I just joined a gym. It’s been a while since I worked out other than my running. And I thought I needed to strengthen not only my heart but the rest of my body as well. I am finding myself getting weaker and fatigued more quickly and I am starting to feel my age. And also, summer is coming up, so I obviously want to start shaping my body for the beach…trade in that gut for a six-pack. Hahaha. Trust me, I have a long way to go…but why not start now.

I’ve been at it for about 2 months and I’ve been tracking the weight and repetitions for each of my sets. At the beginning, I tried to find the right balance – I didn’t want the weights to be too heavy…my goal was to do more than one repetition and not get injured. But I also didn’t want to lift weights that were too light and have it just be a waste of time. That would just be the equivalent to what I’ve been doing all day – lifting my coffee mug to my lips. I would see zero results.

It took me a while to find that perfect weight to start… the amount I can somewhat manage that will leave me exhausted and fatigued, yet not injured. Also, if I lifted multiple times a day without much rest in between, I knew I couldn’t sustain it, and I would eventually burn out. It comes down to combining the stress you put on your muscles with just the right amount of rest to equal growth. 

Stress + Rest = Growth

In the world of exercise science, this cycle of stress and rest is referred to as periodization. And the cycle looks like this:

• Isolate the muscle you want to grow
• Stress it
• Rest and recover
• Repeat

World-class athletes have perfected this cycle. 

Now, I know what you are thinking…I am not a world class athlete, and I’m not all that interested in getting buff. But if you know me, you know that I wouldn’t be writing this if there wasn’t a deeper lesson to be learned. This is not just about muscle growth, this is a metaphor for any growth….intellectual growth, creative growth, and even productivity growth.

Diving deeper into this concept of periodization, I’m excited to discuss the secret to top performance. No matter what you’re into, let’s learn the principles that will lead you to being the best you can be at it. Our new series is called “Peak Performance” – let’s unpack and gain some insights into how to elevate our game. 

Are you ready for this?! Let’s go to the peak together.

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