“I don’t like that word, regression. I think we should call it a pregression.”
At that moment the roof of the gym parted, angels started playing trumpets, champagne rained from the heavens and a radiant light shone down upon us.
My friend and client, Jane, had solved a problem that had been plaguing me for years.
I hate the word regression. I hate it because it fundamentally contradicts one of my core beliefs that the only thing that matter is starting where you are and moving where you can. Regression implies that you should be “here” but you’re not so you need to do something that isn’t as good. The word literally means a return to a former state. If you’ve never been there then it’s not a regression at all.
However, something that you do before you can do something else is exactly what we’re talking about. A push-up with your hands elevated is a pregression to a push-up with your hands on the floor. You do that now so you can do a full push-up later. You do a full push-up now so that you can do a feet-elevated push-up later. Pregress the movement to make forward progress.
I’m not interested in making people feel small or belittled, but I know for a fact that using the word regression makes some people feel exactly that. If I can change the experience my clients are going to have for the better simply by changing one word that is a no-brainer decision for me.
Words matter. Words alter the way we view and perceive the world. Second only to action, changing your words is the quickest path to changing your thoughts and changing your mind.
What if we were to change the entire perspective of how our clients and we look at and describe pregressions and progressions of exercise by making this simple language change?
Let me explain. The “re” in regression is used as you are “going back” to a lesser state. You changing it to pre is just changing the definition to “the state of where you can regress to”. In which case they’d be two completely different meanings and this whole article makes no sense. The only reason you would change a word is to have it make more sense to your language. You are not. You’re making it make less sense. You’re reasoning for disliking the word is illogical. Regression is an action not a place of being. And “movements we do to progress to other movements” are already called “Actions” or “causes”. You CAN “regress” to “progress” just so you know. People do it all of the time. An example of this would be sleep. You use it to build energy so that you can “progress” in whatever it is you want to do the next day and yet you still can’t do those things while you’re asleep. So there for you regressed into a lesser state (sleeping) to gain the resources (energy) you need to progress in whatever you want to do the next day. It’s more simple, easier to understand, and is overall just better to leave it as regression. Pregression can still become a new word just not a replacement for regression. And a good meaning for the word pregression ,that would be pretty cool, would be a combination of both regression and progression in which, like I said earlier, you regress to progress. It would be much easier to say pregress rather than “regress to progress” and would make a lot of sense.
This is a very dumb and very long comment. Thank you for making no point at all. I look forward to reading your blog where you put forth your lessons on language.