Adaptation and soreness
These notes combine advice from 118 reviewed passages across 81 workouts.
Overview
Section titled “Overview”How adaptation works
Section titled “How adaptation works”Flexibility develops day by day, strength month by month, and endurance year by year. Because flexibility comes quickly, train it every day, even on days you train on your own. It is a good routine. [1]
Morning training is genuinely hard at first, but after four or five weeks of getting used to it, it becomes much easier. If you train twice a day, learn skills in the morning and do the main work in the evening, since the body is strongest in the late afternoon. [4] [10]
Progress gradually, for example 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 25 repetitions. Doing the work is what builds the adaptation. The body adapts specifically to what you repeat, so a person who strikes nails with the bare hand becomes conditioned to that exact task. [55] [56] [77]
Shorter rests, faster completion of a program, and feeling less tired are signs that the body has adapted. Holding a skill after heavy work, or performing well despite fatigue, shows that capacity has increased. A skill becomes normalized when you can do it without maximal effort and place it inside a combination. [17] [27] [28] [54] [67] [89] [92] [117]
Static holds are harder than dynamic work because they develop much finer muscle fibers. Staying in one position is harder than moving. Separately, three months of leg training may add 25 to 30 centimeters to jump height. [23] [60]
Train until the muscles are tired, then stop. The right dose is individual. [41]
Soreness and pain
Section titled “Soreness and pain”Recovery and rest
Section titled “Recovery and rest”Breaks and detraining
Section titled “Breaks and detraining”Balance skills decline without practice, regardless of level. In one example, elbow balance fell from about 30 to 20 seconds when access to bars was limited. A handstand that had held for 15 to 20 seconds became unstable after a long period without practice. [20] [73] [98] [102]
Even a high-level practitioner who trains four hours daily loses a lot after a week off and notices the small losses. [63]
Prefer long-term training. Build abilities that last for years rather than strength that disappears when you stop. [74] [84] [97]
Sources
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