In biology there is a term hormesis that comes from an ancient Greek verb “to set in motion.” It refers to the protective effects of small doses of a stressor.
Hormesis can be preconditioning and postconditioning.
In the former, a homeopathic dose of a given stimulus prepares you to handle a heavy dose of the same in the near future. Mithridates VI, a king who lived a century before Christ, is considered the inventor of preconditioning hormesis. Fearing his father’s fate of being assassinated by poisoning, he took small doses of poisons to become immune to a large dose. The hard to kill Russian mystic Rasputin presumably followed the same practice.
Closer to home, a Tactical Strength Challenge competitor going through a pre-competition warm-up 24-48 hours before the October 29 competition is preconditioning himself or herself for a better performance while settling the nerves. If you have not yet, register for the TSC today.
In your day-to-day training, an easy “tonic” training session will enable you to lift heavier and push harder on your heady day 24-48 hours later.
We will discuss the other type of hormesis, postconditioning, another time. Until then, sign up for our online seminars to learn state-of-the art programming:
- Plan Strong™—the undefeated Soviet Olympic weightlifting system applied to general strength training (the powerlifts, the barbell and kettlebell military presses, weighted calisthenics)
- Built Strong—the same system adapted for building muscle that is as strong as it looks
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