If given the choice of receiving $10,000 a day every day for 30 days, or doubling a penny every day for 30 days, which would you choose?

Most of us would choose $10K/day … and we’d be wrong.

It’s the same with fitness.

You see, when we go with a 10 out of 10 max effort every rep, every set, and every workout, we quickly hit a point of diminishing returns. Maybe you’ve experienced this back in your “extreme fitness days.” Maxing out every day gets you some gains for a while, but eventually, all that “no pain, no gain” catches up to you.

Been there? I sure have.

Thankfully, now I know better.

So let’s go back to our money example – courtesy of my friend Nathan Stowe – and see if we can apply this to a better approach to fitness.

Days 1-25 of receiving $10,000/day would leave you with $250,000. Nice!

Days 1-25 of doubling a penny every day would leave you with $167,772.16.

Still nice … but, in the short term, taking the $10K/day and going for broke wins … and it’s not even close.

But what about Days 26-30?

Days 26-30 of receiving $10K/day leaves you with $300,000. Not too shabby! But …

Days 26-30 of doubling a penny every day leaves you with $5,368,709.12!

Holy crap!

What lessons can we learn from this that we can apply to our fitness?

Small gains add up … and in the long run, they add up to something much bigger than going for broke all the time.

Another lesson? We need to be more patient and trust the process. Small improvements over time always win out over the constant pursuit of max effort all the time.

Follow a well-designed exercise program, give what feels like 80% of your max effort most of the time, and take breaks when your body needs them … i.e. NEVER “push through the pain.”

You’ll be better for it, and wind up stronger and healthier as a result.

And richer, too … since, you know, health is wealth. 

-Coach Aaron-