Mental Health and Personal Growth: Developing Strength and Confidence With Progressive Resistance
“Five more seconds! Come on! Just… five… more…”
There I was in my garage gym, squatting low in Horse Stance as my legs quivered and every bit of me was raging inside to throw in the towel, stand up, and ease the tension. The timer I set just passed the mark for my goal of one minute and fifteen seconds. Anything beyond this point was a bonus.
Those five seconds passed with agonizing slowness, but they passed.
“Another five. Breathe… breathe!”
One second. Two seconds. Three seconds ticked by.
I was trying not to look at the timer. Every passing second reminded me of the burning in my legs as I tried to maintain a steady stance with every muscle engaged. I closed my eyes and focused on keeping my breath relaxed and even, trying not to think about my quivering legs.
Finally, I gave in and sank to my knees with a pained gasp.
A minute and a half – a new record on my journey of growth for both fitness and my return to martial arts.
What is Progressive Resistance?
Whether it’s training Horse Stance, bench press, running, cycling, or whatever your chosen activity is, the concept of progressive resistance is based on structuring things in a way that forces your body to adapt to a new challenge to create growth. This can look different depending on your activity. The one most people think of is adding more weight or repetitions to a strength training exercise.
Let me pause here for a moment to define a couple of terms for those who may not be familiar with strength training terminology:
A rep is short for “repetition” and is the number of times you repeat a specific movement without resting. For example, doing 10 squats would be described as “10 reps.”
A set is one round of a single exercise done for a specific number of reps. So doing squats for 3 sets of 10 reps would mean you would do 10 squats, rest, and repeat 2 more times.
So, say you managed to successfully do 3 sets of 10 squats with 150 pounds of weight and want to increase the challenge. With the idea of progressive resistance, you might try to do 3 sets of 11 or 12 squats next time you work out. You could also stick with the 3 sets of 10 rep scheme and add weight, maybe trying it with 160 pounds instead.
Progressive Resistance Can Involve Different Things
While increasing reps or weight is the classic example many people think of, there can be all kinds of ways you try to increase the challenge to stimulate adaptation and growth. For example, in my work training Horse Stance, I challenge myself to hold the stance a few seconds longer than I did the last time, helping me move toward my current goal of a 2-minute Horse Stance hold.
Other forms of progressive resistance might include:
Training to run, bike, or swim longer distances.
Improving speed to cover the same distance in a shorter time.
Improving aerobic fitness for endurance to better hike uphill.
And it doesn’t just happen in the gym.
The idea of gradually increasing the challenge to stimulate growth isn’t limited to exercise. If you’ve ever taken up a hobby that involved some kind of skill you applied this same idea. This is also what you experienced as a kid in school – though it’s often called “scaffolding” in education.
Whether it’s in the gym, out on the road, in a hobby, or in a classroom, the fundamental idea is this:
You start where you’re currently at in your ability and increase the difficulty in a way that forces you out of your comfort zone just enough to challenge you to adapt and grow. Once you adapt that new level, you increase the difficulty again.
Seeing a therapist is a lot like hiring a personal trainer.
They can help you define your goals and create an action plan to help you move in that direction.
What Does This Have to Do With Counseling?
Why am I even talking about progressive resistance and gyms on a blog dedicated to clinical mental health counseling? Because we can apply the same idea in counseling when trying to change behaviors and improve ways of thinking, acting, and living. Working with a mental health counselor is a lot like working with a personal trainer in this regard. The focus is just on thoughts and actions rather than fitness and exercise.
Just like planning out a fitness program, this can involve similar steps including:
The initial assessment
Outlining your specific goals
Developing a plan based on these goals
Assessing progress and changing the plan accordingly
Step 1: The Initial Assessment
You’re often advised to consult with your doctor when you start a fitness program, whether it’s weights, running, biking, walking, yoga, or anything else. Assuming you get the green light to proceed, you’ll likely meet with a teacher or trainer who will assess your current ability. This gives you a starting point from which to plan your program. For example, if you aspire to run a marathon but can’t even run a mile, your coach or trainer is likely going to start there.
In the same way, your therapist will guide you through an initial assessment when you first start counseling. The two of you will get an idea of what kinds of problems you’re presently experiencing and how you deal with them. For a strengths-based counselor, this will not only include the things that are creating problems for you but also the things you presently do that are actually helpful. Even if you come to therapy at a time when you’re really struggling, there are probably things you already do that you can build on.
And just like your trainer won’t judge you for not being able to run a mile, a therapist won’t judge you for struggling with things like anxiety, depression, anger, or addiction.
Step 2: Outline Your Specific Goals
Once you have an idea of where you’re at, the next step is to figure out where you want to end up when it’s all said and done. For an aspiring marathon runner, that might be to run a 26-mile marathon as their first big goal. A person starting strength training might set a long-term goal of being able to bench press 300 pounds and squat 500 pounds. Someone who is more into calisthenics might set a goal of being able to do 20 consecutive chin-ups or achieve a one-arm push-up.
Setting goals in counseling can work in a very similar way. One of the common stumbling blocks with our mental health, however, is often the way we set goals for ourselves. At the start, clients often have goals like “be happier” or “not feel as sad.”
But what does that really mean? While it’s understandable that we all want to feel happier and not feel sadness, vague goals like that don’t provide a sense of direction. It would be like a person wanting to get fit saying they want to “be stronger” or “not be weak.” It doesn’t give specifics to build on.
After all, if you are wanting to run a marathon, training to do a lot of push ups may not actually move you toward your desired goal.
This is where therapists might ask you questions like, “What would you be doing if you were happier?” From there, the two of you might identify desired outcomes like going to social events more, applying for jobs instead of gaming as a distraction, or spending more time with your partner.
Step 3: Develop a Plan Based on Your Goals
Once you have some concrete goals, you can develop a plan based around the concept of progressive resistance. You have an idea of where you’re currently at and where you want to end up. With those two end points in mind, you can begin to build your progression plan.
For example, you want to eventually run a 26-mile marathon but presently can’t even run a mile without stopping periodically to walk and catch your breath. Your first challenge, then, will be to work up to running a mile nonstop. It might even be to first run a half-mile nonstop.
Once you can run a mile nonstop, you set your sights for 2 miles. Then 2.5 miles. Then 3 miles. You keep adding a little more as you reach each little goal until you get to those 26 miles.
In that same spirit, you might have a counseling goal of regularly attending a fitness class in the hopes of meeting people and improving your social life. At the first session with your therapist, you share that you presently get anxious about going to a class and not knowing what to do because you fear you’ll be judged by the people that are already in the class. You’ve thought about it a lot but have just not been able to overcome your anxiety enough to even call to find out more.
With this goal in mind, you and your therapist might make your first challenge learning to recognize what is going on when you pick up the phone to dial the number to ask questions. This might involve learning to notice your body reactions like a tight chest and short breath as well as thoughts like, “I’m going to sound dumb.”
Once you learn to recognize your reactions, your next challenge might be to apply mindfulness and grounding techniques to calm your body and quiet your mind enough to dial the number. When you get to that point, the next challenge might be to dial the number and let the phone ring until someone picks up. You might then ask what days and times they are open as a first step toward talking about attending a class.
Eventually, you build up to going to a class. You might first observe, then later try it out before joining.
Breaking things down into small steps like this has a couple of benefits:
First, it keeps things manageable. If you take on too much too soon then you’re going to run up against a wall. Put too much weight on the bar and you won’t be able to lift it. Push yourself too far out of your comfort zone and you’ll get overwhelmed and avoid challenging yourself at all.
Second, it sets you up for a win. When you challenge yourself and succeed, it helps you feel good about yourself and more optimistic about the changes you want to make and the challenges involved in getting there.
Whether it’s weights, miles, or small steps in dealing with anxiety, depression, addiction, and more the idea is the same – challenge your comfort zone enough to stimulate growth but not so much that it’s overwhelming.
Step 4: Assess Progress and Change the Plan Accordingly
As change happens, you’ll be able to look back and see where you are compared to where you were when you first started. Some things will become easy enough that you might want to change directions.
For example, once a marathon runner can successfully run 26 miles, they might start working on improving their time in the hopes of placing in the top three runners in a race.
Likewise, you might make changes in counseling as you see improvements. As you start managing the symptoms of depression and get out of the house more, you might change your focus to work on social anxiety in the hopes of building a friend group.
Putting it All Together
Whether it’s physical fitness or mental health, the concept of progressive resistance can help you outline and achieve your goals. By being specific about those goals and challenging yourself in ways that are approachable and increase your chances of success, you create a strategy for moving toward the things you want in life and the person you want to be that feels achievable.
Think of your therapist as your personal trainer and the sessions as your training center. You’ll work together to come up with your customized plan, practice your technique, and challenge you to grow in attainable ways.
Are You Ready to Create Your Plan for Change?
Do you want to change your life but struggle with coming up with goals and action steps that get you where you want to go? Want to work with a therapist who can take the concept of progressive resistance and apply it to mental health? Use the button below to contact me or go straight to my calendar to book your free, 20-minute consultation call to find out more! I offer sessions in-office, outdoors, and online to support you no matter where you are in Arkansas.