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The 10,000-hour myth
The 10,000-hour rule is false. Why a few thousand focused, well-practised reps do more than endless mindless hours.
Published
by Adarsh Gopal
When I first read about the 10,000 hour rule as a teenager, I remember thinking maybe there is hope in trying to learn to play an instrument, a language, write in cursive or even learn more complicated math. Just sleep less and work more hours.
But it very quickly hit me that the rule simply can’t be true. It just doesn’t jive with what we see in the real world.
When it comes to intellectual competence, some people are clearly more gifted. Coders, mathematicians, biologists so on. They have a capacity to grasp problems and grapple with it. A capacity that time and attention alone cannot compensate for.
When it comes to physical competence, clearly there are some who are more athletically gifted or blessed with the capacity to acquire the skill to be really good at a specific sport. Think hefty strongmen with thick joints. Or athletes with the eye-hand coordination, speed or skill to excel at a sport.
You can play for hours but you can’t begin to scratch the performance or insights of someone truly gifted.
Which is why I love strength training. You don’t need 10,000 hours. But 10,000 repetitions of performing a certain movement will certainly give you a capacity or skill that translates into something tangible. And honestly like the 10,000 hour rule, the 10,000 repetition thing is a stretch. Doing 3000-5000 repetitions of something with focus, intent and attention can really be a game changer.
The capacity is resilience, strength, quality of life, tolerance for positions, reduced pain.
So it’s not just the repetitions or going through the motions of randomly selected exercise.
You thoughtfully pick exercises, train them with intent and focus and do enough repetitions to make the pattern feel like second nature.