Most athletes know that consistency is the king of training fundamentals. No AI model or experienced coach is more valuable than not missing workouts.
For what it’s worth, I write all my articles without the use of generative AI. – Nate
When you’re new to cycling, consistency is easy. A pristine bike combined with an event on the calendar means nailing weekly rides comes naturally. Novelty fuels the engine of your progress.
But like any relationship, object, or experience, that which is new always becomes old. Routines get boring, progress slows, and riding becomes a chore.
“We humans are unhappy in large part because we are insatiable; after working hard to get what we want, we routinely lose interest in the object of our desire. Rather than feeling satisfied, we feel a bit bored, and in response to this boredom, we go on to form new, even grander desires.”
— Irvine, William B.. A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy
There’s an interesting phrase I learned that describes this process of habituation — it’s called “Hedonic Adaptation” (2).
The clearest example of Hedonic Adaptation is when, after the thrill of receiving a life-changing windfall, lottery winners return to a state of happiness no greater than before their win (2).
The Type A athlete understands this hamster wheel better than most. We train, we reach a new level of fitness, then almost immediately we fix our gaze on the next athletic objective. This inability to be satisfied with achievement may be a component of continued progress, but it’s also a thief of joy.
No matter how much we improve, we end up where we started, looking ahead and struggling to appreciate that which lies at our feet: the extraordinary good fortune of living, breathing, and riding a bike.
“One key to happiness, then, is to forestall the adaptation process: We need to take steps to prevent ourselves from taking for granted, once we get them, the things we worked so hard to get. And because we have probably failed to take such steps in the past, there are doubtless many things in our life to which we have adapted, things that we once dreamed of having but that we now take for granted, including, perhaps, our spouse, our children, our house, our car, and our job.”
— Irvine, William B.. A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy
This is where Stoic philosophy enters the chat, providing a tool called Negative Visualization you can use to develop gratitude for what you’ve achieved, while refocusing your mind on the process — those habits that breed consistency — of training (4).
Here’s a cycling-specific example of Negative Visualization. Imagine you’ve been given a scary medical diagnosis that will have you off the bike receiving treatment for at least 12 months. If treatment is effective you’ll be cleared to return to riding. If treatment is unsuccessful you’ll likely need to give up cycling for the foreseeable future.
How does this visualization change your perspective on the present moment? What would you be willing to give up, six months into intensive medical treatment, to be in the exact position you find yourself right now, healthy and able to train?
This cycling example is an easy one. The Stoics advocated for even more intense negative visualizations, such as imagining that you’ve lost a child, a spouse, or everything you hold dear. The expected outcome of these visualizations remains the same: imagining negativity can unlock gratitude and appreciation for exactly what you already have.
References
- Adam J. Toth, Eoghan McNeill, Kevin Hayes, Aidan P. Moran, Mark Campbell, Does mental practice still enhance performance? A 24 Year follow-up and meta-analytic replication and extension, Psychology of Sport and Exercise, Volume 48, 2020, 101672, ISSN 1469-0292
- Frederick, S., & Loewenstein, G. (1999). “Hedonic adaptation.” In D. Kahneman, E. Diener, & N. Schwarz (Eds.), Well-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology (pp. 302–329). Russell Sage Foundation.
- Brickman, P., Coates, D., & Janoff-Bulman, R. (1978). “Lottery winners and accident victims: Is happiness relative?” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36(8), 917–927.
- Irvine, W. B. (2008). A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy. Oxford University Press.