SHOWING UP IS ONLY THE BEGINNING...

An opportunity exists, every day. It exists because you have put yourself in a position to make a difference, you showed up. But, that is actually the easy part. The hard part is staying diligent and focused, always striving to work hard even when you don’t feel like it. Now, I am not saying showing up is not important, but let's not over celebrate the bare minimum…I mean I showed up to class in College (Mostly…) And that did not mean shit. Nobody threw me a party when I did make an appearance, because outside of physically being in the room, my effort was lackluster at best.

What does this have to do with lifting weights?

Low input effort results in low output results. Lifting with the intent of trying to get stronger is where actual progress will be made. Everyone is in a different set of circumstances and everyone is at different ability levels…Lifting the most weight in the gym or competing against your fellow friends is not what I am talking about. I am talking about competing with yourself and not settling for just walking in the door and calling that a win…Maybe some days it is, and if it is only “sometimes” that is ok, but just don’t let it be a majority. At least get yourself to a passing grade of 70%…7 out of 10 days you crush, and 3 you just show up, and that is just getting your foot in the door if you are comfortable with being average. 

Lifting heavy is increasing intensity, but doing it in really short bursts. Most lifts do not last more than 30sec…And that is on the long side most of the time. Really intense lifts can take less than 3sec. As duration extends out, so does intensity. So on the conditioning side of things, a 30sec effort should be really really hard because it is so short. 2-3min efforts are a little less intense than really really hard, but still really hard. 

This continues all the way out. As duration extends, intensity lowers. Not effort, but intensity.

Don’t confuse lower intensity directly across to easy. 

Track examples seem to be the easiest to break down.

100m Sprint (WR 9:58sec) - You train decades to test everything in under a 10sec race. Not terribly taxing on the cardio system. But it takes everything, all at once to accomplish this feat.

400m Sprint (WR 43:03) (9:78sec/100m) - Even the best in the world start this race ever so slightly paced. It just so happens that their “pace” is super human. But if you look at the splits compared to the 100m Sprint WR, they are slower per 100m.

1 Mile Race (WR 3:43.13) (55:85sec/400m) - Again, paced from the start. Splits are slower per 400m than in the 400m race.

Marathon (WR 2:00:35) (4:36sec/mile) - 2+ hour marathon is an absolutely insane feat…And yes the splits are slower per mile then the stand alone 1 mile race. Duh, I know… 

Even the most elite athletes in their respective fields slow down as duration extends out. 

And not to beat a dead horse…But obviously each respective athlete is trying as hard as they can across each distance. So the obvious fact here is that there are different speeds for the different distances that are needed.

This applies in conditioning work, lifting with different rep ranges, and of course riding and racing. 

If you are doing moto’s…The shorter the time, the harder you charge, the longer the time, the more conservative you should be in not blowing up early. Learn to control your speeds for the style and duration of the riding you are doing and you will instantly become more consistent and steady in outcome. This is where speed and stamina is built. Consistent application of the principles that we are all constrained by. 

Endurocross has a higher intensity being a 8+min race compared to say King of The Moto's with a 4+hr effort. Not easier, but different. 

Not one of these athletes would say it was easy. In fact every single effort requires a different kind of hard. From absolute athleticism and explosiveness, to monstrous endurance. 

Intensity is a metric to guide absolute speed and power. 

Pacing is a metric to guide speed and power with duration.

Improvement is never easy, but neither is getting good grades. Low inputs produce average results.

Low expectations and high standards. 

Josh