Strengthen the Body

A practical application of the First Pillar

In a post I wrote titled, Tending Your Garden, I introduced three conceptual pillars and recommended their application to all of life. Now, I am going to expand on and detail them, hopefully, in a way which will be immediately applicable.

Today’s topic is Strengthening, and in particular Strengthening the body.

I think most people, when they hear the word “strength”, will imagine the muscles. And, really, it’s not a bad place to start. We produce kinetic energy — power, strength — by contracting our musculature. The muscles that contract pull through tendons which connect to bones and thus move our limbs. They also tug on fascia, that web of connective tissue that is spread throughout our bodies. Through the fascia, our skin is also moved; and through the bones, ligaments which form joint connections also get pulled around.

You might reconsider, then, and think that strength might include properly robust muscles, but also tendons; bones; fascia; and ligaments. But it doesn’t end there.

The brain orchestrates muscle action by sending signals which ask muscle fibers to contract, the more muscle fibers that heed that call and can contract, the stronger that muscle effectively becomes. So, strength is also in our motor neurons, our nerves, our brains.

My point is that to Strengthen the body, a lot of conventionally separated mechanisms must be improved together. Let’s look at an example.

Knees are fairly simple joints, as joints go. They only bend in one direction, and they don’t swivel or rotate. They even have a protective cap, the patella, to keep them safe. And yet, knee pain and injury are extremely common, especially in the overweight and elderly. Some of this can be rectified through strengthening the muscles that actuate the knee. How? Through stabilization.

There are 12 muscles which affect the knee either directly or through fascial connections. When all of these muscles are strong, meaning not only that the muscles themselves are large but that the entire mechanism of the muscle is robust, including the connective tissue and nervous system, then and only then will the knee be strong. Then the knee will be robust. It will endure difficulties such as being bent harshly in one direction or another because the muscles which actuate it will be able to counteract the bend. It will be better able to handle a heavier body and the strain which comes from the pressure of gravity. It will be sturdy and will not falter when it is called to duty, no matter the age of the person wielding it.

So, how do we Strengthen the knee? We Strengthen the knee by actuating it against increasing resistance; that is to say, we exercise. But we don’t exercise haphazardly, no, we exercise the muscles that the knee requires to be strong and we execute the exercises with full force and intention so as to bring the brain into play. We consider the strain on our bones and tissues, and take care as we exercise. We want our work to be challenging without being damaging.

Take this example of the knee and expand it to encompass the entire workings of the body and you will have a plan which, when followed, will protect you from the physical concerns of life. Your body will become stronger, that is, more robust, more capable, more resilient.

Next time, I’m going to take a look at the second pillar: Relaxation.

If you are looking to Strengthen your body but aren’t sure where to start, I offer classes and private sessions so reach out and let’s find an avenue that works for you.

I’m always open to comment and question, so if something comes to mind please don’t hesitate to reply to this email or use the comment section on Substack, or whichever platform you found this post.