Linear growth is something that I found very difficult with learning a language. It seems to resist it. You cannot become linearly better at a language because language is so much about context. I can improve in my abilities to speak Spanish in a restaurant, but then when I take a yoga class, I suddenly go back 3 steps.
I have also noticed that growth often happens in periods of plateaus followed by spurts. The idea that we should always be improving linearly doesn't acknowledge the time it sometimes takes our body and mind to absorb and organise new information. It's helpful when you are not seeing a lot of progress to remind yourself that you are doing the ground work that will allow for what is likely a big improvement in future
I think all growth is non-linear whether we realize it or not. As you said with the school analogy: it is not normal to go back to kindergarten after high school but that's exactly what happens to you when you mix things up on you path to become better at something(s).
When I started kettlebelling in 2020 I approached everything as a linear path (and honestly, weightlifting kind of lend itself easily to that kind of thinking): more reps, more weight, more sets, more TUT (time-under-tension, basically the ratio between active time and rest time).
At the same time I decided to lose weight, and I lost a lot of it. I then realized that I was burning at both ends: strength endurance (which I never really trained up until then) requires energy and mass, I was sabotaging myself. I was doing the kettlebell equivalent of ego lifting.
I then started learning about programming and self-coaching: I started to improve when I bought an adjustable kettlebell that allowed me to alternate between a lighter and heavier weight, and progressively increase both. That literally puts you on a see-saw path of continuous improvement (seeing the sinusoidal graph with the median trend growing over time is very instructive).
This year I took another step in disrupting any linear path I was getting back into by taking a kettlebell instructor course: I had to go down in weight (from 26kg to 12) because there are some mandatory movements I have to do in the final test which I am crappy at, because in 3.5 years I've never done them...because they were difficult and I was better at other movements.
It just seems right that if I want to teach and train others the first one who needs to get uncomfortable and "walk the walk" it's me.
Linear growth is something that I found very difficult with learning a language. It seems to resist it. You cannot become linearly better at a language because language is so much about context. I can improve in my abilities to speak Spanish in a restaurant, but then when I take a yoga class, I suddenly go back 3 steps.
I have also noticed that growth often happens in periods of plateaus followed by spurts. The idea that we should always be improving linearly doesn't acknowledge the time it sometimes takes our body and mind to absorb and organise new information. It's helpful when you are not seeing a lot of progress to remind yourself that you are doing the ground work that will allow for what is likely a big improvement in future
I think all growth is non-linear whether we realize it or not. As you said with the school analogy: it is not normal to go back to kindergarten after high school but that's exactly what happens to you when you mix things up on you path to become better at something(s).
When I started kettlebelling in 2020 I approached everything as a linear path (and honestly, weightlifting kind of lend itself easily to that kind of thinking): more reps, more weight, more sets, more TUT (time-under-tension, basically the ratio between active time and rest time).
At the same time I decided to lose weight, and I lost a lot of it. I then realized that I was burning at both ends: strength endurance (which I never really trained up until then) requires energy and mass, I was sabotaging myself. I was doing the kettlebell equivalent of ego lifting.
I then started learning about programming and self-coaching: I started to improve when I bought an adjustable kettlebell that allowed me to alternate between a lighter and heavier weight, and progressively increase both. That literally puts you on a see-saw path of continuous improvement (seeing the sinusoidal graph with the median trend growing over time is very instructive).
This year I took another step in disrupting any linear path I was getting back into by taking a kettlebell instructor course: I had to go down in weight (from 26kg to 12) because there are some mandatory movements I have to do in the final test which I am crappy at, because in 3.5 years I've never done them...because they were difficult and I was better at other movements.
It just seems right that if I want to teach and train others the first one who needs to get uncomfortable and "walk the walk" it's me.