Go Down to Go Up

Sydney has been working on her vertical jump for volleyball.  She is recognizing that she probably won’t grow to be 6’2” so she has to be able to make her vertical jump a strength in her game.  This will require her to do some training in the offseason, but in the short-term there was a technique tip that one of her coaches gave her, and that was, “You have to go down before you can go up.”  What she was explaining to Sydney is that she has to load up her legs (contract down) to maximize her explosion up into the jump (expand up).  This is true, not just in jumping, but in all areas of our lives.  Contraction always proceeds expansion.  

In its simplest form, this is an anatomical fact.  To build muscle, you must break down the muscle fibers so that they will reform as a denser, stronger fiber.  You must push your aerobic capacity beyond its threshold to increase the threshold.  You must engage in deep practice and “tax” your existing neural connections to build stronger neural connections.  Contraction always proceeds expansion.

In life, we have heard the saying, “Things will get worse before they get better.” Or the military strategy of “breaking people down before building them back up.”  Or, companies restructuring so that they can increase their capacity to grow.  Deep down, we recognize that we have to go back to the simplest form, the foundation, before we can grow and expand.

But, here is the key takaway…the part that we often forget about.  It often takes a willingness to change patterns to go from contraction to expansion.  We have to increase the weight in the weightroom to contract and expand.  We have to increase the speed of our run to contract and expand.  We have to increase the challenge to our neural system to contract and expand.

I will have you consider that if we are not challenging ourselves, if we are not creating patterns that interrupt our static state, we will not create expansion in our personal or work lives.  Our body and mind are “comfortable” in a static state, but our growth comes from the challenge of pushing through our comfort levels.