Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/306036
Tips Health 28 www.jobsfor teams.com JOBS for TEAMS | You May Be Strong . . . But Are You Tough? A s a little boy, I was scrawny, weak, and prone to illness (much like a certain former president). For a long time, I thought I was just doomed to be pathetic, until my dad took me canoeing. In the mucky, hot, poorly maintained trails and portages of the Boundary Waters in the north woods of Minnesota, I learned that I could be tough, scrappy, and indomitable. I took a brutal pleasure in carry- ing the heaviest pack I could over long and steep portages, willing my toothpick legs to take one step, then another, then another, until I saw the blue expanse of the next lake peeking through the trees. That was all I had to work with: a willingness to push myself harder than anyone else, to charge headlong into the roughest terrain, and to ignore cold, rain, heat, bugs, and my own inter- nal discomfort. With the popularity of high-intensity workout programs, military-inspired training, and brutal adventure races, men- tal toughness is in the spotlight. The gold standard of a hardcore athlete is how much pain they can tolerate. But what about simple, plain old ruggedness? What does it mean to be physically tough, as well as mentally tough? Is it enough to simply be strong, or is there something more to it? Strong But Weak I will always remember the day I dropped in on a CrossFit class and went out for the warm-up jog with no shoes on. One of the other guys there, mas- sively strong and musclebound, was shocked and asked me if it hurt or if I was scared of broken glass. I explained that I'd toughened up my feet over the last few years and it didn't bother me at all. If I was caught shoeless in an emergency, the few seconds I needed to put on shoes could make the difference between life and death. It didn't matter how fast I could sprint if my feet were too tender to handle the asphalt. I see that reaction all the time: big guys with lots of muscles who wince as soon as the shoes come off or who insist on wearing gloves whenever they lift weights. They are immensely strong within their particular domain, but have very strict limits on their comfort zone. As soon as they are forced out of it, their performance drops drastically. Deļ¬ning Toughness Men in particular often confuse tough- ness with strength, thinking that being By Khaled Allen, courtesy of www.artofmanliess.com JobsForTeams0514_HealthHelp.indd 1 4/7/14 10:55 AM