The Overload Principle

In modern fitness, the overload principle is the act of overloading your current muscle capabilities just enough to stress and create micro-tears. As you might know, these micro-tears repair themselves and build upon existing muscles thus making your muscles grow.

What does this have to do with anything?

From what I’ve learned in the military, this principle applies to more than just building strength. This applies to building character. During my training, we were put through a series of mental obstacles every day just above what we thought we could manage.

The thing about the overload principle is that if you don’t constantly overload, you end up hitting a plateau. Basically, you cap out. This is seen again in fitness when an exercise isn’t so difficult anymore or doesn’t make you very sore the next couple of days. This is why your workout routine requires constant adaptation and oversight. It can be managed through data collection by jotting down your current pr, sets, reps, etc.

To apply this kind of oversight and adaptation in our everyday lives is extremely difficult. On a personal level, we just don’t amass enough quantitative data about our lives and the impacts of our habits. And it just so happens that we’re humans with giant egos who get all insecure about our flaws. So even if we are improving in certain areas of life, it doesn’t FEEL like we’re improving.

This brings me back to my point on my military training. It certainly did not feel like I was improving when I was constantly getting shit on by my superiors. Yet my superiors in this case were gathering very brutally honest performative data on my behaviour, my strengths, and my weaknesses. Their job was to overload everybody regardless of how bad or how good you were. Their job was to build our resilience whether we liked it or not.

I don’t know if you noticed but life happens whether you like it or not.

Oftentimes, we might already be in the overload process without knowing it. We lose ourselves in our everyday struggles. Sometimes we end up convincing ourselves that we’re unhappy just because things aren’t going our way. We don’t know how to deal with unexpected adversity or adversity in general.

Yet how are we supposed to reach our highest potentials without a little suffering?

In my humble opinion, it is better to coordinate the chaos in your personal life instead of letting it come to you on its own. By making strategic decisions that overload you in certain aspects of your life, you will probably lose yourself in the process. You will probably fail harshly. You will absolutely embarrass yourself.

But you will GROW.

Now that I’ve gone over the importance of biting off more than you can chew, I will attempt to offer advice on how to manage the overload process. This is by no means an agreeable process, but if you will it, it can become quite the romantic struggle.

Symptoms may include:

• Anxiety
• Overthinking
• Feeling overwhelmed
• Imposter syndrome

TIP 1: Breathe

The feelings listed above are normal. We are primal, scared beings who miraculously adapted to every corner of the Earth. Historically, I guess you could say our ancestors have seen some shit, leading to us being hard-wired on powerful emotions like fear to survive. But let’s just take a deep breath and remember this isn’t the goddamn ice age where you and the boys fear getting murked by a bunch of Neanderthals.

In the West, meditation is only now making a huge mainstream comeback through apps like Headspace or practices like The Wim Hof Method. Both are amazing resources. Growing up, we aren’t taught enough about the power of the breath. In the military, it’s referred to as tactical breathing and it works.

This is your best bet in managing the symptoms above. It’s as simple as breathing in, holding your breath for a few seconds, breathing out, and repeating the process for as long as you need to. There are a million variations and techniques so find out what works best for you. If this sounds corny or stupid do your homework and come back to me. By learning how to breathe properly, I was able to get a grip on my asthma without the use of inhalers.

TIP 2: Journal. Journal. Journal.

Journaling is wonderful. This is your attempt at gathering data about your habits, to-do lists, feelings, strengths, weaknesses, successes, failures, etc. This is by no means the most effective way to track your overload process because like I mentioned earlier, we tend to miss crucial details about ourselves. And as much as we like to think so, we aren’t experts in every vertical life has to offer. This is simply an opportunity for you to set yourself straight. To clarify and right your thoughts to find out what you want.

TIP 3: Find a mentor

I read somewhere once that books get you from 0-1 and mentors get you from 1-10. These people will give you the opportunity to be great by pointing out the specifics of what you need to improve. They are the masters of their trade. The knowledge learned from mentors are the dimes people don’t know they are searching for.

On my military course, one of the only ways I was able to pull through was because I asked for advice at the right time. I would describe the situation, explain the solutions implemented and then ask if there was an area to improve. The staff was almost always giddy to help me. It’s in our nature to help people after all. Just make sure not to waste a mentor’s time, their time is precious, and be grateful that they’re making time for you.

TIP 4: Find a culture

This is without a doubt the most powerful tip on this list. Surrounding yourself with people who are doing exceptional things is a deep motivator. Who doesn’t like friends with similar goals and values? By following an underlying culture, you submit yourself to certain group norms or habits. Suddenly waking up at 5 am isn’t so difficult if a couple of people hold you to it.

This also comes in the form of a job, club, or sports team. All these places have a culture that can help you achieve your goals. However, be careful, culture can be your greatest tool or your quickest way to a downfall. They can just as easily steer you in the wrong direction and make you miserable beyond imagination.

The overload process almost becomes achievable with the right people around you. They help you not take yourself too seriously which helps deal with imposter syndrome. Emotionally, you have a community that has your back when things go bad. Rest assured it’s only a matter of time before things get bad. So go find your people.

TIP 5: Routines win championships

Routines are a must. Structure your mornings. Put in the work. Repeat. Over and over again until it feels wrong to skip on your morning routine. Personally, I’m a morning guy but adapt this however you want to fit your schedule.

This is probably the simplest tip but the most difficult one to start. I read in The 5 AM Club by Robin Sharma that it takes around 66 days to start a new habit. So, like the old saying goes the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago or right now. Stop thinking and just start doing.

The overload principle is hard to maintain long term. You end up hitting plateaus, getting divorced, or getting slammed in the face by pandemics. It’s a game of momentum, it gets easier once you trust the process. As Will Smith has said, “by biting off more than you can chew, you chew more” and I'd have to agree. Feel free to reach out to let me know what you thought.