Push Hard to Take Big Bold Steps, or Slowly Build Rugged Endurance…Which is Best for Your Horticulture Business Right Now?

Plant For Profits Column, Leslie F. Halleck

Hands down, one of THE most interesting books I’ve read this year is “Training for the New Alpinism; A Manual for the Climber as Athlete” by Steve House and Scott Johnston. Am I a hiker who likes hiking at higher elevations? Yes. Am I a mountain or rock climber? No. Do I aspire to be a mountain or rock climber? No. But what this book has done is totally re-frame my understanding of, and how I prioritize slowly and steadily building a foundation of extreme endurance, before trying to build up intermittent strength and power that I don’t need to use all the time. Not to mention doing it in the opposite way from how many popular fitness trainers or wellness “experts” are telling us to do pretty much constantly these days.

I’ve found many of the case studies and training concepts from the book translate very nicely to how I advise my clients and business owners in the green industry when working to get their business back on track or stabilize them during uncertain economic times; a situation in which most of us currently find ourselves. Want to make that power move of expanding to a new branch or retail location? If your current location doesn’t yet have the stable legs with stamina under it, how will those same weak systems bear the weight of additional operations and customer expectations?

As a fast-moving type-A with a relatively high tolerance for risk, operating slow and steady most of the time is not my natural go-to. However, with age -both that of my body and my business - and the new world in which we’re operating in this country right now, I’m finding a very different approach is required.

I learned a few hard lessons this year in pushing too hard too fast for too much using recommended methods that weren't right for me. I’m a pretty active person who always has many projects going on and continually takes on new learning challenges. A couple of these new learning challenges happen to be very physical. As I learn to adapt to an older menopausal body, I know I need to focus on not losing strength and I don’t want to be forced to slow down physically if I can help it. I’ve also taken on the challenge of doing more long rugged hikes and backpacking. Not to mention I have a lot of outdoor gardening activities that require physical strength and stamina. I’ve been told over and over I must build more strength, lift HEAVY, and to skip longer “boring” lower-intensity cardio in favor of shorter higher intensity cardio with HIT workouts. I’ve been told over and over that when it comes to food, I need to fast to more extreme lengths. By pushing physically in the ways I’m being specifically instructed to do, and following specific training and diet guidance, I injured myself a couple of times, gained unwanted weight, and didn’t feel as physically well with fasting. HUH. I’m now still trying to rehab from those injuries, which set me back from reaching my desired goals.

It was beyond frustrating. I was taking all these big bold steps to achieve strength and power, only to experience serious setbacks. However, it has been a great reminder that as individual people, and businesses, it’s all about finding the right climb approach that’s best for us, not everyone else. That approach may be less intense and come with more recovery opportunities.

I wish I’d found New Alpinism a lot sooner. I could have prevented some of my injuries and setbacks. It’s taught me the difference between unique types of muscle tissue, what activates them and how they work together, aerobic and anaerobic metabolism and what feeds each (and what doesn’t). Most importantly, how a majority of our training (especially initially) actually needs to be done for longer duration at lower intensities, Zone 1 & 2 for your target heart rate, in order to build a foundation of fitness and endurance - upon which we can then build strength and power - in any form of athleticism. We call this a base period, or capacity training. This is antithetical to all the constant expert advice to focus first on always lifting heavy, to do a lot of shorter HIT workouts or CrossFit type circuits at high intensity, and fasting for longer durations (my physiology doesn’t tolerate intense calorie restrictions or fasting- it rebels). It clarified to me exactly what I was doing wrong, or in the wrong order, and why I was getting injured. It showed me, in a biologically logical way, how to take a completely different (yet unpopular) approach to building back up my physical endurance first. Which I’m now doing.

This is exactly what many of us need to do in our businesses right now. Assess what kind of heavy lifting is or isn't getting us the ROI we expect, or may be setting us back. Have you committed to the long tedious work of building up your capacity and endurance, or do you keep trying to make heavy lifts with no stamina to back them up? Constantly pushing to take on more tasks or make big profits whilst running lean on a weak foundation, probably isn’t proving an effective approach.

For example, trying to do a bunch of fancy and/or expensive marketing when you haven’t yet done the work of creating a solid foundation of a clear business identity and mission, and a well-mapped customer experience, is a specialized power flex you just may not be able to hold for long or repeat successfully.

Rather - given the social and economic realities of 2025 - building a strong and stable foundation of endurance with a well-fed slow and steady approach, so you can go the long distance and have resilience, may make more sense.

This is not to say that the bigger bolder moves for strength - the heavy lifting and HIT workouts, won’t eventually make their way back into my approach - or yours. They will; they just shouldn’t have been first for me, nor should they have replaced my capacity training. Slow, steady, long and less-intense isn’t flashy. It’s not as seductive. It doesn’t feel as “accomplished”. I get it. Skipping the foundational base work can often result in injury and setbacks. Both to your back, and your bottom line. The slow and steady approach is now helping me to better build up a stronger foundation of endurance I need to take on that sudden steep climb, or make that heavier lift that will require a burst of strength and power, whilst going the distance.

I'm in the fight for the long haul, how about you?

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