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WWW.CHANGINGL ANESDIGITAL .COM APRIL | CHANGING L ANES 4 saying and decide if it's a belief you want to let into your life. • When you're feeling tired and talking yourself out of your workout, remind yourself why you're training. Weigh the importance of the inconvenience against the importance of the why and get out there. Physical Toughness Compared to mental toughness, there is considerably less talk about physical toughness out there, probably because it is wrapped up into strength and condition- ing. But the truth is, being physically tough is very different from being strong, fast, or powerful. Physical toughness includes the ability to take abuse and keep functioning, to recover quickly, to adapt to difficult ter- rain and contexts, and to tolerate adverse conditions without flagging. Le Corre's method of training, MovNat, emphasizes the value of developing a tough body by training in environments that do not accommodate the trainee. Training outdoors, in adverse (or simply not climate-controlled) conditions, is a core tenet of MovNat's methods. Le Corre says of physical toughness, "[it] is the ability of the body to withstand hard- ship, such as food or sleep deprivation, harsh weather conditions such as cold, heat, rain, snow or humidity, and difficult terrains (steep, rocky, slippery, radiating heat, dense vegetation etc.)." Click here for a complete primer on MovNat. Physical toughness boils down to the changes your body makes to make it more resilient. This has the effect of un- loading your willpower so that you can push yourself harder mentally, since your threshold has effectively increased. Thicker Skin A very simple example of physical toughness — and one that is used as a euphemism for toughness in general — is thick skin. Men who train hard in gyms rarely develop calluses beyond those along the base of the fingers that are the result of the bar pinching the grip. Men who train with tough objects, like stones, logs, or in nature tend to develop thick skin all over their fingers and palms. The same goes for the feet. Accompanying this change is an alteration in the sensitiv- ity of the pain receptors in those areas. As you become accustomed to walking bare- foot, what used to be painful becomes a comfortable massage. Exposure to the elements is the best way to develop this very real form of physical toughness. Train barefoot with minimal clothing, with rough implements. Start with shorter durations and forgiv- ing surfaces so you don't get to the point of actual injury, and increase the time and ruggedness of the environment. You will learn to tell the difference between discomfort and real pain. You'll also learn how to be gentle when dealing with rock and dirt, but you'll get tougher as well. Supple Joints An oft overlooked form of toughness combines mobility, flexibility, and durabil- ity. Hard training puts a lot of stress on the body, but this stress is multiplied when every movement stretches a muscle close to its full range or pushes a joint near its limit. Flexible joints can move farther without incurring stress on their support structures, reducing fatigue and the wear and tear that adds up to leave you sore and whimpering on the ground. To that end, give mobility training serious consideration in your workout routine. Not only will it save you pain, it will allow you to absorb more punish- ment and do more reps without feeling the effects, which makes you that much harder to bring down. Health Tips Continued 34 www.jobsfor teams.com JOBS for TEAMS | JobsForTeams0514_HealthHelp.indd 4 4/7/14 10:56 AM