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Rule #0 is the rule that goes without saying. Everyone already knows this right? Not so. The rule must be said loud and clear in a way that you’ll remember. So I repeat again: Don’t F*ck Yourself Up
How does this Rule work?
Simple. If Rule #0 ever pop into your mind during training, stop what you are doing. This is not easy to do! Especially in the heat of the moment.
But eventually, your future self will appreciate your caution. Unfortunately, your current self will NOT thank you – it may be upset or flat-out pissed off.
Rule #0 Gets no Credit
Let’s say you have some soreness in your hip, knee, ankle or insert body part here. You apply Rule #0 and take a few rest days in a row, or end a workout early, or switch to a recovery workout when the schedule called for hard training.
A few days later, nothing bad happens to you. It seems the extra rest days or missed intervals were for nothing. Your mind calls out to you: “you are fine now, you could have done the training then.”
You see, Rule #0 doesn’t get the credit it deserves – from you or anyone. Does the hero who prevents a tragedy from happening ever get the credit she deserves? I doubt it. No one knows the magnitude of the disaster averted due to the courageous hero because no accident occurred.
And if you abide by Rule #0, it appears that “nothing” happens. Pushing harder-than-you-should to squeeze out one more rep is a “something”. You think you’re helping yourself. Getting sick or injured or overtrained is a “something”. You feel it and usually can point to why it happened after the fact. Skipping the rep and not getting injured or sick or overtrained is a “nothing”. So, nothing tangible happens if live by Rule #0. No wonder it gets no credit.
Rule #0 is All About Respect
It is not enough to know the rule either. Rule #0 is not about knowledge. It is all about respect.
Usually, an athlete needs to f*ck themselves up repeatedly before respecting Rule #0. And I’m ok with that. Learning the “hard way” in the real world is much better than learning in theory from reading this post.
However, know that you can save yourself a lot of hardship if Rule #0 becomes not the first, but the zeroth item on your training philosophy list. It must come before everything else, even before what you think is most important.
No single workout is going to improve your fitness more than consistent training over weeks, months and years at a time. Convince yourself of this, and your unconscious respect for Rule #0 will increase.
Rule #0 also has no patience excessive partying, eating shitty food and stressing out over a busy schedule. Without proper sleep, food and downtime, you are putting your body at risk.
Implementing Rule #0
To review, Rule #0 is the most important training habit, but it gets no credit and knowledge of its existence is not enough to correctly apply it. How are you supposed to manage this problem? I’m not sure what will work for you. I can tell you how I handle it.
Every day before or after my day’s training, I ask how I would feel if I missed the training due to injury, sickness or overtraining. Every day I conclude that I’d hate to have missed it. Rule #0 is my insurance policy.
This method is an implementation of Negative Visualization, a central tenant of Stoic Philosophy. If you want to learn more, check out A Guide to the Good Life by philosophy professor William B Irvine.
And during training, I use Rule #1: If you can’t Stay Loose, you’re Training too Hard. If I experience physical tension or mental resistance that I can’t let go of, I respect these signals and adapt the day’s training to include more rest, less intensity or both.
Tightness or friction, whether physical or mental, may be caused by the training itself, or from lifestyle factors that I am not adequately managing. I take a long look in the mirror post-workout. What am I doing wrong? Then out of respect and recognition for Rule #0, I get my shit together.
Try it out and see if it helps you too.