The pandemic reminds me of how spoiled I am under normal circumstances with the resources I have to exercise. I have fully stocked collegiate weight rooms at my disposal. So, the last few months working out in my little apartment has been humbling. All the toys are gone. The comradery of working out around others is gone. And now, after months of very limited space, equipment, and human interaction some of the initial enjoyment of just having more time to exercise is fading. At times, training seems to have shifted more toward the dreaded chore.
So, I am also constantly reminding myself I still have goals I am working toward. Pre-pandemic, I had been trying to maintain a certain degree of strength and hypertrophy while continuing to improve some movement limitations. The restrictions are due to a past combination of misfortune plus dedication to traditional strength training strategies. Also, I was practicing Krav Maga a couple times a week. On certain weeks it kicked the shit out of me, and it would take me a couple days to realign myself.
Ultimately, I had this back and forth of some competing fitness qualities. I was calibrating to find what percentage of the pie is going to go toward each. That is a really challenging task, but I do find it fascinating. However, the constraints of the pandemic have actually made the task slightly easier. There are less balls to juggle in regards to my fitness activities. Krav Maga didn’t start again until July, and it’s not as taxing when just striking; until recently, I had no access the resources to fully retain the strength and hypertrophy level I was at; and all the fancy bells and whistle exercises performed in a fully equipped weight room were gone for a while.
What remains is mainly to continue work on my movement capabilities with body weight exercises, a couple kettlebells, and a resistance band. Plus, the progress on regaining some movement limitations is much easier without trying to balance the tradeoffs with maximum strength. Constraints simplify the complexity of whatever situation we find ourselves in because options narrow.
I don’t have the fitness and activity options I was devoting the majority of my attention to, but this doesn’t mean I stop pursing my goal. I changed the emphasis. The focus still supports winning the long game – to stay healthy, fit, and active in any way I choose until the day I die.
The challenge is maintaining engagement with goals by adapting to the restrictions presented. It is part of the constant recalibration essential to be in the long game. This is traversing the zigs and the zags of the journey to where we want to go. There is no direct path because there will always be the unknown obstacles to overcome. We just have to be willing and able to adapt strategies. We roll with the punches to keep moving, to keep taking some form of action toward our destination despite the constraints. Eventually, improvements arise with consistent calibration.
The current pandemic constraints can encourage regular practice toward the infrastructure keeping us resilient in the long game. It’s definitely not as sexy as a Rocky movie training montage. But, I can still blast No Easy Way Out while performing a Bear Hold with Heels on Wall – it seems to suit that exercise quite well. The focus on my movement, non-maximum effort strength, and building or refining supportive daily habits to improve sleep, nutrition, relationships, etc. will give me the energy to keep consistent in the long game. The constraints limited my options. It is up to me to be aware of them, of new or remaining options due to them, and how I choose to respond.
Constraints
Most people seem to only be aware of macro constraints – the life altering events like the Covid-19 pandemic, losing a loved one, serious injury, etc. They are so impactful there is no way not to recognize them. Typically, something we love or rely on is removed from our lives, and the stress response is severe. There is a whole hell of a lot of unknowns, and we are forced to adapt in some manner.
Any athlete or fitness enthusiast experiences this when facing a long term recovery from a significant injury. They must suddenly adjust to a whole new lifestyle. This will be quite disheartening, but fitness goals won’t be the only constraints. Everything from the enjoyment of participation in activities we love to the social engagements will be different. However, the focus simplifies as well – to recover.
Micro constraints seem to hide under the surface for many folks. They still are manipulating our options, but in a more insidious way. We may not realize why we consistently get undesired outcomes, or feel stuck in some aspect of life. These micro constraints relate to our knowledge, experience, and beliefs.
We may lack sufficient understanding about a subject matter, thus not realize how our choices are impacting our outcomes. Or, maybe we have put in the time and energy to understand, but we don’t have the knowhow. We haven’t sufficiently applied what we have learned, and lack innate skill in the context of the situation. Without knowledge and experience we aren’t able to distinguish better choices from the outcomes. Choices and outcomes have a nonlinear relationship in complex situations, and many repetitions could be required to determine what response gives the best odds in our favor.
Moreover, we may use perception of negative outcomes and experience to create beliefs which confine us. These are the self-limiting beliefs that make us doubt ourselves and what we are capable of. Constraining beliefs may also involve our ego and self-worth integrating with a particular paradigm. We may not be open to possible alternatives that give us knowledge or knowhow to change course.
My journey to exercise without pain is riddled with these micro constraints. I have been a regular in a gym or weight room since I was 15 years old. Early on I received a lot of my knowledge from “experts” – you know, the biggest, strongest guys in the gym who may have read somewhere about how to build muscle. Also, from omniscient sport coaches of the high school variety whose expertise is only surpassed by those of the collegiate and pro variety.
So, like pretty much everyone who seriously strength trains, I learned: the names of a bunch of exercises; how to chase strength numbers too much for my needs (I had no desire to be a powerlifter or offensive lineman); and how to increase the pressure on my joints and limit my movement really well. But, I did get “strong” in terms of moving a barbell from point “A” to point “B” and added significant muscle mass.
My college education amplified those gains by studying exercise science and sports medicine. I even learned about injuries and symptom management…err, I mean “rehab.” However, the bigger and stronger I became during my 20’s the more injuries and pain I suffered. The only thing worse than my movement ability was how I felt.
During this time, I thought I had tons of knowledge and experience, but I didn’t have enough pieces to the puzzle. Nor did I have a clear picture of how to arrange the pieces to guide my choices. So during this period I couldn’t decipher why I was receiving negative outcomes.
Furthermore, my belief at that time was increasing strength and muscle mass in a weight room solves all problems and makes us better humans. Needless to say this view narrowed my learning and openness to new ideas. I remember early in my professional career meeting with a vendor. He was selling custom mouth guards to improve strength and performance. I scoffed at the notion that anything of the sort could be possible. I thought, “What a bunch of bullshit. People just needed to get stronger, and exercise right.” Funny how a little over a decade later I am about four years into a dental appliance and orthodontia journey to help manage my movement limitations; Life sure has an expensive sense of humor. Now that vendor’s product wasn’t the solution to my movement related issues, but he may have had useful knowledge or information to share. My beliefs impeded my ability to see an avenue of insight to explore and evolve from.
Awareness of Constraints
Awareness to the outcomes of our decisions will help identify constraints and progress in surpassing or utilizing them. Pay attention to repeatedly receiving the same type of response versus fluctuations. A consistent result usually means we are either applying the same input over and over again, or there is a constraint in the processing that limits the output options. This is can be beneficial or unfavorable. For instance, we may decide the ability to press “X” amount of weight overhead in a specific manner is a favorable adaptation for our specific needs and goals. We can say our performance is maintained or improves with repeatedly choosing to apply this strategy or through the constraints we create to achieve the more predictable result.
On the other hand, consistent performance of an exercise or activity could typically result in undesired restriction or pain. This means either the strategy we are consciously applying to execute the activity is causing that response, or there is a constraint in our ability to perform the task so we must achieve it by a forced, yet unwanted, means. For example, we can choose to lean back and arch the lower back to press “X” amount of weight overhead versus the only possible way to press “X” amount of weight overhead is the lean backwards. Both cases may give unwanted consequences.
We decide what outputs, or abilities, are desired for our specific situation, and then must monitor responses to the strategies deployed to develop them. We track the trends of the important qualities needed for success because a single response isn’t enough data when countless variables influence our emergent behavior on any given day. This constant awareness to key responses allows us to identify potential constraints and choose how we will respond to those deemed negative.
How Do We Respond to Constraints?
Being present enough to notice our constraints is a huge first step, but choosing how to respond to them makes all the difference shaping our behavior and our lives. These choices fall somewhere in the dichotomy between rigid and adaptable.
A rigid response is one of two extremes. Someone may take the despondent approach which relies on someone else to change their situation for them, and/or the belief any intrinsic effort to influence the outcome is pointless. This is like wanting more money, but telling ourselves it’s impossible to obtain a more lucrative job, so we just play the lottery or ask for handouts. Conversely, the other rigid option is to continuously fight the constraint tooth and nail with an unaltered strategy. This is equivalent to only having a hammer in the proverbial toolbox and every challenge becoming a nail.
Both are easy to muster and may work if success is defined as the status quo with a brief period of enjoyment or satisfaction. However, chances are they will fail to advance our cause because the context of the situation would have to fit just right.
We could rely on the intervention of a surgeon or the creator of some magic pill to keep us moving; but, let us be sure we aren’t just masking physical symptoms, as well as those of our rigid inaction, and allowing the underlying constraint to fester. Moreover, we can easily surrender to inactivity during the Covid-19 pandemic. After all it’s not your fault we don’t have our precious gyms or fitness classes. Plus, only wierdos go outside or performs body weight exercise in their home… right?
Furthermore, we could use a misconstrued interpretation of “no pain, no gain” with exercise to attempt to compensate for poor sleep and food choices, as well as a lack of consistent effort. Many would feel satisfaction from putting in some “hard work,” but only the genetic freaks will see some desired outcomes from haphazard workouts. The vast majority will experience perpetual frustration with their results. Everyone’s physiology will make this strategy unsustainable at some point.
The truth is the constraints leading to these actions were not circumvented or removed. They were probably enhanced or accompanied by the creation of others in exchange for the façade of short term satisfaction. Thus, rigid strategies are unsustainable. The circumstances will continue to evolve even if we choose not to.
An adaptable response to dealing with constraints would be resilience. It is seeing opportunity to take corrective or ingenious action to manage, and improve, despite the constraint. Sometimes this may be a temporary pivot in strategy to bypass or overcome the restriction, and other times it requires a permanent change in our approach. The goal is to be adaptable enough to repeatedly respond, reflect, and recalibrate our reactions until a desired outcome is achieved. Novel avenues of exploration naturally emerge, and new skills are acquired due to this process. We either change our abilities to remove the constraint or discover an acceptable alternative.
As I mentioned in the beginning, my pre-Covid-19 fitness routine is unavailable. So instead of doing nothing I chose to work on my movement capabilities, take long walks, and occasionally jump rope. I knew I would lose some muscle mass and possibly some strength in exercises I can only perform in a gym. I also knew the trade-off would be worthwhile to maintain a rigorous activity level in the long run. Actually, it’s what fitness enthusiasts and athletes need – a devoted period of time (“early offseason”) to rejuvenate and strengthen their foundation of physical adaptability.
I now have an even better handle on a deeply engrained alignment issue, and have opened up access to more exercise options without discomfort. I can already feel the difference in my striking and when switching to southpaw stance in Krav Maga. Also, I am recovering better from practice with this new ability. Plus, I have discovered more exercises, warm-ups, and coaching cues I can use to help clients. Going back to the gym won’t be the same, and that is for the best.
Regardless of any triumph dealing with a constraint another is inevitable. The ability to adapt won’t necessarily lead to initial success in every context because it’s impossible to predict, or have a predetermined ideal skillset, for every possible scenario. However, adaptability allows us the opportunity to eventually be successful. Strategies improve when the recalibration process can be frequently cycled through. Experience leads to greater efficiency of choices and better odds.
Conclusion
The major constraints in our lives are easy to identify, but the micro constraints may not be. These underlying issues are a result of our knowledge, experience and beliefs. They are unrecognizable without a willingness to consider alternative possibilities and information.
Awareness to the trends of outcomes to our choices is a necessity to properly identify, surpass or utilize constraints. Tracking our consistent responses to restricted progress is a challenging endeavor. The process is essential to determine if our rigid or adaptable response to the situation are beneficial. This is especially true when dealing with the complexity of human behavior, fitness, and performance.
Think of all the people who exercise in discomfort or wonder why they are unable to surpass a certain level of activity. At a minimum they feel stuck or limited. Some definitely feel diminished or hopeless. Experience and guidance from those who have learned from countless mistakes to overcome and manage numerous fitness constraints will help.
How can we help guide you to more confident movement, a resilient body, and an active lifestyle? Your questions may be helpful to all of us and used for future posts. Please send your questions to info@strategicperformancetraining.com. We will respond as soon as we can.