Tips on Exercising

There’s a new epidemic going around the Western World.

Its viral load is highest at the turn of the new year and during vacation weeks. You can’t avoid it. It’s suffocating. It’s real. And it’s deadly.

It’s called the exercise bug.

It can easily be confused with a new religion. New houses of worship have been built for its followers. They call them gyms. And they are open 24 hours a day for on-going communion with one’s body and where you can worship at the altar of the treadmill any time of the day or night.

It’s a terrifying disease of epic proportion. It is quite rapidly contagious. It has taken over entire family schedules and vacations. It dictates what people do and when they do it. It impacts what people eat and when they eat it. It has ravaged many an innocent bystander under the premise of good health.

Somewhere in the pursuit of a healthy lifestyle we have done what humans do best: we have taken what is good and marred it by our own impure motives.

I can hear your disagreeing mumbles even as I type, so lest I be accused of being a heretic, let me qualify what I have already said by adding that I firmly believe in being healthy. I am, after all, a professional healer.

And in an effort to maintain balance in all areas of living, I’d like to give you some Godly perspectives on exercising for a healthy lifestyle.

1. It’s about being consistent. Too many of us approach exercise with a binge and purge attitude. Even though we haven’t done it in years we figure we will be all right if we can just squeeze in enough in the next few days. But the key to being healthy is consistency. Get in the habit of doing 30 minutes of aerobic activity every day. Raise your heart rate to 50-80% of it’s maximum rate for greatest effect.

2. It’s about being healthy. Remember that the goal of a godly exercise regimen is not to be sexier but to care for the body God has given you. And while there’s nothing innately wrong with wanting to look your best, exercise can quickly turn into an idol that replaces trust in God who provides all things for you, including the attention of that special someone.

3. It’s about maintaining priorities. Paul describes it best in 1 Timothy 4:8 where he says that while “exercise profits a little, godliness is profitable for all things”. Keep first things first. If you’re compromising your time with God at the altar of the treadmill, you’ve turned your priorities upside down. Does God get the best of your day? Only you can answer this question.

4. It’s about maintaining balance. Everything in moderation. Did you know that this expression is from the Bible? Philippians 4:5 says to “let our moderation be known to all men, the Lord is at hand”. Are you keeping balance in all areas of your life, or does exercise take up too much of your time and attention? The truth is that many find themselves on the other extreme of the exercise bug- completely immune. Neither extreme is healthy. Do what it takes to keep a Godly balance!

5. It’s about cross training. You’ve heard the term “muscle confusion”. One of the key elements of a great exercise regimen is to mix things up. Think about the spiritual disciplines in your life. You can’t survive on bible reading alone with the exclusion of prayer and scripture memory. In the same way, when you exercise, make sure you mix in some aerobic activities as well as some muscle strengthening and stretching exercises.

So at the risk of creating a meaningless discussion, what do you think Jesus would do? In fact, a careful reading of the gospels may give you some insight as to how much time Jesus gave to exercising.

Feel free to share your comments!

Related posts: