Power

power


‘Energy can not be created or destroyed, it can only be changed from one form to another.”
-Albert Einstein


Power is a quality. It is not something that exists on its own, or a quality that something has by itself in isolation of its context. Power is a quality that describes how an entity relates to its environment. There are different ways power is viewed in our language. Within each of those definitions we can find something about what it means to be powerful, and how to act in such a way that you can become more or less powerful.

Power as force over time.

In a purely mechanical sense one can describe power as force produced over time. Force can be described as mass * acceleration. Power then is mass * acceleration / time. This means power can be increased by increasing the mass, the acceleration, or increasing the time across which the force can be sustained. This is the approach of most training methods, that measure progress either by weight pressed, speed achieved or endurance. Of course raw power in this sense needs precision in order to be optimally effective.

Power as electricity, transferring force.

In an energetic sense power the energy available for work. It is transportation over space and time of energy from one source, to be used elsewhere. An analogy to training can be made when the effort invested in exercises can transfer to other areas. A powerful training would be an investment that has great transfer potential.

Money is power in this sense, as it converts work done into a medium that can be used in some other time and other place to acquire food, housing and other more or less necessary comforts, much in the same way as a battery would. A powerful training in this sense is one that increases you potential available energy. Viewed in this way, restorative training en recovery can be very powerful tools.

Power as influence and agency.

In a social sense power can be viewed as the ability to influence the outcome of events and behavior of others. Those with more power are more able to dictate outcomes and are less easily influenced by outside forces. Willpower is an example of power in an individual psychological sense. One who has more willpower is less easily deterred from achieving a goal then others. In our view, the power of an adult refers to agency they have that children do not. Adults, through their experience and capabilities are more able to influence the world around them, shaping it to a larger degree than a child is capable of. With this capability also arises a responsibility to use this power for the better. When it comes to training, power then refers not only to ones expanded physical ability, but also taking responsibility for creating circumstances for health, and awareness of ones own responsibility in the matter.

The power of an adult in our definition refers both to the expanded agency to act, and the responsibility that comes with it without being confined by the crippling waste of effort that is the result of a mindset that children have not yet developed, hence their ease.

For this it is important to realize the distinction between being powerful and experiencing your act of power and feeling powerful. The first is a state of being, the second an act that leads to an experience that softens the feeling of inadequacy and incompetence that plagues many. The essential question then remains when training for power:

Are you actually developing power, or seeking to experience it?