Antagonistic training for next level performance
Training the body is all about paradoxes. Training only one set of muscles without strengthening the opposite/antagonistic ones means you’ll often end up more prone to injury and weaker. Focusing on one discipline like strengthening without developing more flexibility means you’ll lose mobility, which especially as we age ought to be the end game. Putting your bones under pressure through resistance and strength training increases rather than reduces their density. What you can lift, what pace you can set, how long you can train for is almost always more about the mind rather than the body.
Whether you love the gym or hate any form of exercise, the parallels between how we train our bodies and how we apply our energy to everything else is worth taking a moment to think about.
If we’re investing all our time in work and none in play, is there a chance we end up burnt out (injured) and feeling less resilient when the inevitable challenges come?
“There is virtue in work and virtue in rest. Use both and overlook neither.”
Finding balance – eustress vs distress
We get better results in physical training programmes, whether that be running, cycling, weights, functional movement…you name it, when we have rest periods in which our bodies recover and rebuild.
The same goes for our work lives and our day to day lives. We are motivated by stress in regular, digestible doses (known as eustress). It’s only when this becomes constant and chronic that it leads to overwhelm and burnout (distress).
That’s why proper breaks are critical to our continued development and building mental resilience. They’re also good to get perspective and reset our goals.
So when you’re planning your week, are you factoring in enough down time, both for your mind and your body, to come back stronger, faster and better?
Life is short. Until next time take care, stay safe and be kind 🙌
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