9 Tufts Lacrosse players were hospitalized recently after a 45 minute training session with a newly minted Navy Seal. Naturally I was excited because it gives me a chance to talk about 2 important training concepts: progressive overload and pain as language.
But firstly, what a bunch of Wimps.
Kidding aside, I have questions.
Progressive overload
There’s an old saying, ‘any asshole can make a workout harder, but a great trainer can regress a workout.’ I’d add that a truly great trainer can regress a workout to meet you where you are, then safely progress you to accomplish any physical goal.
That safe progression is progressive overload: a fundamental training principle that involves gradually increasing the demands placed on the body over time to stimulate muscle growth and improve strength
Imagine you’re asleep; idly snoozing on a Sunday morning. All of a sudden, out of nowhere someone smashes cymbals in your ears. Surprise! It doesn’t feel good. I’m guessing this is what happened to Tufts lax.
They were put into an intense workout that they hadn’t prepared for (which btw is the point of Navy Seal training). The fact that they’re young athletes gave them confidence they could push through. To their credit they pushed through some pain, but their bodies got a nasty surprise. And your body hates surprises.
A brain study proved surprises intensifies emotions by 400%. I don’t want to increase bad emotions by 400%. I don’t necessarily want to increase good ones by 400%. Imagine how obnoxious I’d be if I thought I was 400% funnier.
I warn marathon runners every year: No surprises the week of the race. Don’t do anything different, don’t wear anything different, don’t eat anything different. Don’t even watch anything new on TV. The more predictable your race day is the better you will perform. You’ve learned a rhythm around eating, sleeping, running, evacuating. Doing something new the week of the race, (when the urge to do something new and extra crescendos btw) disrupts your rhythm and, in all likelihood, leads to worse results.
Pain- a tool for behavior change
Your body complains when you go from the couch to running 10 minutes a day. It revolts when you go from running 10 minutes a day to running 26 miles. You’re wired for survival. Pushed too hard, too far, for too long, your brain protects you. How? Pain. It’s a language: Defined by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage. Pain sensation is undoubtedly the brain’s most effective tool to create behavior change.
Ignoring pain is engrained into athletic and Military culture. The Mens Lax team were young, tough, and prepared to play lacrosse. That doesn’t mean that they were ready for a Navy Seal workout. To their credit, they pushed through, because fitness often rewards that austerity. They ignored the brain’s warning and they paid a steep price.
Progressive overload?
The whole point of working out is to eventually increase load, distance, or intensity. But, I would warn, Do so slowly. Never increase anything by more than 5 to 10% per training cycle. Your body adapts to these increases and, as shown above, resists more aggressive progressions.
Gradually work your way up to perform increasingly difficult feats of strength and endurance. The same way investing $500 per month for years surprisingly yields $1 million dollars in time, you’ll be shocked by how quickly incremental increases in your fitness accrue. It’s the Tortoise vs the Hare. In investment, in fitness, in life.
Start small, increase intelligently, and in no time you can handle that Navy Seal workout.