Seeking Success at Work? Strength Training to the Rescue!

Imagine you are the CEO of your company. You have a huge project with a deadline that got shortened by 2 weeks. You call in two of your best and brightest, Thomas and Jeremy, who are working on the project to break the news to them. 

It’s a shock to both of them, obviously, but what happens over the next week and half leading up to the deadline shocks YOU.

3 days from the deadline, you hold a meeting with Thomas and Jeremy. 

Thomas looks like he has been run over by a truck… He has bags under his eyes, his clothes looks like he might have slept in them and he may have some of last night’s dinner stuck in his beard. Luckily, he has the work done but he’s clearly worse for the wear.

Jeremy, on the other hand, looks like he is exhausted but by no means disheveled. He has taken the time to review his work and even mentions having gotten some feedback from his peers prior to the meeting. Clearly the timeline was something he didn’t find easy but he seems minimally affected by the deadline crunch in comparison to Thomas. 

Here’s the first question: who are you willing to give more responsibility and eventually promote once the deadline is met? 

If it was me, I would give the upper hand to Jeremy.

So, here is the second question, why did Jeremy respond with less distress and perceived exertion compared to Thomas?

While debriefing after the client walked away happy and raving about the results, you got a chance to ask him.

“Jeremy, this was a big ask of you and Thomas. But it seemed like you handled it as though it was just another slightly stressful work week. Do you have any thoughts on why that might be?”

Here’s where Jeremy blows your mind 🤯

“When I was in college, I took a course on strength training and found it fascinating. The professor explained a concept to us: strengthening the muscles is really strengthening the nervous system. Thus, stress that is induced during weight training, while also building stronger and more resilient muscles, also builds your super computer, ie. the brain and nervous systems, stronger and more capable of handling ANY stress.”

Jeremy continued, “I kept strength training and found that when the rest of my friends were stressed out about midterms or finals, so was I. But I was able to keep a clear head and focus my efforts versus completely freak out and lose any ability to retain the information I was attempting to absorb.”

At this point, you are interested. So you ask Jeremy, “okay so explain to me how strength training helped you with this latest project? It seems like you were able to function well beyond your years of experience and knowledge.”

“Allostasis,” Jeremy stated proudly.

“Allo-what?” you ask.

“Allostasis is the body’s ability to adjust to the stress being imposed on it and help the body return to normalcy or homeostasis. My professor explained it like this: imagine you stretch a muscle and it’s really tight. Your immediate reaction is to get out of the stretch and reduce the discomfort.

Homeostasis is the muscle without added stretch and discomfort. Allostasis is your reaction to the stress, ie. recognizing an intense stretch, immediately stopping thus allowing the muscle to return to normal length.”

He continued, “any stress we put on the body is processed in a number of ways but the ideal outcome is an adaptation that raises the capacity of stress the body can handle. I strength train and learn how to handle more stress. It is physical but everything you do in the gym is also neurological and pushes my brain and nervous system to handle obstacles and challenges more effectively.” 

“So, when a deadline gets changed, does it stress me out? Absolutely! But I know that I have handled stresses like this in the gym hundreds, if not thousands of times. So I’m well practiced and resilient. I feel an almost calming sensation with the challenge. It allows me to focus intensely and recognize that I have assets around me that can help speed up the process.” 

At this point, you are thoroughly impressed. You tell Jeremy, “I truly had no idea that strength training had that type of an impact on the ENTIRE body. I was just doing it to get my butt and abs to look better for our vacation this Summer!”