If you look at the title of this article, you may be asking yourself what the heck this has to do with getting bigger, faster, and stronger. Before we get into that, let’s examine the different areas of life so we’re all on the same page.
Think about when you got your last new car. Do you remember the feeling of excitement you had and how much you couldn’t wait to get in and drive it those first few times? Somewhere around week three or four, that rush started to wear off without you even realizing it. Now, your car is just a car that gets you from place to place.
Think about when you first started your most recent job. Even if it was just a way to make ends meet, there was still a feeling of exhilaration at the beginning because you were meeting new people and you had new tasks to complete. You may have had a different travel route to work or maybe they even sent you on business trips to places you had never been before. But I’m willing to bet that somewhere around a month in, your excitement started to wane a bit.
The same thing goes for any new hobby you may have started. Most people start and stop hobbies, not realizing the self-discipline it takes to continue to learn about that hobby and put it into practice. Hobbies are fun initially, but once any real effort has to be put into them, 99 percent of the population moves on to the next fun thing. Thus, the title of this article. Anything new to us excites us and then we move on. Think about when you were single and still in the dating game. Great memories, for sure. But if you really think about it for a minute, you’ll see the connection.
How does this apply to you and your desire for a better, stronger body? Without getting too scientific, the body thrives on new and exciting situations. Different hormones are secreted that increase our alertness and focus. This causes more muscle activation and is why our workouts are our drug of choice. They can be addicting. The key is to keep this high going.
I recently read Dave Tate and Jim Wendler’s Training Manual,which is based on the conjugate system of training. I love the options they provide, which allow you to switch up the workouts or main exercise of choice every few weeks (or every week for the more advanced lifters). This gives the body a new stimulus, which is a must if we’re trying to get it to adapt and become better. It keeps our brain engaged. Joe DeFranco also uses a similar system with great results. The program design is spot on, and more importantly, his athletes are engaged because they’re always trying something new such as a new max effort lift or increased weight.
The mind is an overlooked factor in training. I actually got the idea for the title of this article from a book by Tony Hsieh, the CEO behind Zappos. The line in particular that grabbed my attention didn’t get into detail, but I thought it was so important that I highlighted it and marked the page (pg. 87, Delivering Happiness). Once something becomes routine and you do nothing to change this routine, you’re in big trouble (workouts, marriage, work).
While reading another book, The 50th Law, I came across some more relevant points on the subject. Frank Lloyd Wright, one of the greatest architects of all time, realized that as humans, we have a compulsion to repeat the same things, succumbing to mental patterns. This can and will lead people to feel soulless. To counter this, Wright decided that no two designs of his would ever be the same. In 1934, he was hired to build a vacation house for a wealthy Pittsburgh magnate. Nothing was coming to Wright, so he played a trick on his mind. He waited a few months until the man called and demanded to see the plans. Wright told the man he had them done and that he should come over to see them. The man said he would be there in two hours. The truth was Wright hadn’t even thought about it or started his plans. This trick he played on his mind forced a rush of creative energy to enter his brain and he went on to design his most famous piece of work. He forced himself into a new situation, which in turn tapped into his unlimited potential.
I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but if you read this, think about it for awhile. There is a key in here that you can apply to your workouts. If you do something that you’ve never done before, your mind and body will come alive in that novel situation. It doesn’t mean abandon everything you believe in with your workouts. Different people require different things at different times. But this is something we can all practice when we’re feeling like we’re in a rut and our workouts are becoming stale.