Too Much Stress

Enough Stress.

In order to improve, we need stress—but the dosage and our understanding of it are key to keeping it positive stress rather than something that breaks us down.

Stress isn’t always bad. A holiday is stress, but usually the good kind (unless it’s your parents—then it often tips into the "we need a holiday after the holiday" zone). The key is recognizing that stress impacts every part of life, and how we define it matters.

I was listening to a podcast on polarized training with the godfather of the method. They broke down the mechanics of adaptation—PGC-1 gene expression, pyramidal vs. polarized methods, and the endless terminology we’ve created to classify training zones.

But one thing stood out: What if we only had two zones? High stress and low stress.

They discussed stress, recovery, and the cost of a stressor on recovery (the real cost). A phrase stuck with me—"minimal dosing." How little stress is needed to create adaptation? Many triathletes already operate this way, constantly fine-tuning training to find the smallest dose that still drives progress.

That got me thinking—these are professionals whose main stressor is their job: to perform exceptionally. But what about the average working person? Instead of just looking at the acute stress of training, shouldn’t we consider the total systemic stress from life and how that affects recovery, motivation, and performance?

How does overall stress impact our ability to hit 🎯 156 bpm, hold 280W, or run 3:50/km repeats? If we take a whole-body view, maybe we don’t need endless zones—just two:

A. High Stress

B. Low Stress

It’s an oversimplified approach, but that’s exactly the point. We’ve overcomplicated things. This framework provides immediate clarity on what we’re doing in training and how it fits into our overall stress load.

And this is where it gets exciting.

By categorizing training in just two zones, we can train smarter—aligning our efforts with our actual stress levels rather than pushing through arbitrary numbers. Some days, hitting 280W isn’t just hard; it’s destructive because of the stress load we’re already carrying. Other days, it’s exactly what we need.

This shift forces us to listen to our bodies rather than just our devices. It makes training flexible, adaptable, and—most importantly—sustainable.

Instead of obsessing over data, we shift our focus to balance. Because in the end, it's not just stress that drives progress—it’s the right stress, at the right time.