Law of Diminishing Returns

Welcome to afitnewyou!  Today I would like to help you push through the point in your fitness quest where you feel that you have “hit the wall.”  No matter what point we are at on our fitness journey, beginners and veterans alike will eventually get to a place where they feel like they have hit their limit.  But what you need to realize is that although you may have come up against a wall, that wall isn’t attached to a ceiling that you cannot over come, rather it is simply the face of the cliff that leads to higher ground.  It can be even more discouraging when hitting that wall comes after a lot of hard work.  There is a Law of Diminishing Returns, which basically states that you eventually get smaller and smaller returns for your continued efforts.  However, in physics, there is also the Law of Conservation of Energy, which says energy cannot be destroyed.  So this is one of those times where you need to remember that you do get out what you put in…and the harder it is to get past that wall, the greater the view will be at the top.

D.J. is a soccer player that I have trained throughout his high school career.  He was a smaller than the average player his age, but that just meant he had to work harder to achieve his goals of making the team.  And when he decided to go to a prestigious private school with very competitive team, he had to work harder than ever to make that team.  As hard as he had to work to make the freshmen team, he had to work even harder to make the Jr. Varsity team.  The same was true for him when he tried out for the varsity team, he knew going in he would have to train even harder than ever.  But, when he made the team, it was his greatest triumph!

No matter what your fitness goals are, you will eventually come up against that proverbial wall; the point where you feel you have reached your limit.  However, the body doesn’t work like that, the body is designed to adapt and evolve to challenge.  As long as you keep putting in the effort, you will eventually reach a higher ground.  A great visual of this is the winners’ podiums at the Olympics.  Notice how the gold, silver, and bronze medal winners are staged on podiums of differing heights with the best being on the tallest podium.  The best effort is the one that has attained the highest ground.  So when it comes to your own training be encouraged, not discouraged, that you have to work harder to see additional results after hitting your plateau. 

The Law of Diminishing Returns can be a bit discouraging if you think that you will get less reward for more effort.  This simply isn’t true though.  The extra effort that you put it will take you to the next level with greater reward.  When it comes to fitness you get out what you put in.  Those higher walls lead to greater heights as is the case with the winner’s podium.

Whatever point you are at along your fitness journey know that you will encounter walls that will have to be overcome.  The further along you get, the harder they may seem to overcome.  But remember that as you move upward, the results attained will be higher and higher.  And if you are only just starting out, be encouraged that those first few walls are the easiest to overcome.  You will reach new heights with your health and state of fitness if you continue to increase your efforts.  Continuing to push for higher ground is the winners’ way to achieve a fit new you!