Effort

For many positional movements and exercises, the eventual goal is for them to be…easy but noticeable. That means you should be able to a) feel (whatever the goal muscle or movement is) and b) it taking little effort do (and maintain for some specified time that matches the desired adaptation). If you think of effort as 0 meaning you aren’t even trying, 1 the ‘bare minimum, and 10 being ‘everything you’ve got’, think about aiming for a 3.

When you first try though, because there is concentration and figuring things out, maybe even trying to stop something else from happening, your effort level might be a 6 or even 7! That’s ok! The improvement then, over time, is to be able to do the desired movement more rapidly and with less effort.

For those used to gyms and using machines and weights, the analogous idea is that if you try a moderately heavy weight, for some repetitions, you’ll struggle at least a little if the weight is challenging. But over time, as you get stronger or have more endurance, that same weight (exercise) will get easier. That’s an effect of getting stronger that comes along with being able to do more total weight or more reps at the same weight.