S.A.I.D. Principle for Life

S.A.I.D. In Strength Training

In the strength and conditioning world, specific adaptation to imposed demand, or the S.A.I.D. Principle, holds that the body responds to a stress in a specific manner in order to neutralize that stress. For example, if you stress your biceps by lifting a 20 pound weight, eventually your body will become stronger, more efficient, or otherwise adapt. At some point that 20 pound weight is no longer a stress to your adapted arm and change ceases, growth plateaus.

Only by further stressing those biceps does further adaptation occur. So you add more weight or more repetitions or adjust some other variable. 

If you want to jump higher, you train muscles that help you jump higher. If you want to improve your marathon time, you stress your aerobic system. And so on. 

So imposed demands (I'll call them stress) are good initially. They lead to change and improvement. We can, however, get into trouble if the stress is too much or goes on too long.

In strength training, adequate nutrition, rest, and variation are crucial in order to maintain progress and avoid overtraining and injury. In life too, excessive, prolonged stress can lead not to perpetual adaptation, but rather to fatigue, insomnia, and innumerable other maladies.

S.A.I.D. In Life

A patient has been in the intensive care unit for weeks. Not able to get out of bed. Not able to lift the legs. Rather quickly, the muscles atrophy, shrinking until they reach the point where they can accommodate what their owner requires of them. Small and weak, they have adapted to the demands placed on them.

Similarly, a person sits in traffic on their way to work where they will be at a desk for some ten hours before commuting back home to the sofa and then to bed. These legs have adapted to what is expected of them - not much.

A body has been fed refined carbohydrates, processed foods, and it has been denied adequate vegetables and nutrients. The enzymes and regulatory hormones in this body are adapted to desire and use sugar. It does not know what to do with organic spinach - it likely causes gastrointestinal upset because this body has adapted to its very meager requirements and rebels when asked to respond to anything different.

The body and mind need imposed demands to adapt, to change, to improve. Choose to place demands on yourself that will lead to positive change. Stress those legs by taking the stairs. Challenge your microbiome by eating more fiber. Insist that your internal monologue be positive and encouraging. 

If you need assistance developing or incorporating imposed demands with the goal of adapting and improving your life, Refine can help. Contact us at contact@refinewellnessconsulting.com or on the CONTACT page.