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08-28-20 12:48 PM - Post#901847
I think I'm seeing the true beauty in this program. After a few weeks of DMPM I got that itch to add more and figured hey, I could do a 2 day a week 531 cycle to add in a bit of moderate-heavy lifting. That will be easy right? After crashing and burning I did some research into how exercise affects stress levels.
It seems that moderate to heavy intensity exercise can produce a pretty strong cortisol response - the moderate part was a surprise to me. In a normal, healthy individual with balanced stress levels the cortisol response is a short spike that drops quickly and gives way to the restorative calm feeling that often comes after a hard workout. However, cortisol doesn't distinguish between emotional and physical stress, so when life happens and resting levels of stress rise, those spikes from moderate-heavy exercise can remain sustained and build on one another. In this case, light easy exercise is the best medicine because it doesn't spike cortisol at all, it just lowers it. Thus, the magic of the DMPM.
Previously in my life exercise was really the only main stressor I had. It's been difficult changing out of that competitive, constant improvement mindset. But each time I burn out I learn something new that releases me further from it. I've been pretty stressed since starting a new career this year. Balancing that with home ownership and having a family has been a learning experience. It's good, I love my job, but it takes a lot more out of me than I'm used to. I would say exercise has moved really far down the list of my main stressors, but I haven't really reduced the level of stress I get from it. It's probably a two-fold thing, first the physical response to lifting moderate-heavy weights, second the stress response of missing workouts because of life and honestly avoidance (because sometimes after work the last thing I want to do is psych myself up to hit a new PR and make progress).
In all honestly when I first saw the DMPM and its derivatives I was skeptical but intrigued. There's no way it could work, it's just too easy. I didn't really understand the point of it. Now that I'm coming out of yet another weightlifting induced crash I think I understand it more. Before I was treating it too much like a 'program' that would give 'progress'. It looks like a great minimalist program, but it's too easy I thought, so I made the movements harder and heavier. I totally missed the point.
Now I see it's actually a great way to move the body with light restorative exercise. It presents enough of a challenge to keep the body strong and get the blood flowing, but removes the barriers of constant improvement and the demand to keep pace with a rigid program. It looks easy on paper because it needs to be, so that during periods of high stress the bar is set low enough that seeing the workout itself doesn't produce a stress response and cause short and long term avoidance. The goal is more to improve mental health and well being, and maintain physical functionality and strength without the challenge and stress that comes with a rigid program. It's easy for the sake of consistency, because at the end of the day some exercise is always better than none, and often better than too much.
So... I would say it's back to the DMPM for me, except I haven't really done it properly. So maybe it's time to give it a real try as it is and not pretend I'm doing it when I'm really just modifying it and not honoring the spirit of it at all.
Edited by Jordan Derksen on 08-28-20 12:52 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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