July 28th – Aug 3rd 2024: “Your Body Adapts to The Demands You Place Upon It”

7/28

Goodness! This was an amazing weekend at GermanFest with the family! I had an absolutely amazing time!

I am feeling so much in my legs right now! My quads and inner thighs are feeling very full right now! Also, when I was getting ready for bed, I realized that my feet and lower legs felt like they had boots on. I am wondering what is going on with that?!

7/30 

Therapy was great today!! Looks like I don’t have much else to add, just a quick note! Busy at the gym, work, therapy, and home!

7/31

The full saying is “Your body only adapts to the stimulus put upon it.” This phrase is commonly used in the context of fitness and strength training. It means that your body will adapt to the type and intensity of physical stress you place on it. For example, if you lift weights, your muscles will grow stronger; if you run, your cardiovascular system will improve.

This concept is rooted in the principles of exercise physiology, particularly the SAID principle, which stands for “Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands”. The phrase itself doesn’t have a single common source, but is widely used by fitness professionals, coaches, and physiologists to explain how training and exercise lead to physical adaptations!

One of the most common mistakes people make in applying the principle “Your body only adapts to the stimulus put upon it” is not varying their workouts sufficiently. Here are a few key points often overlooked:

1. **Progressive Overload**: To continue making gains, you need to progressively increase the intensity, duration, or volume of your workouts. Many people stick to the same routine for too long, which can lead to a plateau in progress.

2. **Specificity**: Your training should be specific to your goals. If you want to improve at a particular sport or activity, your workouts should mimic the movements and energy systems used in that sport. People often perform exercises that don’t align with their specific fitness goals.

3. **Recovery**: Adaptation occurs during rest, not just during the workout. Failing to incorporate adequate rest and recovery can lead to overtraining and injuries, preventing optimal adaptation.

4. **Variation**: While consistency is important, varying your workouts to target different muscle groups and energy systems can prevent plateaus and reduce the risk of overuse injuries.

5. **Proper Technique**: Performing exercises with incorrect form can lead to injuries and limit the effectiveness of the stimulus. Ensuring proper technique is crucial for safe and effective training.

By addressing these areas, individuals can more effectively apply the principle and achieve better results in their fitness! I’m just really interested in applying this more and more to myself every single day!

I’m sitting in the car right now. Absolutely whooped. I know what this is. And I don’t like it. I can tell, it’s the feeling of being “tired” from not doing anything. I haven’t felt this feeling in so long, I forgot what this felt like. I’m glad that now that I’m working out almost everyday, and moving my body, I know that this isn’t what being tired really feels like. I know that I can get my body tired, and it is not from sitting. It’s from using it! So this is what I must do! I know that it is going to take me time to get moving, but I need to.

Also, I’m noticing how much as soon as I got in my car, I was feeling my ankles, and beds of my feet! It’s insane, there’s such significant feelings down there! I really feel this weird but kinda cool “cooling” feeling to it as well. 

It’s interesting going to the gym and noticing such significant changes!! Also, the fella Max I met at the gym taught me a new back workout! It helps a lot! Whenever I do a new variation of a workout, I can feel my heart rate escalate, and I can feel my body really working through its motions!

8/1

Well, I’m really feeling my right abdomen! Beneath my lobectomy, it’s really coming back! I can feel it most significantly as I’m in the gym and doing overhead press exercises. It’s interesting, I’m really feeling some intense pain, but I know that this isn’t pain. I can feel it most significantly after I finish my set. It’s weird, it definitely goes away pretty quickly too. It’s just odd, not quite sure what to make of this?

So, this ended up hurting, and was really quite annoying. It was taking a lot of my mental energy to try to keep myself from thinking about it. It was honestly a bit debilitating. Yuck. 

I’m really noticing things! Really good activation in my legs! And it’s been so significant! I’m really just wondering why I haven’t found time to take notes on it all! (Wait, I realized it’s because I’m SUPER busy now….) my afternoons and evenings after work are PACKED. I’m not doing anything but working on my body it feels like. When I finally get to bed I’m pooped. 

You know, I’m just always thinking about what’s happening in my body. And right now, as I’m getting undressed, and taking my socks off, I notice something. My left foot, when I was removing the sock, was really trying to put up a fight. But when I worked on relaxing my toes, he was really working hard to relax?! I’m noticing how important the voluntary “inhibition” or relaxation is. 

8/2

It’s interesting thinking about vacation and what that guy said in the parking structure. We both greeted each other, said our “hellos” and “how you’re doing’s?” And then he proceeded to say, “the only thing I have to complain about is coming back from vacation!” Just thinking about that statement and sentiment, is really interesting because I hear what he is saying, and he isn’t saying it in a malicious or ill contented way. He genuinely was happy about what he was saying, and I could tell he was really only trying to make light of it all. But afterwards, I hear him say that, and it gets me thinking. I think about that idea, and think to myself, “wow, it’s wild to think that this is where most people are at. The biggest problems they might have are just figuring out their vacations, and leisure time.” It was jarring. I really have to say that I wasn’t that far off either from where I was at before the accident either. 

It turns out we all (most people in our civilized worlds), for the most part, (and with honest exceptions) live pretty decent lives here in America. We have shelter, food, and basic necessities to keep us going. This event that happened in my life has really brought such a different perspective to it all. I’m really feeling it when I have conversations like that, or hear folks talk about those sorts of things. I just really makes me stop and wonder, how is it that we got here? And how can I help us continue to improve?

I’m glad and very fortunate I get to work on my body every day. I really am. It’s hard but I gotta keep at it. I gotta. One day at a time.

8/3

So I just got back from Jake’s house, and had made my attempts at knouldering! I’m really getting my body in so many different positions, and moving myself so much more fluidly than I have in the past, it’s crazy. 

My legs are so much heavier today! I’m really feeling the weight through them, and also, the feelings I have especially in my knees! I’m really liking these changes!