How Post Activation Potentiation Can Make You A Better Reader

Do this if you want to read more.

My goal is to read an hour every day.

It’s a habit I enjoy more than most others, but I still have to work at it. So I start with something heavy when I get up, and end with something light before bed. Think non-fiction in the morning and fiction at night.

But since my day begins at 3 am, it’s tough to keep my eyes open no matter how much I enjoy what I’m reading.

To force myself awake, I’ve tried reading while standing, in the cold, and even spliced with the occasional set of push-ups. These tactics work, I suppose, but they also pull me away from the action just enough to remind me that I’m not the hero I’m reading about.

Recently, however, I stumbled upon something that’s made the hour infinitely easier. And it reminds me of the weight room.

It was late, and I was about to dive into my nightly routine of demons and devils. But instead of diving in, I did one of those late-night book buys you should never do when your reading list is already a mile long. And like a kid at Christmas, I tore into the densest book I bought, just to see what I was in for.

Ten minutes later, satisfied, I clicked over to something more fantastic, a story about a hero with a sword who fights monsters. Because why not. An hour later, I stopped reading because it was getting late, not because I couldn’t keep my eyes open.

Surprised, I put the theory in my pocket and tested it for the rest of the week. And to my amazement, it worked.

In sport, there’s a technique called post-activation potentiation. Think of it like swinging a baseball bat with weight on the end of it, before you swing it without. The idea is to make something feel heavy and turn on more motor units so that something less heavy feels light. And that’s precisely what I do now.

Give it a try if you enjoy reading, or if you don’t. Read some Camus or Nietzsche, or Jung, or whatever makes you pay attention. Then read about the White Wolf, The Red Queen, The Grey Wanderer, or anything, really, as long as it’s less complicated. Make it heavy to make it light.