It’s All About Stress

Stress is not created equal. Some is good, some is bad. Yet, in the end it is all just stimulus, which we respond to. Some of us respond to it consciously, some of us just go with the flow. It is very important to understand how you react to stress if you want to learn how to better manage it. Like everything in life, change and progress begins with awareness.

There is no better way to learn how you respond to stress than by engaging in physical exercise. If you observe how you react to stress (weight) in physical exercise, you will be able to become more aware of how you handle stress in other situations. There are plenty other parallels between life and lifting that I would like to discuss. You will observe the following lessons yourself if you just take the time to go to the gym.

There. Now you have another reason to go workout instead of just getting in shape.

Lifting For Life

Stress is necessary for growth. When you lift, you place your body under stress – a stimulus that your body is not used to. Your body responds with pain. It will tell you that it hurts, that it is heavy, sweaty and uncomfortable. Yet, that pain is necessary for muscle growth. That is the ONLY way, that our bodies will become stronger. The phrase, use it or lose it, is as true as ever. Same thing is true for life. If there is no stress in our life, then there is no new stimulus being introduced and we began to stagnate and digress. Only through exposing ourselves to new and unique situations you will be able to lead a progressive life.

Not all stress is created equal. If you life, then you know that there is good pain and bad pain. Same way there is good stress and bad stress in life. The good pain in lifting is the one that stimulates growth. It is by no means comfortable, yet it is very motivating because you know are achieving your goals. The bad pain is the one that causes injury, fatigue, and unhappiness when you lift. It is important to learn how to interpret those two signals. Good pain or stress should motivate you to keep pushing yourself to achieve your goals. Bad pain should be a signal to slow down, rest and recover and figure out what you are doing wrong. Life works in the same way. We need to understand when to push ourselves and when to pull back.

Strong get stronger. Weak get weaker. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Rich get richer? Poor get poorer? And it is true as always. Once you start lifting and becoming stronger, you will only be able to do more and more, push yourself further and further. Those that chose to never start lifting, will increasingly get weaker as they will fail to expose themselves to the stress required to build strength. The difference between the strong and the weak is the ability and desire to get through the temporary growing pains. I am talking about that time when you are trying to get back in gym after a year of no lifting. At first, it will feel as if you have destroyed every single muscle tissue in your body. Yet, if you are able to push on, you will soon start reaping the reward of progress and growth. The only question is this: “Are you able to push yourself through the growing pains?”

Variety is key for progress. If you have lifted for a while, then at some point you will hit a plateau. It is a point at which your positive gains seems to have stopped. No matter what you seem to be doing, it almost seems like you are stuck. However, before you give up, consider a couple of things. Sometimes, all that is needed to move beyond that “stuck point” is some variety. It might in the from of lighter weight, more repetitions, different exercises all together or maybe some help from a friend. Stagnation comes from exposure to the exact sames stress over long periods of time. After a while our bodies simply adapt to it and that same stimulus just does not have the same effect as it did before. Similarly in life, we sometimes feel stuck because we have been doing the same routine over and over again. Just a little bit of variety might be needed to brighten things up.

Don’t do it alone. Weight lifting is a stress inducing activity on its own. Doing it all by yourself can be very discouraging as you might not have anybody to share your joys and your downfalls with. Finding a partner who will be there to spot you, to motivate you, to encourage you is crucial to success and progress. Another added benefit of a partner is that you will have somebody to compete with, which will further advance your growth. Find a proper partner is not that easy as many people are flaky, not committed, negative or just not focused. It is a great lesson to carry forward with you on to any other activity in life. When starting a new activity, be sure to look for the right person to come along, otherwise you might take a step back instead of a step forward. Moreover, be prepared to start alone and find somebody else along the way.

Build proper foundation. Nothing will set you back more than an injury. Injury can take you out for days, weeks, months or ever years. I have experienced it myself. Most of the injuries come from improper technique or form. It is crucial to do things that right way. You might be inclined to add more and more weight as soon as possible without understand the fundamentals. In that case, you would be just cheating yourself and heading towards a serious injury. It is better to take things slow and learn how to do the exercises properly than to rush into things only to suffer a major set back later. I am sure many of you, have experienced this in other areas of life. Sometimes you are so eager to get things started that you forget to set up a proper foundation.

Attitude matters. Some might describe lifting and exercising as boring, repetitive, sweaty, hard, painful and so on. And they would be right. It is all of those things. But at the same time, it is challenging, rewarding, fun, energizing, empowering and confidence creating activity. It is only a matter of which side you choose. All of these different words can describe the same exact activity. The ones that you will choose to describe your exercises will make you either love it or hate it. Likewise, we all are living the same life, how do you choose to look at it?

Consistency results in lasting gains. Many people lift for short periods of time and then quit. Then they start over. By doing that, they never move beyond the starting point. It might be even more discouraging that doing nothing. Only those that stick with the activity for extended periods of time without major breaks will be able to enjoy the fruits of their labor. After a while, your body will require you to exercise and stay active. Eventually, you might be able to change the way you feel about being active and you will not have to think twice about going to the gym. Same is true for any other area in life. Lasting results will come from persistent purposeful actions.

The truth is that the list could go on and on. I could easily twenty other things that I have learned about life from just exercising. But then you all would have no reason to exercise! Just kidding. Indeed, working out is a rewarding activity that will teach you not only about your body, but about how you handle stress and life all together. Look for clues in your own behavior and you might learn valuable insights in other areas of your life.

So what are you waiting for? The secrets of life are waiting to reveal themselves at your local gym!

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Image: jontunn