up:: Habits MOC tags::#habit#on/practice#on/excellence#on/aq#body#on/strength

The mechanism for breaking through development plateaus

To break through the a-curve plateau, we must get out of our newly established “automatic mindset”, and return to a beginner’s “cognitive mindset”.

Physical development by strength training is the clearest example. Russian Conjugate Periodization 1—used for the physical development of Olympic athletes—shows how to “game” the curve by evolving the routine around every 4-5 weeks, which forces the muscles into their own form of “cognitive thinking.”

  • Needs more clarification on “gaming” the curve

A key term here is “adaption.” (explore Tom Mysklinski’s article to put it into context)

Perhaps continual improvement through this lens can be summed up with a phrase used by the US Marine Corps, Viggo Mortensen, and Clint Eastwood:

“Adapt and Overcome.”

It’s just about knowing what to overcome…and with skill development, that’s called Deliberate practice.


Catchy title example

“The A-Curve To Excellence: how to “game” the Asymptotic Curve to Improve your Skills, increase your strength, etcetera, etcetera


  • Back Matter
    • dates:: 2015-02-20
    • created:: 2015-02-20
    • modified:: 2020-05-28

Footnotes

  1. Known as the Conjugate Sequence System and developed by the Soviets, it involves overlapping training arcs, with micro and macro cycles that include unloading phases.