adaptations

I went on a ride this past weekend. I could not believe how out of shape I have gotten in just a few weeks. Climbing the last hill was really hard. Sad a little.

But on the flip side, I am also amazed at how quickly my body is adapting to the lifting. The first few days were really hard, but I'm quickly moving up weight and should be ready for the Hypertrophy next week. One of the great things about this strength training program is that every year I get to surprise myself.

Looking at the program all laid out in my spreadsheet, it is very daunting to think that I'll ever be able to lif the kind of weight specified on the sheet. But year after year I continue to accomplish the listed weight and typically exceeed it.

So it's just neat how the body can operate and adapt to new conditions. The key seems to be selectively pushing beyond your comfort zone and allowing proper recovery. The tricks are knowing how much to push beyond your limit. Push too much and it works in a negative way. Too little and you don't get the most efficient response.

And not pushing at all....In cycling as well as in life. That leads to complacency, boredeom, and probably losing fitness. So doing the same thing, like the same ride at the same intensity ends up working against you. Cause once your body adapts to the stimulus than it doesn't need to grow or improve anymore.