One of the most common misconceptions about exercise is that “The more workouts I do, the harder I sweat, the more calories I burn, and the sorer my body feels” is a stable prerequisite for transformative results.
Take this same concept and apply it to blood pressure medication, or vitamin K pills. If 1 pill is good for me, wouldn’t 20 pills be 20 times as good? The answer is obviously no. There is a specific amount for your own body that works and anything over that begins to have a negative impact. (This is the job of a physician, to figure out what dose works appropriately with your physiology.)
So why aren’t 20 vitamin K pills twenty times better than just 1? Because your body is an ecosystem, an inexplicably complicated organism that needs just the right amount of vitamin K. Too much vitamin K causes jaundice, possibly anemia, or even brain damage. Too little vitamin K and you could have inadequate bone development, or an inability to clot blood effectively.
More doesn’t equal better. So why do we think this way about exercise? As far as I can tell there are two main reasons:
- Values: We value hard work, which is undoubtedly a good thing. However, we have been inculcated into thinking that in order for our results to be efficacious, we must push the limit of our work as far as it can go. The farther and higher our work is, the farther and higher our results are. In the gym, in the world of exercise and fitness this is not true. The only thing this mindset/thought process prepares you for is overworking and under recovering.
- The consumer market: We are consistently sold the idea that “ More is better.” If you go to most gyms and ask what they recommend (assuming that you had no financial limitations), I would surmise that most of them would advocate for the most expensive one. This is sold with the underlying promise that “ Because you are doing more, you will receive more results.”
Why this is wrong
Everyday your body has to recover. It has to recover mentally, spiritually, and physically from the day. It also takes energy to recover. Your body has to have resources to recover from the day, and if all of its resources have been expended it puts your body in a hole. It deprives it of rest. If you are working out 3-4 days a week and you feel exhausted every time, you may get addicted to that feeling or even be told that it means “you are doing it right.” This is misleading, and quite frankly setting you up to burnout. When thinking about optimal results (especially when trying to lose weight), burning excess body tissue is exercise for your body.
Hyper-intense exercise regimens are compelling and alluring, but they do not follow through on their promise. They manipulate our psyche into believing that workout output has a 1:1 ratio with results and it does not. It “feels good” to accomplish, but leaves us internally depleted and does not allow for adequate recovery.
High-intensity workouts elevate cortisol (the stress hormone), which is produced when your nervous system enters the fight/flight response induced by high intensity workouts. High intensity workouts (when your heart rate is between 70-85% of your maximum heart rate) are communicating “If we do not finish this work, I will die” to your brain. This does not mean to never do high intensity training, but it should be seldomly done. The issue is that high intensity work is sold as a fast track to superb results, which sets us up for failure long term.
The Solution
- After 99% of your workouts, you should feel like you have a little more to give. (This is not directed towards competitive athletes and the like, but normal people with extracurricular stressors and responsibilities outside of the gym.) This will ensure you are managing your energy well enough to recover.
- Stop comparing yourself to others, and allow the ego drive to die. Comparing yourself to someone else is a fool’s errand. No one has your life, therefore you need to be the one discerning what you feel like is feasible and realistic. This may mean starting small, and that’s totally okay.
- Whatever workout protocol you pick, ask the question “If I am busy and stressed out, could I keep this up?” It is inevitable that some time soon you will be busy and stressed out. If you cannot keep up the routine when life gets hectic, then it is simply unrealistic. What is knowable is that life gets stressful, therefore when we are introducing something new to our lives we must keep that truth in mind. This is particularly difficult when we are extrinsically motivated, however if we are to aim for life-long change, this perspective is crucial.
Lee Ramsey has a passion for fitness as a way to help people grow and change into more adaptable, capable and resilient versions of themselves. He is owner of Sanctify Fitness in Covington.