FORTITUDE
Week 6 - Day 2 - Deload
3 Ct Paused Bench:
5x5x275
Cable Crossover Triceps Extension:
15x45
2x10x60
Cable Crossover Lying Lateral Raise:
2x12x40
Machine Assisted Pull-Up:
10xBW-120
10 + 5 + 5 + 5 x BW-120 - 60 sec rests
Again, lower volume via number of exercises mostly. Only lifting 3 days this week too. Just testing different deload types to see how I respond best. In nearly 17 years lifting, I’ve never really paid attention to which works for me, despite writing plenty for other people based on how they respond. I just went with what feels best for me. Might as well do some paying attention.
Lessons from The V̶͇̳͔̩͒̅̕ͅờ̷̱̠͐̄̋́̒̃̔̊͑̚͝͝͠i̵̦̺̘̥͓͖͓͔̜͎͛̓͒̑́͊̐̋̚͝ͅḑ̴̧̢̞̲͉̫̘̻͍̦̘̥̹̺̦́̃̏͊̌̑̀̕̚͝͝͝
Training stress and life stress are often equated with, “Your body can’t tell the difference between stressors”, and that’s a cute saying that has some merit. Really only because being over-stressed in general, physically and/or mentally, can negatively affect your training. But to say the body doesn’t know the difference is pretty far off from being accurate.
You can’t sleep, eat, and wait your way to being recovered from life stress like you can training stress. Your responsibilities and fears are still there when you wake up or finish your meal. You can’t just wait for your body to clear the residual effects of life stress like you can with training.
Here’s the deal: your total physical, mental, and emotional “stress bucket” can grow, but only if you actively work towards fulfilling or overcoming things in the areas of life that are causing that life stress, and then taking what you’ve learned to build more bucket. Just barely getting past stressful times because you’re putting in minimal work, then not changing or learning from it, is just another tick towards chronic stress, anxiety, and inflammation that will fuck you in the future.
Trust me, it’s been my modus operandi my entire life.
Purposeful and effective effort towards fulfilling your responsibilities, however you and life define that, IS the restorative and satisfying sleep and nutrition that will build more bucket towards being able to handle more life stress volume and intensity. No matter how big the issue is… the more you’ve trained with and on purpose, the bigger that bucket is. And the more capable you are at addressing that stressor and recovering from it. So that the next big stressor that comes (and it will come) will not be stacking up on other things that you still haven’t recovered from.
The crushing weight of life comes from not addressing the issues as they come and then allowing them to build on top of you. The bucket overflows. You drown.
The bucket is always adapting to what you are doing. Shrinking or expanding. The body and the mind always agree with your actions. You might tell yourself that you’re strong, but your actions are they only valid test. And your actions are the only valid way to change things. It’s always moving in either direction and it only depends on you.
This is what adaptive capacity or adaptive resilience is. Being able to take on new challenges and adapt to them, because you’ve overcome things that have built your bucket in the past and you purposefully maintain it. You don’t get there without directed and purposeful work. You don’t get there with deep breathing, meditation, and cold plunges. You don’t gain muscle or strength with supplements and without directed and purposeful work.
You can’t accidentally get “too big” from working out without specifically trying to. And you can’t accidentally be mentally and emotionally prepared to handle life without specifically trying to…
…build your bucket.
All that to say: I’m stressed as shit at the moment and this is a letter to myself.