{"id":71674,"date":"2020-09-22T07:13:26","date_gmt":"2020-09-22T05:13:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/runlovers.it\/2020\/the-85-rule\/"},"modified":"2022-11-15T15:24:44","modified_gmt":"2022-11-15T14:24:44","slug":"the-85-rule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/runlovers.it\/en\/2020\/the-85-rule\/","title":{"rendered":"The 85% rule"},"content":{"rendered":"

85 is less than 100, do you agree? The rule I’m telling you about today is called the “85% rule,” not the 100% rule, and it’s a little strange that when we talk about running we don’t automatically associate a nice 100% with it. Yet this rule arose from the observation of the Son of the Wind, namely Carl Lewis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You may not know this but rarely was Carl Lewis, for a very long time the track speed record holder, first from start to finish in a race. Indeed, it often happened that up to the middle he was at a disadvantage. Many have always thought that Lewis was simply someone who started slowly and then recovered by sprinting in the second half of the race. Instead, ralenty observation revealed that Lewis ran from start to finish in exactly the same way, and not just any way-Lewis was always relaxed and did not change the style or parameters. In other words, while the others decelerated because they had burned out their cue and exhausted their strength, he towered over them moving forward with impetuous constancy. And, as if that were not enough, dominating his race was a great relaxation.<\/p>\n

Lewis did not seem to be going at his 100 percent. It was as if he was striving to express only 85 percent of his strength. The difference was that he did it consistently from start to finish and never waned.<\/p>\n

85% is better than 100% (sometimes)<\/h3>\n

Not always giving your best can paradoxically be a rule of life that allows you to give your all. The reasoning seems irrational, but follow me, there is a reason for its effectiveness.<\/p>\n

If you constantly give 100 percent you expose yourself to burnout (in work) or overtraining and injury, speaking of sports. It is also humanly impossible to give 100% all the time. If you are a particularly motivated person, not succeeding can lead to dissatisfaction. Conversely, if you can always give it your all, you risk, like Lewis’s opponents, getting to a point where you have to decelerate.<\/p>\n

The 85 percent method does not say that you will always get maximum results by not going 100 percent: instead, it says that the wisest and most energy-conserving method is to normally give 85 percent of your energy to be ready to give 100 percent when needed. It seems like a modest change in perspective or a mental trick, but it is decisive.<\/p>\n

The 85 percent rule works by working on continuity<\/strong> rather than peak performance<\/strong>, just as Lewis did by producing a monstrous performance in terms of consistency of energy delivery and not based on the initial spurt or final sprint.<\/p>\n

Not just running<\/h3>\n

The beauty of this method is that it is not only suitable for the sports world but also goes very well in the business world: always expecting the best from us is the best way to burn ourselves out, because we all-everyone-have a limit. Any engine will melt if it is always running at full throttle, but only engines that are never always<\/strong> running at full throttle conserve the energy needed to run at full throttle when needed.<\/p>\n

It is not easy not to go to the top if you are not used to it. Doing anything less than your mindset would tell you to do feels like a betrayal of yourself. If you succeed, however, you can ideally find yourself alongside Carl Lewis: relaxed like him, crossing the 100-meter mark, magically transformed into your own, personal, 100 percent.<\/p>\n

Carl Lewis e Mike Powel, duello a Tokyo<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n