Endurance Essentials

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Body Performance - Part Two

feelthebyrn.substack.com

Body Performance - Part Two

Using A Seasonal Focus

Gordo Byrn
Mar 9, 2023
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Share this post

Body Performance - Part Two

feelthebyrn.substack.com

In Part One I laid out my philosophy of Body Performance:

  • Know Your Goal

  • Trust Your Body To Find Its Way

  • The Importance of Emotional Stability

Despite being a physical wreck in my mid-20s, I managed to:

  1. Gain Muscle

  2. Lose Fat

  3. Win Races

…but not at the same time.


Pick One

A few years back, I did a life consult with a buddy.

  • He arrived with ten items he wanted to achieve.

  • Each item had 3-6 nested bullets.

  • In all, 45 things to remember.

Then, and now, I recommend you pick one.

  1. Gain Muscle

  2. Lose Fat

  3. Perform Athletically

    1. Strength

    2. Speed

    3. Stamina


Learn To Do

  • Action comes before protocol.

  • Stability precedes change.

Worth highlighting these points.

In our search for the perfect plan, the ideal guru… we get it backwards.

  1. Before we worry about what-to-do, make a simple habit of doing.

  2. Before we can change anything, we need to create space and stability.

Positive change is a lifelong journey.

  • Create A Simple Week

  • Repeat It

Do this for a minimum of 13 weeks.

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Gordo Byrn @feelthebyrn1
Keep It Simple Play The Consistency Game • 15 weeks (105 days) • 20 minutes a day, minimum What is your score (out of 105)? Pay attention to choices that caused an unplanned "miss" in your training Before you add... REMOVE the choices causing misses
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Gordo Byrn @feelthebyrn1
As I'm experimenting with a month off coffee, this seemed like a good one to re-up for Archive Saturday The 30-Day Test is my favorite way to add, or remove, from my life If I am unsure about a relationship, habit or choice then a pause helps clarify https://t.co/NdHc8jAqVR
12:01 PM ∙ Aug 19, 2022

The ability to repeat-the-week is the foundation upon which positive change rests.

Invert: Perhaps we struggle with change is because we are always changing.

Compounding is what it takes to achieve our goals.

Over a long time horizon, we can achieve multiple goals.

Here’s how.

Optimize Process, Not Protocol

Don’t Fight Mother Nature

There is a natural cycle to our world.

It takes a lot of mojo to override our environment. Mojo better spent on working towards our goals.

For most of us:

  1. Gain Muscle (Winter, Energy Positive)

  2. Lose Fat (Spring, Base Endurance)

  3. Perform Athletically (Summer, Competitive Season)

    1. Strength

    2. Speed

    3. Stamina

Fall => rejuvenation & non-training projects


Start By Saving Yourself

A favorite response when someone temps me with drama:

You’re right but I’ve got my hands full with myself.

Your Endurance Journey is requires consistent focus over time.

Sustained focus implies:

  • Opting Out Of Drama

    1

  • Life Simplification

If you want a body that can perform then create a life that is different.

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Gordo Byrn @feelthebyrn1
Four Thousand Weeks Time Management For Mortals By @oliverburkeman Living better, by neglecting the right things Four simple tools you can apply today • Closed To Do List • Open To Do List • Done List • Cap Your Time 👇 feelthebyrn.blog/2022/09/05/fou…
feelthebyrn.blogFour Thousand Weeks : Time Management for MortalsLearning to neglect the right things The Premise : At best, we get 4000 weeks to live our lives. 80 years * 50 weeks a year = 4000 weeks The Reality : Embrace our limits because we will not have ti…
11:58 AM ∙ Sep 5, 2022
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Manipulate

Optimize process, not protocol:

  • A Simple Week, Repeated

  • A Weekly Schedule, Simplified

  • Life Stress, Reduced

  • Mistakes Made Visible, Then Removed

At this point, you’re ready to manipulate your week. You’re ready because you have something to work with.

The “something” being a consistent protocol that fits your life.

For each stressor we add, we need to remove something equivalent.

This is why we need to remove, and simplify, before seeking change.

The variables we have to work with:

  1. Sleep

  2. Stress

  3. Energy Balance

  4. Training Load

    2

I recommend you prioritize as I laid out.

  1. Sleep => improve your sleep quality and you’ll get more out of your current week.

  2. Stress => lower your total stress => you’ll sleep better, think more clearly and get more out of your current week.

  3. Energy Balance => well rested, thinking clearly with stable stress => a combination that makes nutrition easier.

When you get to this point, you may discover that, perhaps, the compulsion towards adding stress was a result of being stressed out.

You’ll also discover:

  • Loading is the easy part.

  • A balanced life requires less stress to progress.

  • A calm mind finds it easier to see positive long-term progression.

    3

This is where Body Composition goals are best addressed. Before you seek to push load.

Training Load => As you add stress for performance, Body Composition will go into a holding pattern. Ideally, this holding pattern will be at your strongest training weight.

4


Body Performance Goals

I urge you to write your goals down.

  • Make Them Real

  • Notice When They Work Against Each Other

Let’s consider common, and opposing goals:

  • Lose Fat & Gain Muscle

  • Increase Mileage & Add Intensity

If you try to do either of these simultaneously then, at best, you’ll underperform. Many athletes try to do all four at the same time.

From your stable week:

  1. Pick One Thing

  2. Twice A Week => Generate Fatigue That Moves Your One Thing Forward

  3. Keep Everything Else The Same, or Less

No more than three weeks of this process.

Then:

  • Back Off

  • Re-establish A Positive Trend

  • Iterate Based On Experience

  • Repeat The Process

I like 13-week blocks.

  • It fits within a calendar season.

  • It enables four cycles:

    • gradual ramp (1x)

    • focus block (2x)

    • transition, or race freshen (1x)

  • Testing every 4-6 weeks should show progress

Think about what I’ve laid out for you.

  1. Start by adjusting your schedule and environment

  2. Your Basic Week stays largely the same

  3. Your seasonal focus shifts across the year

  4. The seasonal focus drives key workouts

To sustain 1-2-3-4, you’ll find you need to consistently prune and simplify your life.


The Illusion of Protocol

We can’t help but develop a belief in the power of our “key workouts.”

However, pause and consider the life we can create:

  • Adequate Sleep

  • Moderate Stress

  • Rational Control of Our Energy Balance

  • Consistent Loading

Our performance is driven by the background structure of our lives. The key workouts will make a difference, but only at the margin.

…and only if we get the big things right.

Endurance Essentials is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Back To Table of Contents

1

I recommend “one strike you’re out” for social media. Not just for others. I had to fire myself from two platforms (Facebook & Instagram).

2

Nearly everyone, myself included, pays too much attention to intensity. Far better to think in terms of load. Most importantly, the load we absorb over long time horizons.

3

Article: How To Tell If Your Plan Is Working

4

Strongest Training Weight: no hunger stress, fast recovery, no cravings, no binges, glycogen stores topped up, well hydrated each morning, skin heals quickly, eyes clear, absence of chronic soreness and stable sleep pattern. Setting your plan 5% too high, or having your weight 3% too low, can disrupt this entire list.

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Body Performance - Part Two

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