It’s raining, it was a rough day, my sports team lost, my dog looked at me funny. There are so many easy excuses to go home, relax on the couch, crack open a cold pint of ice cream, and take the stress away with a favorite show. Seems like the way to deal with the challenges in life, right? Maybe for an occasional day, but there’s something better out there! Believe it or not, strength training is a great way to build resilience to life’s problems.
As a former collegiate soccer player, we were expected to lift 4 days a week if we wanted to stay in shape for our sport. I had the odd luxury of building that expectation from a young age to work out no matter what. Tired, sad, a bit sore, under the weather, exams coming up, it didn’t matter. However, if I wanted to be able to play at this level, it wasn’t a question of whether I wanted to work out… but when.
Fast forward several years, after college, there was an accident that left me with a brain injury and instructions from the doctor to not lift or do strenuous exercise. Walking was all I could do for 2 years, and unfortunately, it reset my whole mindset with exercise. Once I was cleared, I began to lift when I felt like it. It turned out that I felt like it maybe once a week. I lost my confidence in my body’s ability to work under pressure from life’s stressors. Then other daily tasks felt like too much work. This led to me being lazy with my meal preparations, going with the quick microwave meals. I was easily distracted by scrolling on my phone. Grass grew to my knees before I decided to mow. It didn’t click that my strength training routine was building such resilience and confidence until one day I was convinced to sign up for a marathon with only six months to train.
It pushed me to do what was needed to accomplish such a feat. Get the long runs in, recover well, eat right and get my confidence back. I’m not saying a marathon is what will lead to feeling capable or independent. It was simply a goal that was set to get myself moving. After the marathon, I realized how much I missed having that strength and resilience in everyday life. I got back to strength training, and slowly it bled into the other areas of my life. I was eating healthier, staying on top of chores, and instead of having my eyes glued to a screen, I was outside walking with friends and spending time in the present.
Strength training may not ever give back the strength I had as a college athlete. However, strength training can still give me that same confidence as before. Convincing me to get things done not because it feels good, but because it’s important to take care of myself for as long as possible. It reminds me on a daily or weekly basis what my body is capable of, and how much more capable it can be with just an hour of focus a couple of days a week.