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One and done
Plus: The Relative Age Effect
Geoff Girvitz
November 21, 2024
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Today on Dad Strength
One and done
Welcoming the unwelcome
The Relative Age Effect
A book, a quote, a dad joke
One and done
If you’ve been reading Dad Strength for a while, you’ll know that I think of time and effort put into exercise like filling a cone-shaped container. The emptier the container, the quicker it fills up. This means that it’s tough to become world-class but getting kinda ok at stuff is incredibly accessible – and the early work put into most things is disproportionately valuable.
Single Set Protocols: There’s a research review that points to the same thing in a strength training-specific way. It says:
Performing a single set of 6-12 repetitions, two to three times per week, can produce significant increases in 1RM (the most weight you can move once) strength in resistance-trained men.
A few caveats:
You’ve got to reach failure on at least that last set
The loads used were 75-85% of 1RM
The researchers only looked at squat and bench press
The research only applies to resistance trained men.
This means a few things:It almost definitely applies to women the same way
It will apply to most strength exercises in the same way
If it works for resistance-trained men, it can work even better for novice exercisers BUT there may be a skill component required to make this work
Takeaway concept: If you’ve ever found yourself running late for an exercise session and thought, “There’s no point because I won’t have time to complete all of my sets,” the value you’ll get from doing even a single, hard set will bring you most of the value that your full session would have provided.
A visual representation of the effectiveness of exercise frequency
Welcoming the unwelcome
It’s an illusion that you need to fix yourself to become enlightened. Or that you’re just one more self-help book away from inner peace. Mark Epstein, a psychotherapist, and longtime meditation practitioner says: “… The neurotic mind can become fodder for enlightenment… that liberation of the mind is possible without resolution of all of the neuroses.”
What he’s saying – or at least how I’m understanding it – is that there are things within you that can serve as launchpads for life-changing habits. And you don’t have to like them to benefit from them. These imperfect thoughts and impulses can become your allies. Even things that cause you pain or distress can be harnessed for positive action. It is the most incredible kind of mental judo.
If a thought or feeling – however unpleasant – shows up in your life with any regularity, you have the ability to tether a new thought or skill to it and practice that with equal frequency.
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The Relative Age Effect
The Relative Age Effect describes how two kids can be the same age – but almost 12 months apart. Malcolm Gladwell famously wrote about this in Outliers. We segregate kids by age because… Well, it’s easiest way to do things. Yet, this can exert a profound effect on abilities… Especially at ages where some kids are entering puberty and others aren’t.
The most common result is that bigger kids – or ones with other advantages – are sorted into a stratified system, with the top performers receiving the best access to facilities, coaching, etc. Systemic advantages like these can snowball into self-fulfilling prophecy. Meanwhile, more talented kids who are just a bit behind in physical development or access to resources, don't make the cut. We think we’re identifying talent but we’re really manufacturing it.
Teacher and education theorist, James Moffett, said of elite schools: "Send us winners and we'll make winners out of them."
In many ways, this idea is liberating in the sense of having more control over positive outcomes than we might expect. Wielded poorly, however, this ability just reinforces the most obvious perspectives and misses out on important future talent. Folks who are overly invested in the status quo will do continue to support this. Yet, when we meet kids—all humans, really—with greater curiosity, support, and patience, we build a much deeper and more interesting pool of talent—the kind that moves us all forward.
What I’m reading
How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren
Also, definitely not a book but my son and I both enjoyed the hell out of Transformers One. This one was played for laughs but also got into the origin story in a really effective and authentic way. Some mature themes and mild language (mostly just proto-Bumblebee repeating “Baddassatron.”
A quote
“If a man has lost a leg or an eye, he knows he has lost a leg or an eye; but if he has lost a self - himself - he cannot know it, because he is no longer there to know it.”
A Dad joke
I saw a radio for sale at a huge discount because the volume was stuck at maximum. I thought to myself, “I can't turn that down.”
Take care of yourself, man!
Geoff Girvitz
Father, founder, physical culturist
dadstrength.com
P.S. I’ve got an in-person Dad Strength event coming up in Toronto on November 30th. Interested? Hit reply and say, “Event.”