Until about six weeks ago, I didn’t really know what the word threshold meant when it came to training.
I’d heard people talk about threshold sessions, but I had no real understanding of what they were or, more importantly, what they felt like.
That changed when I scheduled my latest VO₂ max test and decided what I’d been reading about threshold training might give me a new edge.
Since then, I’ve been doing one threshold session every week.
The principle is simple.
Spend enough time right at the edge of what your body can comfortably tolerate for it to adapt.
Push too little and you don’t grow.
Push too hard and your body starts to break down.
The art is finding the threshold.
I’ve become fascinated by how fine that line really is.
For me, it’s just two or three heartbeats per minute.
Just below my threshold, I can keep going.
I can tolerate the discomfort.
I can recover quickly.
I can adapt.
Just above it…
…everything changes.
My breathing becomes ragged.
My running form starts to fall apart.
Recovery takes much longer.
And all I can think about is making the discomfort stop.
The more I’ve experienced these sessions, the more I’ve realised this isn’t just about running.
Maybe all growth has a threshold.
Stay comfortably below it all the time and very little changes.
Live beyond it for too long and eventually you break.
Somewhere in between is a place where we’re stretched enough to grow but not overwhelmed enough to shut down.
That feels like a very interesting place to play.
It made me think about business.
Leadership.
Relationships.
Parenting.
Coaching.
Maybe growth rarely happens when everything feels comfortable.
But perhaps it doesn’t happen when we’re completely overwhelmed either.
Maybe it lives just below the point where we’d normally back away.
Just below the point where we’d convince ourselves it’s too difficult.
Just below the point where fear tells us to stop.
Twenty years ago, I spent years living beyond my threshold.
I thought that was commitment.
I thought that was what going all-in looked like.
It wasn’t.
It was overload.
These days I’m learning something very different.
Growth doesn’t require me to live beyond my threshold.
It asks me to visit it.
Regularly.
Intentionally.
Then recover.
Ironically, that’s exactly how we become capable of more.
As I sit here writing this, I find myself wondering…
Where is your threshold?
Not the place where life overwhelms you.
Not the place where everything feels easy.
Just below that.
Because I’m beginning to think…
…that’s where growth lives.
Maybe the goal isn’t to live comfortably.
Maybe it’s to learn where growth lives.
Finally, this is the 100th edition of Uncommon since I started writing in July 2024.
Whether this is the first one you’ve read or you’ve been here from the beginning, thank you.
I genuinely appreciate you giving me a few minutes of your week.
I also want to thank Jo Smith for all her encouragement, support, gentle nudges and everything she quietly does behind the scenes to make sure each edition finds its way into your inbox and onto LinkedIn.
Much love
Peter