7 Foundational Practices for a Life of Thriving Part 4: Exercise – Strength Training
Exercise – Strength Training
Benefits:
- Increased Muscle Mass and Bone Density
- Increased Basal Metabolic Rate
- Improved Hormone Function and Production
- Increased Focus and Will Power
- Improved Self-Image and Confidence
- Improved Self-Awareness
- Overcome Resistance
We face resistance in all areas of our lives, and nowhere is this more obvious than with physical exercise. Here’s the deal, strength training is not just for muscle-head jocks, people looking for washboard abs, or power athletes. When practiced correctly and completely, strength training is probably the single most effective way to get your body working well on all fronts. What do I mean?
As everyone from Professor Roberta Anding, to Timothy Ferris, and Jonathan Bailor have argued, health goes far beyond burning calories, reducing sugar, and eating protein. Our hormones play huge roles in everything we do. They are the chemicals that help the body maintain homeostasis in temperature, emotional well-being, stress, and even bliss. Intelligent strength training causes the healthy break down of deep tissues in our muscles. This encourages the release of a variety of hormones that benefit the heart and brain, regulate insulin levels, release endorphins, and also produce hormones that most efficiently regulate weight loss.
Additionally, strength training helps to build muscle and bone density which are types of “lean mass.” As described in The Great Courses: Nutrition made clear, lean mass is important because it directly influences our basal metabolic rate, the rate at which we burn calories even if we aren’t doing anything at all. Long story short, the more muscle we have, the more calories we burn on a daily basis. So strength training helps us to build muscle which gives us momentum in attaining a wide variety of fitness goals.
Lastly, as Robert McNamara points out in his book “Strength to Awaken,” strength training again brings us face to face with the ego. It burns to engage our muscles so fully. As animals we tend to let pain and pleasure dictate most of our behavior, avoiding pain and pursuing pleasure. Thus, a dedicated habit of strength training means we turn towards that burn. We engage our bodies with complete mindfulness. And the result is that we can expand our comfort zone. We face down the ego, turn towards the difficulty instead of retreating to our pain cave and avoiding the hard work. This practice can powerfully transform our relationship to our selves, the inner resistance of the ego, and it can give us the opportunity to expand our limits on a consistent basis.
Further Resources:
- Convict Conditioning by Paul Wade
- The Calorie Myth by Jonathan Bailor
- Strength to Awaken by Robert McNamara
- The Great Courses: Nutrition Made Clear by Prof. Roberta Anding
Getting Started – Convict Conditioning is a ready to go body-weight strength-training program. The book is cheap and anyone can put it to use immediately. There are 6 primary exercises that address all major muscle groups throughout the entire body. For each of the 6 muscle groups, there are 10 exercises, the first of each series is very easy; literally anyone can do it. With pushups, for example, the stage 1 exercise is wall pushups. When you can do enough reps of an exercise, then you can move on to the next, more difficult stage for the next workout. The 10th stages are all major accomplishments. For pushups, the final goal of the last stage are 1-handed push-ups, but the route through these exercises is long, gradual, challenging, and fun.
***Exercise Challenge***
Complete a work session on 1-2 of the muscle groups 3-4 times per week (via Convict Conditioning or any other strength training routine of your choice). And add your favorite form of cardio vascular exercise (i.e. jogging, biking, swimming, etc) 1-2 times per week for a minimum of 20 minutes. For example:
A training session from Convict Conditioning focussing on 2 muscle groups will take no more than 20-30 minutes.
Example Weekly Routine:
Monday: Push ups & Leg Raises
Tuesday: Back Bridge & Squats
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Shoulders & Pull ups
Friday & Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Jogging 20-30 minutes
Then continue cycling through these exercises as recovery and time permit.
For the fifth Foundational Practice for a Life of Thriving click here.
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