Not Doing is Doing

In martial arts circles, there is this idea that you should know when to fight and when not to fight; what you’ll fight for and what you won’t. It’s prevalent, and it matters. I’d like to drill down on that.

In any athletic endeavor, in the beginning, people train a lot. They bike, they run, they do all they can to get to an intermediate level. And when you get there, you tend to start noticing all the professional level stuff. When I got to an intermediate level as a cyclist I started looking at the Tour de France, wondering if I could get that good.

But as you advance it’s important to start using a more moderate approach. To know when to rest and “do nothing.” There are disadvantages to excess. Your body can’t take high levels of abuse over prolonged periods. It is a widespread tendency in the athletic world to overdo or over train. Yet higher level trainers encourage their athletes to train with a lower hear rate and to keep their efforts moderate. They believe your body can’t train properly with a rapid heartbeat. It makes you panicky and raises your body’s lactic acid levels, making it harder for you to excel. You might make some small gains but nothing profound.

They also believe that resting is critical to effective training. In other words: doing nothing. A sports trainer I know found that in ensuring his athletes had ample rest times between sessions, they performed at much higher levels than they would have otherwise. The same philosophy applies for eating. I believe in the 16 to 8 rule – fast for 16 hours, eat over 8. That way you give your body lots of time to recover and process your food more effectively, thus absorbing more nutrients.

So not doing is doing. Not doing in training is a critical part of the training. Our minds typically tell us to do more than our body can handle – that has been an issue for me as well….but your body should have the final say. We need to learn how to avoid over-doing, and instead do just enough. Resting allows for recovery and growth. It should never be underestimated in its importance.