Homeostasis: What Is It And How Can You Apply It To Improve As A Human – By Coach Roman Siromakha

You came to a Cross Training Gym. You took your trial and decided to sign up. Just to find out that you don’t know most of the movements. They are new to you, they seem complicated and you feel sort of foolish doing them. 

Well, don’t stop there. That is just the beginning. That’s the difficult part. Learning something new isn’t always easy. If it were easy, everyone would be in shape and in great health.

Here is where homeostasis talk comes in. Let’s define that first. Homeostasis is “the tendency toward a relatively stable equilibrium between interdependent elements, especially as maintained by physiological processes.” In simple terms, your body loves equilibrium! It wants to use little energy to survive. That’s why being lazy feels so damn good. However, it’s also not that good for you. When you are too comfortable you aren’t evolving, you aren’t growing, you aren’t moving forward. Look at it this way, if you run 3 miles everyday, for the first few weeks it’s pretty challenging. Your muscles are sore. You even burn about 500 calories. Over time, the body starts to burn less and less calories. Running becomes easier. Why? Simple, homeostasis is the reason. Our bodies get used to it and it’s no longer giving us the physical challenge. Over time it literally requires less energy to complete a specific task. Less energy means less calories burned, and less effort put in. This is why it is very important to change things it up.

Let’s jump back to Cross Training for a second. Here is where it gets interesting. You see, in Cross Training, we do a lot! We practice movements, we work on technique, we push ourselves, and every workout is different. That’s the battle against homeostasis. You’re evolving. You’re learning new movements. You are using different energy pathways. This is why it becomes so important to keep going. Keep coming into class. Keep pushing those boundaries. Keep learning new movements. 

In reality, we were never meant to do the tasks we make our bodies do all the time. Let’s leave that whole “this isn’t what I’m supposed to do” argument out of this. You are correct there, however our bodies are far more adaptable than you can imagine. One example again is the running, we weren’t meant to run 3, 5 or even 10 miles. Now think about ultra marathoners. People who run 50 or 100 and even 200 miles. You think they believe in staying comfortable? I cannot even fathom their training or how mentally difficult it has to be. “Comfort” is probably not something those individuals believe in. Have in mind, I am certainly not here to tell you to go 110% all the time and dig yourself into a hole full of pain and maybe even injuries. It’s about switching it up, learning new things, trying, and exploring.

Now this isn’t about me selling Cross Training to you. It’s not about me telling you to keep learning new moves and keep practicing. Getting out of homeostasis is far more than that. It applies to everything in life. Find a new hobby. Learn to play a new instrument. Find a new sport to play. Learn how to do those damn double-unders or muscle ups. Don’t give up. We aren’t born great at those things – they are learned. They never get easier; you just get better at doing them.

To sum it all up, don’t give up. Apply yourself. Get out of that comfortable state that you’re so used to. Push yourself. Who knows you might even surprise yourself at how good you are at it. Many athletes, writers, musicians, artists, creatives and others aren’t born with all of the skills like a Swiss army knife, but we can sure as hell become that. Most of all have fun with it!