The Genius of the Human Body

The body is a highly efficient, self-learning machine. Except it’s better. Because machines decline with use.

The human body does the opposite. 

For starters, it adapts to whatever you tell it to do. And by "tell" it to do, I mean "train" it to do.

Meaning?

If you "tell" it to get stronger by strength training, it will get stronger. If you "tell" it to get faster by speed training, it will get faster. When we expose the body to training demands, it does what it can with the resources it has to become better at HANDLING that thing. We call this the principle of specificity.

Expose it to strength training? You get muscle fiber growth & multiplication.

Expose it to jumps and hops? You’ll see improved tendon stiffness (good thing), bone density and force production.

Expose it to endurance training? The heart’s chambers actually increase in size to accommodate more blood with each pump, and we get growth of the vascular networks that transport oxygen to working muscles.

Imagine your car learning the route you take to work every day, and not only does it not decline with use, but it actually gets better at doing that route. Handling the corners, learning the frequency at which the traffic lights change, knowing where the speed traps are. Wishful thinking!

But your body does that. It learns from what you put it through and it gets better at doing it. Which is why I describe it as a highly efficient, self-learning machine.

I think that's pretty cool.

So, what do you want your body to be able to do?

Something to think about.