Thatʻs what she S.A.I.D

Have you ever gotten to the point where your workouts no longer “work” and you arenʻt seeing any physical changes? Have you ever gotten bored with a workout that used to challenge you because it is mundane and “easy”? 
 
This is the time of year when everyone is making resolutions to get healthy and exercise. I belong to a number of virtual movement challenges, the largest being run the year put on by run the edge (https://runtheedge.com). This challenge asks an individual or a team to run (or walk or step) the calendar year in miles over a twelve month span. Each of these groups has an associated virtual support group where people ask questions and share information and where I borrow some of my best ideas for blogs. 
 
Starting with the idea of moving 2019 miles over the course of the year, that breaks down to 5.53 miles per day. For some people this is accomplished through just daily steps recorded on a wearable device. For others it is intentional walking or running miles done outside of their daily steps.  Or it could even be a combination of daily steps and intentional miles.  The question is what makes this a challenge to you? And why does it need to be a challenge?
 
Exercise physiology uses the approach of the S.A.I.D. Principle, specific adaptation to imposed demands.  Some of my previous blogs have discussed how training in the summer heat and training hills make the body adapt to become stronger, more efficient.  This is a good thing.  When we don’t challenge ourselves, when we don’t induce some sort of training stress, we can’t change, adapt and grow.  We need to constantly change things up to keep our body on its toes, so to speak.
 
For example, if you had a job where you were really active, standing and walking all day long, eventually your body will adapt to that as the normal amount of movement for the day. Those who have a job that is more sedentary, spending your days at a desk tied to a phone and a computer, adding something as simple as taking the stairs instead of the elevator or adding a half an hour walk at lunch, can make physiological changes adapting to the stress added to the day. This is why it is important to take on a challenge that really and truly is a challenge.  Some people can easily make 5.5 miles in a day with their normal routine. While they may “win” the challenge, they won’t make any real changes to their body.  For others, taking more daily steps, even if they fall short of the goal, will set themselves up for their body to make changes.
 
By following the S.A.I.D. Principle, the body will adapt to the demands of our training. Eventually the once hard workouts become easier and easier. We experience less muscle soreness and recover quicker.  After a period of time, however, if we continue with the same workout day after day after day, our body will expect that as part of our routine. The next thing we know, our routines don’t work anymore.  That is a cue to change things up, find a new challenge and figure out a new way to grow.  Once daily steps are enough, add an intentional walk even if it is just on weekends.  When walking becomes easy, try some running (it isn’t that bad… even if you aren’t being chased). When the shorter distances become easy, try some longer distances.  Or add some weight training or yoga or something else that interests you.  
 
The same principle applies to training distance.  Always moving the same 5.53 miles each day for the year will result in change to a point and then the body will adapt.  The easiest way to overcome that is to vary the mileage over the course of the week or month.  Adding some shorter easy days provides active rest.  Building to some longer mileage days will challenge the body to adapt and grow. Varying distance, terrain, speed and the activity of your workout is also one of the best ways to prevent overuse injuries… which could be a series of blogs alone!
 
It is still early enough in January to keep those resolutions going. Just don’t let your body outsmart you. That’s what she S.A.I.D.

#seemerlag #rty #runtheedge