Understanding Muscle Soreness

Muscle soreness typically occurs 12-24 hours after intense physical activity and peaks around 24-72 hours. It’s a result of microscopic damage to muscle fibers during exercise, particularly from eccentric (lengthening) movements like lowering weights or running downhill. This damage is a normal part of the muscle-building process, as it triggers inflammation and the subsequent repair process that leads to stronger muscles.

Embracing the Soreness: The Mental Shift

• Reframe the Pain: Instead of viewing soreness as a negative, see it as a sign that your muscles are adapting and growing stronger. This mental shift can transform your attitude towards post-workout discomfort.
• Set Realistic Expectations: Understand that soreness is part of the process, especially in the early stages of a new exercise regimen. It will diminish as your body adapts, but it never fully disappears as long as you continue to challenge your muscles.

Practical Strategies to Manage and Work Through Soreness

1. Active Recovery: Light activities such as walking, cycling, or yoga can increase blood flow to sore muscles, helping to reduce stiffness and promote healing without adding significant strain.
2. Compression: Massage those muscles. Effective healing depends upon blood flow. Use a foam roller to help relax your tense muscles and move blood through the area. For acute points, use a lacrosse ball or tennis ball. Don’t forget to incorporate dynamic stretches before workouts and static stretches afterward to maintain a healthy range of motion.
3. Hydration and Nutrition: Staying hydrated helps flush out toxins from muscles, while proper nutrition provides the building blocks for repair. Focus on protein intake to support muscle recovery, along with a balanced diet rich in vitamins and minerals.
4. Rest and Sleep: Adequate rest is crucial for muscle recovery. Ensure you’re getting enough sleep, as this is when the body does most of its repair work. Listen to your body and incorporate rest days as needed.
5. Gradual Progression: Avoid the temptation to jump into intense workouts too quickly. Gradually increasing the intensity and duration of your exercises allows your muscles to adapt without excessive soreness.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a small percentage should you choose to purchase something. I never post anything I cannot wholeheartedly endorse. Your support helps keep my business going. Thank you.

Using the ACHE Protocol

I have used the ACHE protocol to aid my recovery and that of my clients for many years. For achy muscles remember this simple acrostic:

• Active Recovery
  • Move your blood to speed recovery by engaging in light exercise.
• Compression
  • As referenced above, compression helps relax muscles, reduce myofascial pain, and circulate blood.
• Heat and Ice
  • Rotating between heat and ice causes the blood vessels to expand and constrict, respectively. They function like a pump to move blood through the muscles.
• Elevation
  • For any blood pooling in the legs and feet, elevate them above the heart to assist blood flow.

The protocol moves from mild to severe. Active recovery should alleviate most soreness. For more intense soreness, work down the list.

Working Through Soreness to Make Gains

• Tracking Progress: Mild soreness after a workout can indicate that you’re effectively challenging your muscles. Use this feedback to adjust your training intensity and ensure you’re progressively overloading your muscles.
• Variety in Workouts: Incorporate a mix of different exercises to target various muscle groups and reduce the likelihood of overworking the same muscles repeatedly. This can help manage soreness and prevent overuse injuries.
• Consistency is Key: Regular exercise is essential for conditioning your body. Over time, your muscles will become more resilient, and the intensity of soreness will decrease. Consistency helps your body adapt more efficiently to physical demands.

When to Be Cautious

While some soreness is normal, severe pain, sharp discomfort, or prolonged soreness may indicate an injury. Pay attention to your body’s signals and seek professional advice if you experience these symptoms. Additionally, conditions such as rhabdomyolysis, a serious condition resulting from extreme muscle breakdown, require immediate medical attention. This normally only occurs after prolonged, high-intensity exercise.

Conclusion

Muscle soreness is an inevitable part of the journey toward a fitter, stronger body. By understanding its role in muscle adaptation and employing strategies to manage it, you can work through soreness effectively and use it to gauge your progress. Remember, the discomfort is temporary, but the benefits of a well-conditioned body are long-lasting. Embrace the burn, stay consistent, and watch as your body transforms through resilience and dedication.

Dan McLaughlin did what many dream about doing but few have the fortitude to do. He quit his job and made plans to join the world’s most elite golfers on the PGA Tour. Without so much as completing one full round of golf in his life, he put the resources together to start a rigorous 10000 hours of training. And so The Dan Plan began.

10000 Hours

Prior to the launch of The Dan Plan, a debate of talent vs. training was waging in popular culture in the U.S. Several books had hit the bestseller list and reframed the age old debate of nature vs. nurture. Outliers, Talent is Overrated, and The Talent Code all built upon research of expert performance. What does it take to excel at anything? How does one develop the skill to master something?

One particular concept caught fire. K. Anders Ericsson, an avid researcher on expert performance, had conducted a study of top violinists, noting the average practice time of the highest performers. In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell reviewed the study. From it, Gladwell introduced the concept of 10000 hours to master anything, dubbing it “The 10000 Hour Rule.” Capitalizing on a perceived formula for success, the media loved the idea, as did a lot of aspiring high performers.

Few took it as serious as McLaughlin.

The Dan Plan

A conversation with his brother a year earlier had planted a seed. “We

Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder of the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, has practiced meditation for nearly 50 years. He developed the widely used mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program employed in various settings across the country. “It’s not a big should,” he says. “They shouldn’t do it if it feels like a should – it’s a being.”

So what does being actually do for you?

Anderson Cooper sought out the answer and revealed his findings during a segment on 60 Minutes. Cooper didn’t just interview Kabat-Zinn for the piece. He attended a weekend mindfulness retreat with him in the mountains of northern California. Cooper entered the weekend respectfully but skeptical. Not one to part with his mobile device for more than half an hour, he had to surrender it for several days. It set the stage for something he said changed his life.

How Did Mindfulness Change Anderson Cooper’s Life?

In a candid post-production interview, Cooper shared just how much his time with Kabat-Zinn and his research for the segment affected him: “I realized on this story, sitting in that meditation retreat, this is exactly what I need. It really has changed my day-to-day life.”

When I came across the story in my own research, I naturally asked the question, “How? How did it change his life?” I can fully appreciate when someone experiences something that produces a powerful change in their lives. But I won’t readily adopt a behavior unless I can understand the science behind how it can affect my own life. Fortunately Cooper provides a real answer, in the form of an electroencephalography (EEG) machine.

Neuroscientist Judson Brewer, head of the University of Massachusetts’ Mindfulness Center, wired Cooper’s scalp with 128 electrodes to measure signals in his posterior cingulate. Could the machine give a visual verification of Cooper’s newly acquired skill in cognitive control? Once wired, you can see Coopers brain activity on the graph – mostly sporadic. When asked to think of a stressful situation, the activity spikes way above normal. When given the cue to use his mindfulness techniques, the signals drop below normal in a matter of seconds.

Even more convincing for the skeptic would have been to show Cooper’s brain activity before the retreat. But the results certainly appeared after he started practicing daily meditation. With a preponderance of research showing the benefits of meditation, Cooper provides yet another convincing case study.

So I suppose for my own sake, the question I want to ask isn’t, “Should I meditate?” The question I ought to ask is, “How much do I value cognitive control?”

Do I Need to Meditate?

“I don’t know if I need to meditate. To not think – I don’t know too many people who can do that. And I don’t even know that I want to not freakin’ think.” This quote came from someone I deeply respect. You would know his name if I shared it. But I won’t. And in all fairness, it came from a broader discussion on morning rituals that included some practices very similar to meditation. But I share his quote because it shows, even at the highest levels of performance, a lot of confusion still exists around the practice.

Before I go further, let me make a disclaimer. I’m not a yogi or meditation guru. I don’t make money from it. I don’t facilitate it. I don’t have a financial investment in it. I’m not certain I even enjoy it yet. I simply choose to investigate it, write on it, and practice it because I listen to the science behind it. I can’t argue with data from fMRI and EEG. The hard numbers don’t lie. And they have a fairly clear story to tell.

In 2014, Johns Hopkins published a study showing meditation can deliver the same results as antidepressants to reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, and pain. Before that, a Yale University study showed meditation decreases activity in the part of the brain associated with mind-wandering and self-referential processing. Those brain behaviors led to unhappiness and anxiety. In other words, the more people thought about themselves and the more their thoughts shifted randomly, the worse their anxiety. An analysis done by Harvard showed the same thing. The more the mind wanders, the less happiness people experience.

Having experienced physical symptoms of anxiety myself and the symptoms of loss of emotional control (three kids under four can bring those out real quick), I feel the need for more control. But physical circumstances aside, I have many friends without kids in the prime of life who have had anxiety attacks and had to visit the hospital. I hardly go a month without someone I know experiencing profound consequences of anxiety. Do I live in a different world, or do you have a similar story?

I imagine a lot of anxiety goes undiagnosed. My wife and I laugh now about one of her trips to the hospital for an anxiety attack. The diagnosis? “Weakness.” She held on to the doctor’s slip with the proof. That makes for a good joke when your husband has a personal training business.

But all kidding aside, the need to meditate hinges on your current state and your goals. If you push through your day with laser-focus and perform at your highest level, you have already trained your brain to do it. Maybe you don’t have a compelling need to meditate. If you see some opportunity for more emotional control, stronger relationships, greater focus, and higher performance, I would recommend investing a few minutes of your day to meditation. And then look for ways to measure your results.

A Practical Way Without Adding to your Schedule

Matt Tenney wrote a great book called, The Mindfulness Edge, where he shares some practical ways to rewire your brain for leadership and personal excellence. He recommends starting with something you already do, like brushing your teeth. You can practice dedicating your thoughts to the simple action. Control your mind to feel the bristles of the brush, recognize thoughts that pop into your mind, and let them pass to return your attention to the brush in your hand.

To circle back to the opening comment, Tenney says, “The goal isn’t to get rid of thinking. It’s just to see there is thinking without identifying with it and being pulled into it. So you might notice thoughts come and go while you’re brushing your teeth, but if you’re practicing correctly, you’ll notice that a thought came up. You recognize it, and it goes, but you were never distracted from the activity of brushing your teeth. That’s perfect.”

Start with one activity for a week. Set up a reminder with a note next to your toothbrush, if you go that route. Then add another activity the next week. You might surprise yourself and change the way you live.

More on some amazing leaders who did just that in the next post.

References:

John Hopkins study, Yale University study, Harvard analysis.

When My Cup Gets Bumped

I had the chance to see some of the ugliness afresh during a consulting trip last night. After a few early appointments with clients, a flight halfway across the country, leading a workshop for managers, and in-field coaching, I made the way to my hotel ready to retire early for the night. I found a surprise when I arrived. Apparently I hadn’t hit the “Book Now” button when making the reservation, which meant Joe Cross didn’t have a room. And as it turns out, the hotel had no vacancy. Not great. I mumbled under my breath and criticized myself for not paying closer attention.

No problem. I’ll make a quick reservation at another hotel nearby on my phone. This time I click, “Book Now.” Instead of a confirmation page, I’m sent to a contact page. Odd. But I figure if for some reason it didn’t go through, at least I know they have space available because only four hotels show up as having vacancy. I head about 15 minutes down the road.

The friendly front desk agent greets me. “It doesn’t look like we have your name in the system, Mr. Cross,” she says. “Yeah, the website seemed to have some issue when I tried to reserve,” I responded. Then came the humdinger: “And unfortunately we don’t have any rooms available for tonight.” Now, standing there with all of my luggage and the groceries I had purchased for the week (which had just toppled over onto the floor), I lost my cool. “Why in the world is your hotel still showing up on the website if you don’t have vacancy?!” I might have said a few other words which don’t bear repeating.

Back in the car I called my hotel brand and asked for help finding a place to stay. The customer service rep proved much more helpful than the website and had me on my way to the next and last stop, where I arrived an hour and a half after the ordeal began. As my blood pressure dropped, I reflected on my loss of emotional control. Why did I respond that way, and why did it take a resolution of the problem for me to come back to center?

Training My Response

A major aim for my daily meditation practice is emotional control. I realized I hadn’t meditated over the weekend, and Monday evening found me weak in my discipline of self-control. I also found it more difficult to regain control once I lost it. My behavior reflected some ugly internal disturbances, like selfishness, entitlement, and unrighteous anger. “Ok, so maybe when my wife was trying to get me to see some of my selfish tendencies over the weekend, I should have listened. It wasn’t really just the four hours of sleep I had on Friday,” I mused.

When my cup gets bumped, I want to have built such a strong association with control and kindness that it becomes automatic. In order to do it, I have to develop that skill, which means I’m ending this post now to hit my morning meditation.

How to Start Meditating

Even so, we all need some guidance to know what good looks like. I highly recommend starting with guided meditation. You can go to a class or ask for help from a friend, but perhaps the easiest way is to download an app and use it. Like I mentioned before, I use OMG Meditate (resource at bottom). But you can find a plethora of good apps to choose from.

Once you choose an app, set aside five minutes and hit the play button. Start small. The instructor will guide you through the meditation. If you still have a fear of entering the unknown, know this. Meditation forms vary. The value lies in the ability to control your mind and enter the present with full awareness. My client and I ended our training session with 15 minutes of meditation. His first response, “I’ve never heard the toilets flush from upstairs before.” Not rocket science, right? The fact that he had control over his body enough to pick up small cues from his environment already shows progress. Noticing a toilet flush won’t change the world. But have you ever missed a cue from a colleague, employee, or potential client? How might the skill of living fully in the present help you function at a higher level?

So to remedy your fear of emptying your mind of all thoughts and humming for minutes on end, here are the things I actually focus on when meditating:

• noticing and regulating my breathing
• how each area of my body feels
• experiencing my heartbeat
• relaxing every area of my body
• listening to sounds around me
• noticing thoughts and allowing them to pass quickly to refocus my attention on one thing

Not a lot to it, but a lot in return. Enjoy the benefit!

Resources: OMG Meditate app

Fixed Mindset vs. Growth Mindset

When I show up, the program I roll out depends heavily upon coaching. Someone who doesn’t see the value of coaching or has a negative view of it will quickly find themselves losing ground to their peers. Although I focus my personal coaching on directors and managers, I expect everyone to experience the benefits immediately. If we deliver our best to the reps, two things generally happen: They adopt a growth mindset and use coaching to improve their performance. (And their job satisfaction goes way up. They develop the habits to think critically and discover their own opportunities. And they start talking about how this has changed their lives.) That happens about 95 percent of the time. The remaining five percent try to protect their fixed mindset.

If they hold a fixed mindset, any coaching rubs against their view of themselves. And that rub creates a sense of threat. Subconsciously, this will generate a lot of emotions:

• Fear
• Anxiety
• Shame
• Frustration
• Isolation
• Resentment

A growth mindset combined with good coaching actually produces the opposite:

• Hope
• Accomplishment
• Empowerment
• Gratitude
• Compassion
• Enjoyment
• Camaraderie

And those ingredients result in sustainable high performance.

Self-Protection

When I work with people who still haven’t embraced a growth mindset (and none of us live there all the time), I often see the following self-protective mechanisms:

• Humor (keep the atmosphere light so we don’t go too deep)
• Sarcasm (same as above)
• Defensiveness (everything I do works just fine)
• Justification (let me explain why I have to do it this way)
• Comparison (give me a grade – how am I doing compared to everyone else)
• Deflection (let’s talk about generic opportunities or those of others)
• Passive avoidance (I have no idea how I can improve)
• Passive engagement (if I play along for a while hopefully this will go away)

So how can you know if you have a fixed vs. a growth mindset? Look for those behaviors and feelings. Changing behaviors involves identifying what causes them in the first place.

Meditation can help generate enough mental control and awareness to bring the subconscious to the surface. That might sound woo-woo. It shouldn’t. Your brain undergoes physical change which will create mental power. That power might just give you the ability to shift from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. And that can change your life.

For more on growth mindset, see Dr. Carol Dweck and her book.

The Negative Effect of News

Negative news can trigger the limbic system. The body will release cortisol as a result. Elevated cortisol levels can impair digestion, lower the immune system, and negatively impact sleep quality. Combine it with a few cups of coffee during the day, constant interruptions from email notifications, a sugary treat, and a stressful commute and you’ve built a recipe for a major health hazard. Definitely not a way to double your productivity.

Let me ask another question. What news have you read over the past two months that has caused a positive change in your behavior? If none, why continue to ingest it? In fact, by continually reading and not acting, you build an association between the two. Now when you read something important that should cause behavior change, you have less power to do it. You have associated reading with information exchange only.

News can degrade the ability to concentrate. Jumping from headline to headline and skimming articles makes it more difficult to focus and do deep work when required. Online news only exacerbates the problem. Canadian researchers showed how comprehension decreases as hyperlinks in a text increase. When confronted with a hyperlink, your mind must make a decision – to click or to keep reading. That slight interruption erodes our concentration. (Notice how I’ve removed all links within the body and placed them at the end. I certainly don’t want to make us dumber.)

So, what’s the answer?

Double Your Productivity

If you want to double your productivity, ditch the news-reading ritual and replace it with ten minutes of meditation. Train your brain to focus intently. If you make the switch, you’ll find out just how far your brain has drifted from center. If you find it difficult, don’t give up. That mere fact makes the practice of meditation all the more valuable. Start small and build up. Embrace the struggle. Consider how the challenge physically changes your brain.

For tips on how to meditate, go here.

Sources: American Press Institute statistics, limbic system, Canadian research study

Meditation and Personal Performance

The journal Psychological Science published the results from a study conducted with undergraduates. In the randomized trial, the students spent 10 minutes a day for two weeks practicing mindfulness. They experienced a significant improvement on the verbal portion of the Graduate Record Exam, gaining 16 percentile points. Working memory capacity also significantly improved.

Ten minutes a day for two weeks doesn’t amount to a big investment. But if it sounds too daunting for you, consider this. Another study shows just four days of meditation and mindfulness training can shift your overall ability to sustain attention. It was previously thought you could only experience that benefit with long-term practice.

What keeps you from meditating? Answer the question, really. Stop reading this for 10 seconds and search for the answer.

For a long time I didn’t buy the benefit. With all the evidence, I no longer have that obstacle. Now, I often find myself “too busy” to do it. That really means I don’t consider it valuable enough to prioritize. Meditation May forces me to consider the value daily. As I have learned to control my mind, I can connect on a much deeper level with the people and activities I choose to pursue. Intentionality, intensity, energy. I want to summon all of those in one moment to give my best. When I coach sales managers or executives, I have to exude energy and attention in every interaction. I also expect it from them. And they count on my intensity and focus to help them deliver theirs.

What value do you see for your own life?