Definition
Hormesis is a biphasic dose response — modest disruption can stimulate adaptation within a band; unbounded stress is not the same thing.
Mechanism
Cold shower, deliberate adversity, and graded exposure borrow the metaphor of hormesis; biological hormesis is dose-specific. See Mithridatisation for Club deliberate-dose framing.
Biological hormesis is dose-specific and agent-specific; coaching metaphors of “small stress builds capacity” do not automatically transfer from toxicology curves to behaviour.
More stress versus bounded dose — sweet spot inside the band, not glorify harm. Pair Cold shower · Fortitude · Mithridatisation.
Sources
Cite
- Calabrese, E. J., & Baldwin, L. A. (2003). Hormesis: The dose-response revolution. Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology, 43(1), 175–197