We as human beings do not grow while we are comfortable.
In order to physically grow, our bodies need a stressor placed upon it. Let’s start with the muscular system. The skeletal muscles to be exact. Our skeletal muscles are made up of hundreds to thousands of small microfibers. These muscles are attached to tendons and bones. The contraction of these muscles allow for specific movements of the body. Muscle growth occurs when the fibers sustain damage due to a “stress” placed upon them. The stress, in this case, would be lifting a load against gravity, also known as weightlifting. The body repairs the damaged fibers by fusing them back together which increases the mass, size and strength of the muscles.
Our skeletal system works in a very similar way. When we participate in weight bearing activities, we place stress on our bones. This stress causes microfractures in the bones. Since our bones are living tissue, these microfractures stimulate increased cell activity that makes new bone. Thus making our bones stronger and more dense. An example I like to use is slightly breaking a tree branch. Take the branch of a tree and bend it just enough to crack it slightly. When you come back a few weeks later, the area of the fracture has formed a thicker layer around it, making the area stronger.
The impact of the Covid pandemic over the past 2 years has been a major stressor to almost all of us. It has been a stress physically, mentally, emotionally and financially. It has affected people from all walks of life from all over the world. Men, women, young and old. Everyone has felt its impact. Top that off with the stresses of everyday life, and that becomes quite a bit for anyone to handle. It is important to understand that just like we grow in the physiological sense, we also cannot grow mentally and emotionally without these stresses being placed upon us.
If everything is always comfortable, we lose the ability to better ourselves.
Whether it is in our physical fitness, our relationships that we have with others, or our business lives. We need to grow as humans by adapting to the stressors applied by these factors. We learn, we adapt, and we grow. When it is all said and done, we will continue to thrive so long as we can have an understanding that we only get better when pushed to do so. Stay in the gym. Stay active. Work on being physically and mentally healthy. The better we take care of ourselves, the better we can take care of our people that need us. That, my friends, is what it’s all about.