seems the most overwhelming in life is probably what we need to grow to fulfill our Purpose. We can choose to see it as Purpose (and grow) or see it as our Hell and let is overburden us—to break us to the point that our performance (Spiritual, Physically, Intellectual, Emotional, and Social) declines.
When our burdens seem too great, it is often not what we are carrying but how. It seems too great because we are neglecting one or more of the dimensions of well-centered fitness. The burden seems great because of the way we are carrying it.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!