Happy Tuesday, Warriors! With January officially in full swing, I want to address the idea of strength. You’ll notice it’s in quotes in the title of this post. The word strength has many connotations, and especially as it relates to wellness, I want to spend a bit of time with it.
If you are new around MMW, please bear with me a minute; those who are returning readers will know my penchant for a good definition and for the Dimensions of Wellness. Strength has several definitions and I think it is important to understand a few of them as they relate directly to Physical, Mental, and Emotional Health.
The State of Being Physically Strong
Let’s start with the first one: the quality or state of being physically strong. This time of year, many of us are embarking on a Physical Health goal. And underlying all of them (from weight loss to mobility to eating healthier) is the idea that we are doing something to create a stronger physical body.
None of us are choosing baked potatoes over French fries because they taste better or are always what we want. Obviously, your mileage may vary with this particular example, but I think you get my point. We choose the baked potato because we believe it will help our physical body in some way. Any dietary change that increases the consumption of phytochemicals and micronutrients while decreasing intake of sodium and trans fats will improve our physiological and metabolic function while reducing risk of cancer.
Exercise practices can help lower LDL cholesterol, control blood pressure and blood glucose levels, and increase bone mineral density. These are all ways that our physical body can become stronger. And, of course, if you are engaged in actual strength training, the improvements to your muscle mass and central nervous system create increases in strength across multiple body systems.
Capacity to Withstand Great Force
That connection is easy to draw, so let’s move on. Another definition of strength is the capacity of an object or substance to withstand great force or pressure. If that isn’t an awesome description of mental fortitude or grit, then I’m not really sure what is. Our mental capacity to persevere through difficult situations is absolutely strength.
There are many seasons when life throws these circumstances at us. Dealing with difficult job situations, changing family dynamics, caregiving duties, and too many others to mention. Any of these situations require mental strength. Sometimes these require a level of mental strength you didn’t know you possessed.
And here’s the thing… Focusing on physical strength through exercise can contribute to increased mental strength. Anyone who has spent any time in a strength room can attest to this. Let’s call a spade a spade: there is a huge learning curve with strength training which is probably why so many are so intimidated by it. Not only do you have to learn proper form and technique for each lift, you also have to navigate putting your program together and understanding how sets, reps, weight and frequency contribute.
Learning these absolutely requires the fortitude to keep going even when confronted with mistakes. It also develops a new way of thinking about goal setting and problem solving. It develops focus and creativity and leaves space for the mind to let go of overwhelm happening elsewhere in life. To put it more bluntly, there is little that will make you feel more powerful or accomplished, physically and mentally, than lifting heavy crap.
Intensity of Belief
To drive my point home even further, let’s look at one more definition. Strength can also be the degree or intensity of a feeling or belief. Our feelings and beliefs are a huge part of our Emotional Health. So many times, we react because we have a powerful feeling. These often cause responses in others, creating huge feedback loops that we can get stuck in (for both good and bad). The more robust the feeling, the bigger the response, the more the feedback loop becomes ingrained.
Again, life circumstances can create situations where these feedback loops are troubling. There isn’t a person alive in a long term relationship that can’t recall a period of time where they loved their partner but maybe didn’t really like them that much. Just like with mental fortitude, it takes huge emotional mindfulness to be aware of these patterns and try to consciously change them through your own responses.
And just like with mental fortitude, focusing on physical strength can help with emotional awareness, too. Learning to sit with uncomfortable physical sensations (i.e. working towards a new PR) gives us the confidence to sit with uncomfortable emotions. Figuring out how to work through a difficult range of motion helps us understand how the expression of our feelings might affect others and contribute to those harmful feedback loops. Similarly, there is little that allows an acceptable outlet for all the emotions as lifting heavy stuff will.
Walking into a strength room, or setting up resistance bands at home, has so many benefits. We like to think of strength training as a purely physical endeavor, but the Mental and Emotional Health outcomes cannot be denied. If you have a Physical Health goal, no matter what it is, I’d encourage you to add strength training to your program. There is little else that will offer as much.
Until next time, be well friends!
