Want to Stay in the Zone? Think Spring

Midway through spring break last month, I was given a great new fitness book by a friend who keeps her finger on the pulse of all things interesting. Younger Next Year, by Chris Crowley and Dr. Henry Lodge, it turns out, is not just another “how to get results with minimal investment of time and commitment” tome, the likes of which seem to flood the market and our culture.

Its approach is terrific: it's co-written by a 70-year-old who is "getting fit" for the first time in his life, and a 40-something doctor who is documenting the process, explaining each step of the way from a medical and scientific perspective.

Here's what I like about the book: it's practical, it's real (it's based in a real human's experience and his doctor's scientific knowledge), and it draws from Nature in many of its principles.

In one section, we learn how Nature sends different signals to living organisms: a fawn born in the fall will take its food and store it for a long winter ahead, for survival through semi-hibernation. Yet a fawn born in the spring will take that same food and turn it into energy for new growth—in tissue, muscle, bone—all of which will help it to fend off enemies, hunt, and thrive through the warmer months.

The authors' point is that to keep growing, we humans need to keep our bodies in a "spring mode," particularly once we reach mid-age. Otherwise, Nature will respond to inactive signals and turn on the "hibernation" switch, which, from middle age on can read "decay!"

My mind turned instantly to the parallel again to athletic endeavour in a professional sense, which, of course for me, includes the work of the artist-athlete. It reinforces my central point that technical training does not stop when one arrives at the undergraduate or graduate level of schooling, nor when when one becomes "professional." On the contrary, it needs to continue regularly. It needs to stay "in the spring mode" and avoid "winter" at all costs. Or, to put it more crisply: You can’t stay in the winter mode if you want to remain "in the zone" technically.

So, whether in the gym or in the practice room... "think spring!"

Fawn photo credit: Slopjop