The goal of any natural “system” is equilibrium… that’s an incredibly broad statement and of course there are tons of various goals… but a system strives for equilibrium or a sense of balance. An ecosystem… or the body is no different. Your body strives for “balance”. If it’s too hot… it sweats or tells you to turn the air conditioner on… too cold and the heater comes on or, as my father used to say, “Put a damn sweater on!”
The same is true when the body is stressed, whether by extreme environmental conditions or by a challenging work out. If you have never run before, just getting up and running a mile is going to feel very different the first day vs. 2 weeks later when you have been doing it every morning. This happens because your body changes to meet this stress… or, said differently, it adapts to the new environment.
Your body begins to “get used to” this change of experience by adapting to this new norm. That space between “thiscompletelyhurtsandsucksandiwillnevergetusedtoit” and “this is so simple” is the body adapting. It is seeking balance.
This is true of any physical stress you put on your body. Your body begins to actually change as the stresses come and are sustained. At the hormonal level your body secretes different chemicals to anticipate activity and to achieve a faster recovery from that activity. Heck, the body knows this is good for you so it even will release a little “pleasure” in the form of endorphins. This happens at the nutritional level, too, as your “cravings” will begin to change so the body will get the fuel it knows you need. The way that fuel is burned changes. Muscles begin to change, bones and joints change… how your brain functions changes (and maybe even at the genetic level, but the jury is still out on that).
And you get better at that activity.
And then… you feel like you have plateaued. Most of the time, however, this first plateau is typically just not pushing yourself hard enough. FIND A COACH. Find someone who will look at what you are doing and they will be able to help you get a more than you ever thought possible out of yourself.
However, if you have been exercising hard for at least a year and had coaching… you will also at some time hit a plateau. You get in a rut… the level of improvement slows… why is that? Because your body has adapted… it has found balance… equilibrium… it has adapted. If you want to improve and continue to get stronger / faster / have more endurance / whatever … something’s got to change.
One of my favorite lifters, Donny Shankle writes about adaptation for the weight lifter here
In the past, when I was young and I would hit this place of slowed / minimal / feels like NO improvement, I would do what any young ego-centered male would do – continue to do the same things only HARDER and LOUDER … and … still … have little to no improvement.
See, our bodies are just so amazing that they can compensate and cope and adapt to pretty much anything we can throw at them. The body is really an amazing machine.
To get past these plateaus, things need to change. The stresses and challenges we put on the body need to change. Changing the type of squatting or deadlifting I was doing for several weeks or months actually helped me pass my previous plateau easily. By changing the exercise, the stress, shocking the body out of equilibrium has actually made me stronger and quicker when I returned to the previous lifts.
And, these changes have made me fitter overall. Change and variation will help you pass plateaus and will make you more fit and stronger overall.
Say what you will about Crossfit… I believe they have done a great job in defining fitness (constantly varied….. blah blah blah) and the way in which each workout is structured to create that challenge is a great approach. Of course, it may not be perfect for everyone… but it is a great way to look at things.
Seek change… keep the body adapting… it will amaze you.
