Heart, Soul, and Strength
Deuteronomy 6:5 states, “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and all of your strength.” In Mr. Copeland’s Strength and Conditioning class, his students are living out this verse. Strength and Conditioning is a class geared towards learning how to build strength and maintain a consistent workout routine safely and effectively. Yet, Mr. Copeland is taking cues from Biblical commandments and is challenging his students to change their focus. With the mandates from Galatians 6:9, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, and Romans 12:2, Mr.Copeland instills in his students the need to do good, to honor the body as a temple, and not to conform to the patterns of the world.
In a typical fitness course, similar to Strength and Conditioning, students are focused inwardly -relying on using the skills and techniques to tone, build, and cultivate strength. The students in Mr. Copeland’s class are changing their perspective on what it means to tone, build, and cultivate strength. Mr. Copeland tasks his students to not only create a workout routine for the South Christian community, but to also focus on the mental and spiritual components that are necessary to cultivate a workout routine that is geared to Deuteronomy 6:5.
During the pandemic, virtual learning is a common practice. Being away from school and the weight room required Mr. Copeland and his students to be creative in how Strength andConditioning happens. Most students do not have the same weights or resources available to perform the necessary routines to continue to work on their physical fitness. Since this is also true for all students at South and forSouth’s community, Mr. Copeland capitalized on an opportunity to share a weekly fitness routine that would focus on both physical and spiritual growth.
Mr. Copeland tasks the students to plan, design, and create a weekly fitness routine that focuses on the mind, the strength, the soul. With a strong mindset to benefit a community that must quarantine, the students begin to see how Strength andConditioning can be more than lifting weights. It can build the strength that is advocated in Deuteronomy 6:5 and create a routine that helps to condition each participant to practice physical movement with a spiritual mindset.
The students scour the internet for video clips to show workouts to be done at home without the use of weights. The students share Bible verses that inspire and frame the workout routine. The students are able to see that their workouts do not need to focus on the individual, but may be serving a community who crave to be active amidst a sedentary lifestyle. Mr. Copeland’s Strength and Conditioning class focuses on more than simply being active: the students focus on the heart, on the soul, and on building strength.
If you are interested in learning more about the weekly fitness program, please select the links below!
