Work hard. Rest Hard.

Eddie Hall won the World's Strongest Man Competition in 2017, setting a record in 2016 for deadlifting by lifting a staggering 500kg. A few days ago, I came across a short video of his that caught my attention. It turns out he had been stuck at 420kg for years, despite diligently following a weekly routine and gradually adding weight over time. But there came a point where he couldn't make any more progress.

After conducting some research, changing his training approach, and tirelessly experimenting with ways to surpass his record, he realised that the human body takes 10 days to recover after enduring such an immense effort. In reality, he acknowledged that his attempts to break his record every 7 days were actually detrimental to his results because his body had not fully recovered.

Having watched several of his videos, two significant changes stood out to me:

First, he stopped trying to increase his personal record every week and altered his strategy:

• One week, he would do quick sets at 50% of his personal record.
• The following week, he would do slower sets lifting 80% of his personal record.
• He repeated this pattern for 12 weeks and then attempt to break his personal record again.

Furthermore, he managed to reduce his recovery time from 10 days to 7. How did he do it? By giving equal importance to rest as he did to intense training. He realised that those he competed against trained just as hard as he did or even harder but didn't pay the same attention to rest.

I wish the "Work hard, rest hard" mantra were more popular than the, among other things, inefficient "Work hard, play hard" approach.

From here, other questions arise:

How do we objectively assess the recovery processes our teams need?

Do you have a personalised recovery routine that dynamically adapts to your needs?

To be more specific rather than categorical, we could say that in the world of consulting, our work demands maximum concentration for unnaturally extended periods. Paradoxically, this is a natural part of what we do, and we could simply accept that work is tiring. I believe there is little disagreement on this front.

However, if you pull the thread and start connecting the dots, you may have encountered the following:

Mental fatigue > Prolonged tiredness > Anxiety > Depression.

Burnout, feeling exhausted, dreading Mondays...?

When you are exposed to prolonged stress and neglect your rest times, focusing solely on the next deadline, the next project, the next whatever, and not recharging your batteries, you can not only stop improving but also worsen your performance, and, more importantly, stop being happy. You drain yourself. And ceasing to improve is a risk to your employability, but it can't compare to approaching a dark abyss. In the game of work, companies have rotation and hiring, but you have only one life.

The impact of what we do increases as we progress in our careers. I wouldn't necessarily say it has to be this way, but sometimes there seems to be an invisible sword of Damocles sitting between us and the screen. It's a suffocating individuality that often transforms and conveys a sense of loneliness. You find yourself in a constant state of alert. You gradually push the accelerator to the floor to reach the next deadline, the next project, to continue learning and adapting to the latest trends, to reach the next level, the next big disruptive change... it's as if you were trying to beat your personal record, your best version, every day... and paradoxically, you lose sight of your goals, strategy, and tactics. The accelerator is fully pressed, the feeling of going faster and faster without really knowing where you're heading. Being always on the edge.?

As some experienced psychiatrists like Marian Rojas-Estape warns:

Living in a state of permanent alertness causes depression.

In a world where technological innovation is increasingly accessible to more companies, how can we establish the difference that sets us apart as a better option? We're all running at full throttle, all eventually gaining access to the latest processes and technologies. And then what? How do you continue to improve if you don't take care of yourself?

Xavier Marcet talks about people as the key differentiating element. I couldn't agree more with his insights:

"Talking about the future is not difficult. Finding the right people to build the future we want is."

Under the umbrella of Dunning-Kruger, I dare to add that once you find the right people, the purpose should be to care for them, empower them, collaborate with them, nurture them, and facilitate their improvement while keeping them happy.

To those who have decision-making power and management responsibilities and may not be convinced by my argument, I have occasionally encountered values that contradict mine, although I haven’t had many honest and transparent conversations about the matter. Profits and cost-cutting over people... and my favourite: "this is business." Goodness and truth cannot be denied and are inevitably a competitive advantage. I invite you with this open letter to empirically test whether your teams are more profitable under unhealthy pressure and anxiety or by building environments that encourage creativity, critical thinking, and, of course, rest. The other option is that your competitors will do it. I hope you come to understand the words of Facundo Cabral:

"If the wicked knew what a good business it is to be good, they would be good even just for business."

And regardless of where you are, fight to find space to set your own goals. One of them should be working hard, and the other should be resting hard. We'll leave the rest for another day.

Work hard. Take care of yourself.