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195. Training Character With Progressive Overload

195. Training Character With Progressive Overload

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 Today let’s explore an idea that sits at the heart of Stoic Strength Training: Progressive overload.Progressive overload isn’t just a physical training principle, it’s a moral training principle. It’s a blueprint for becoming someone who can carry heavier responsibilities, make harder choices, and live with greater integrity.By making this principle a staple in your life you’ll build the strength you’ll need in any circumstance.Hey there. It’s me, Kore. And you’re listening to Exercising Self-Control: From Fitness To Flourishing.It’s Not Just About The BodyMost people think progressive overload is only about getting the body to grow stronger by steadily adding increasingly challenging stressors. Add a little weight, add a few reps, and the body responds. But underneath that simple mechanism is a deeper truth: progressive overload works as a moral technology. It teaches the same virtues that every philosophical tradition has tried to cultivate: courage, temperance, discipline, rational self‑command. The gym just gives you the physical experience of practicing these virtues.The Principle Of Just-Noticeable DifficultyThink about what progressive overload actually demands. It asks you to face something slightly harder than last time. Not impossible. Not anything requiring heroic adaptation. Just harder. That’s the principle of just‑noticeable difficulty. Add two and a half pounds, not fifty. Have the uncomfortable conversation, not the existential confrontation.Yes, you can grow in even those more highly stressful circumstances. However, that’s not training. That’s more like competition or survival. A different category requiring adaptation. I’m talking about giving yourself a program. Structure. Planning. Measuring progress. That’s training.Growth, physical or moral, happens more effectively and predictably through this more manageable friction.And here’s the key: every time you choose that slightly harder challenge, you’re not just strengthening a muscle. You’re training the skill of choosing the harder challenge. You’re shaping your character.Photo by Luis Reyes on UnsplashAncient Wisdom: Stoic AskēsisThe Stoics understood this long before commercial barbells and gyms existed. They called it askēsis. In its original Greek sense askēsis means ‘exercise.’ In this earlier sense it’s both practical and aspirational. It indicates an aim for which the practice is undertaken. The word has its etymological roots in the domain of Olympic athletics but is also connected to the ancient Greek inspired conception of philosophy as a way of life.Voluntary discomfort. Intentional challenge. These are ways of training the character the way an athlete trains the body. Progressive overload is simply the modern, iron‑based version of that ancient idea. The barbell becomes a moral tutor because it gives immediate, non‑negotiable feedback. You either did the rep or you didn’t. You either showed up or you didn’t. There’s no rationalization, no loophole, no story you can tell yourself to soften the truth.Virtues In Every SessionAnd when you look at training through that lens, you start to see the virtues embedded in every session.* Courage is choosing the rep you don’t want to do. It’s facing the weight that intimidates you, the set that makes you hesitate, the moment where your body whispers “Enough” and you decide otherwise.* Temperance is restraint. It’s avoiding the ego lift. It’s not skipping warm‑ups. It’s choosing the right load, not the exciting one. It’s the discipline to stay within the plan even when your impulses want novelty or intensity.* Justice is keeping promises to yourself. Showing up because you said you would. Treating your future self as someone who deserves your effort today. Learning justice in dealing with yourself so you are prepared to be equally just with others.* Wisdom is knowing when to push and when to recover. It’s understanding the difference between discomfort and damage. It’s seeing training as a long game, not a dopamine hit.The Moral Arc Of TrainingWhen you put all of this together, progressive overload becomes a moral arc.* Compliance – Initially, you just follow the program as written.* Consistency – You show up even when motivation is low because you’ve committed to the routine.* Competence – You perform exercises with proper form and understand your body’s response.* Character – You develop inner resilience and naturally seek challenges as opportunities for growth.* Contribution – You become an example of principled living that inspires others.Why Training MattersThis is why training matters. Not because it makes you look better or lift more, but because it gives you a structure for becoming someone who makes choices you respect. Someone who can carry heavier loads in every domain of life.The resistance is not the enemy. The weight is an invitation. Every increase in load is a question: Will ...
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