In early 2016, I began my preparation for the spring Tactical Strength Challenge (TSC) by running two deadlift programs back to back.
The first was an 8-week cycle that I designed using StrongFirst principles. It made me stronger but got tough near the end—I ended up repeating week six or seven and finished the cycle with a slightly lighter weight than I had originally planned.
Instead of taking a breath afterward, I rolled straight into a 9-week program written by a powerlifting coach who had trained some world champions. After each of the two weekly sessions, I also added ten sets of ten double-kettlebell swings.
That may not sound like much, but everything was fairly heavy—and exhausting. By the third week of the second program, I dropped my weekly jiu jitsu session just to keep up.
Yet I still typically followed up the swings with a small meal and a 90-minute nap on the couch in my office.
Ultimately, the training culminated in a personal record—a 30-pound increase that landed three pounds shy of triple body weight.
I still remember how relatively easy that PR deadlift felt…
But the downside of the training was that my back felt terrible for months afterward. So much so that I had to brace myself against a wall whenever I picked up anything heavier than a 24-kg kettlebell. And even the thought of touching a barbell was unappealing for 12-15 months.
The program “worked”. But it also physically and mentally cost me more than I would have preferred.
It was educational—but not what I’d consider a healthy experience.
Most healthy behaviors follow a curve
We often assume the relationship between our efforts and results is linear.
If exercise is good, more exercise must be better. If clean eating helps, cleaner eating must help more. If tracking steps is useful, tracking everything else must be optimal.
But most behaviors we consider “healthy” don’t follow straight lines. They follow (bell) curves.
For example, too little exercise leads to deconditioning.
The “right” amount—applied progressively and supported by recovery—promotes strength, resilience, and energy.
Too much pushes you into poor sleep, persistent soreness, irritability, nagging injuries, or eventually burnout.
The same is true for nutrition, the process of tracking, and even discipline itself.
At some point, there are diminishing returns. Beyond that point, returns can also turn negative.
That all probably makes intuitive sense, but here’s the part most people miss.
The tricky part: the “right” amount moves
The optimal point on the bell curve isn’t fixed. It shifts based on other, often seemingly unrelated factors.
In relation to fitness-focused goals, those factors include:
- Age
- Stress levels
- Sleep quality
- Nutrition
- Life season
- Hormonal changes
- Training history
What worked at 35 may not work at 45.
What worked during a calm season of life with moderate stress and adequate sleep may not work during a chaotic one with high stress and too little sleep.
And what worked during the early stages of change may not continue to work during the later stages.
To get the best results, we have to pay attention not just to the inputs—but to the context in which those inputs are applied.
When you’re too far right on the curve
This isn’t an exhaustive list, but here are some common signals that suggest you may have drifted too far right:
- Sleep quality declines or you can’t seem to get enough
- You constantly feel sore or fatigued
- Hunger becomes intense or difficult to regulate
- Your weight begins to creep up for no apparent reason
- Motivation drops
- Irritability, anxiety, or apathy increase
When you experience these conditions, the instinct is usually to push harder. But if healthy behaviors follow a curve, pushing harder may be the very thing moving you farther from the peak.
If you’ve intentionally been adding more inputs—frequency, duration, intensity, restrictions—temporarily reducing them may help.
But if, after an honest assessment, your inputs don’t seem to have changed, the next step is to consider whether the context has.
In that case, the solution often involves experimenting with a combination of doing slightly less and refining how you’re doing what you’re already doing.
That might initially feel like you’re resigning from your goal. In reality, it’s likely shifting you left—back toward optimal territory.
Putting it into practice
In my deadlifting experience, I increased intensity too quickly relative to what I had been doing. If I ran that program again today—which I’ve recently considered—I’d adjust the inputs to account for both my recent training history and my additional ten years of age.
Consider where you might be on the fitness effort-to-results curve.
If you’re clearly on the left side, gradually adding more may be appropriate. What’s one small addition you could make today?
If you suspect you’re a little too far right, experiment with doing slightly less or improving how you execute what you’re already doing. You just might find that it produces better results—and frees up time and energy to invest elsewhere.