By Coach Shawn
Driving Only At Full Speed
Imagine this…
every time you got in the car to drive,
you only allowed yourself to drive as fast as humanly possible to get from A to B.
Through the local town. Back roads. Running red lights. Near schools.
You can see the red flags popping up in your head as you imagine it.
One Way Only = Limited.
Driving isn’t about always driving at one speed.
It’s about versatility, different speeds and durations. Adjusting accordingly.
All still on the way getting us from A to B.
The same goes for Fitness and training.
Flawed Approaches in Fitness
Imagine thinking a workout is only good if I’m left on the floor, a sweaty mess, breathing hard and feeling like my tank is completely empty?
Imagine only coming on workouts that I want to do, skipping things I don’t want to do.
Imagine training at 1 speed only – 100 mph regardless of the stimulus or intent of the workout?
It’s a very limited way of thinking that offers up limited results.
The Reality.
Not all workouts have the same training effort, pacing or training “gear.”
Not all workouts need to leave you on your back, drenched in sweat, feeling like you just completely emptied the tank.
This also doesn’t always signify a great workout either – it’s more a representation of the demand the workout placed on the individual.
In fact, it’s a really irresponsible and unsustainable way to train consistently day in and day out in my opinion.
And not all workouts need to be ones you like to get benefit from. In fact avoiding things you dislike is a way to stay limited in overall fitness/capacity and frustrated. Not to mention limiting the results you could be achieving.
It’s all about balance.
Shifting Gears.
Just like driving
Sometimes I’m gonna drive slowly through town.
Fast on the highway.
Sometimes I need to make changes or detours.
Slow down at a yellow light.
Or get pulled over and told you were going too fast and were unsafe.
It’s all a part of the process.
It’s no different with training.
Understanding The 80-10-10% Rule
HARD EFFORT – 10% of the time (TESTING yourself)
Some days are going to be really challenging. Stretch you physically and mentally.
Think of this as expanding your threshold.
Think of this like 5th-6th gear of a stick shift car- allowing for maximal output.
High effort = high output = little sustainability.
It expands a ceiling but it’s more about testing current capability at this time.
For longevity sake, maybe you’ll do this once or twice every 2 weeks in training.
TRAINING EFFORT – 80% of the time (Building)
Most days are going to be more about training.
And less about 100% full output / effort.
Think of this as BUILDING a training tolerance and cultivating strength, skill, awareness, power, cardio etc.
Not testing but building.
Leaving a little in the tank. You’re challenging yourself. However it’s a subtle difference.
High effort with sustainability and repeatability.
Like balancing between 3rd and 4th gear of a stick shift car.
PRACTICE, OFF DAY or INJURED – 10% of the time [MOVE TO MAINTAIN]
Some days we’ll drop the effort down and practice.
Work on a new skill or build on an existing one.
Another instance where we’d drop the effort down and just move is say you had an off night of sleep.
Or an emotional life event occurs.
Or just mentally off and just need to “move” your body.
Another time to slow down is when working through an injury or a tweak or setback.
Here we’re not looking to “best” anything or go full throttle.
We are looking to improve our health, wellness and fitness while healing simultaneously.
Unsexy Truth
It’s not always about gain and moving the needle 1%.
Some days it’s about maintaining / preserving what you have.
And that’s better than giving up or all together.
We showed up. We got better.
Avoid Dead End Thinking
So if you’re thinking it is limited, that all workouts must be ‘all in hard’, or I must go all in on every single training piece to get results or a good workout…
Take it from someone who’s already made all those mistakes years ago,
It’s a dead end.
Which leads to injury, burnout or complete frustration.
And that’s not the way to your most optimal self, results or experience.
