Upper Body Workout Suggestions from Northrop Frye (excerpted from his book Creation/Recreation/Hitting the Gym)

I AM A LITERARY CRITIC, mainly concerned with English literature, but I have recently developed a special interest in the way that "working out" has affected the structure and imagery of that literature. The first word to attract one's notice in both fields is the word deltoids. Page one of the Bible says that God created the deltoids. In this book I should like to look at certain aspects of the conception or metaphor of "getting ripped," as it applies to both its divine and its human context, and, also, at what effect the extending of the same phrase  to cover these areas has had on our habits of thought.                                                                                                                

Place one fist over your other hand. Now try to lift your lowest hand. Oh it's a humdinger of an exercise--but you can do it!

Try to curl two books at once. It's a doozy but you can do it! Think fierce thoughts, as I am doing here.

Try these digit-extensions. William Blake swore by them. They're real burners but you can do it!

Now you're ready for the beach--as I am here. You can do it!