Fitness is about getting to know our body and to activate the correct muscles for everyday movement. Standing up from a chair, picking up a set of keys off the floor, lifting our handbag into the passenger’s seat.
Being aware of the muscles necessary for this functionality is critical if we are to maintain our ability to continue as we are.
Resistance training is more than just lifting weight, be it body or otherwise. It is also about being able to lift the mental burdens we carry through life. “Shoulder the load” is used to express the heaviness of our struggles and “a load off my shoulders” signifies relief. Increasing physical strength will strengthen our mind and resilience with life’s challenges.
We as human beings at times feel “curst” by the gods and like Sisyphus condemned with the toil of pushing a boulder uphill only to have it roll back down. Exercising can feel difficult, repetitive and often frustrating and unrewarding.
We tend to focus on the hardship of the work and forget that Sisyphus does get to the top of the hill – every time. If we reflect on that moment, we know he must feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment. Looking back down I imagine him saying “Crikey! Way to go!” Then, head down for another go!
It takes tremendous personal effort to “push” through our resistance to exercising, and therefore the rewards are monumental. I am sure Sisyphus did not focus on achieving a good looking body while pushing his boulder up the hill but rarely is he depicted as having anything but a “Greek god” physique.
Achieving our personal level of fitness needs to be about pushing through with our current limitations and reaching new heights of personal best. We all triumph when we do this, and must acknowledge with pride our path to success.
The ultimate goal needs to be a determination to restart if we lose control of our “boulder” and understand the value of our accomplishments so far.
Albert Camus, who in 1957 won the Nobel Prize for Literature, in illuminating problems in human reasoning, said the following:
“I leave Sisyphus at the foot of the mountain. One always finds one’s burden again. But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He too concludes that all is well. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night-filled mountain, in itself, forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”
Be fit, be happy
Anna
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