To train the body a man also trains his mind. Men must not make excuses for why they do not train.
“But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”
1 Corinthians 9:27
Religious people make more excuses for being physically inactive than anyone else. They use the age old excuse of “not worrying about the shell of the body” or calling physical exercise “selfish”. These are the same people who want to call the body a “Temple of the Spirit” whenever it suits their particular narrative.
The lethargy in the religious world is insane.
A portion of the church is obese. You might even call many of them “gluttons”. While it is true that they are not participating in 13 course feasts complete with vomiting out the food just so you can make room in the stomach for more food, it is also true eating until it is painful to move is not a great thing to do to the body, and that is something many religious people do on a daily basis.
People avoid exercise in general because it has the immediate punishment of pain and discomfort combined with a delayed reward: i.e. the results. This cycle is a recipe for a behavior that is unlikely to be repeated. We as humans hate to do things that cause pain in the present and only reward us in the future, this is why we enjoy immediate gratification.
Eating has precisely the opposite effect: Instant gratification of the pleasure of eating and the delayed punishment of fat gain. This is the formula for a behavior that is continued as a mindless habit, and people do not even notice the negative effects of it until it is too late. All the deadliest habits are this way: Smoking, drinking alcohol to excess, sexual promiscuity, television and most drug types.
Christian people need to get up and take better care of their bodies. Scripture speaks of our body being a temple of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16-17) and of the body being made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). There are too many people in the church preaching about living the Christian lifestyle and avoiding the fact that we must take care of the body as good stewards of it. They do not include this principle because most of them are quite fat, this is not rude, it is fact. This is also why you almost never hear any sermons preached on the topic of gluttony: because the majority of Christians would be guilty of that sin!
KEY TO HUMAN NATURE: You will notice that even the most hardcore religious person will water down certain commandments if he/she chronically violates them. You do not hear about gluttony because most Christians are gluttonous on a regular basis. You may hear a sermon that suggests it is okay to worry, because the teacher wants to justify the fact that the crime of worry is simply accepted in modern society. The list can go on for miles.
Some of these Christians like to say “I would rather have brains that brawn”. In 99% of cases, people who use that phrase have neither brains nor brawn. KEY: “brains and brawn” are not mutually exclusive. What they also don’t know is that there is almost nothing better for the mind than to train the body. The scientific journal Frontiers in Neuroscience reports in a 2018 study Exercise-Mediated Neurogenesis in the Hippocampus via BDNF a confirmation that exercise has “numerous neuro-protective and cognitive benefits, especially pertaining to memory and learning related processes. One potential link connecting them is exercise-mediated hippocampal neurogenesis, in which new neurons are generated and incorporated into hippocampal circuits”.
New research shows that exercise can generate new brain cells, casting serious doubt on the age-old theory that brain cells cannot be regenerated once lost (which was just a trick parents used to get their kids to watch less television). Based on this research, exercise also protects the few brain cells that people have left.
If you want to live a long life, you need to train your body. Being a couch potato is not helping you extend your lifespan.
The man who trains the body, you will develop a mental resilience that is unlike any other. He can program his mind to endure pain, thereby raising his pain tolerance through intense exercise. Why not take advantage of the mental training that exercise provides?
“Why not be a smart guy and have a huge deadlift” – Jocko Willink, Former US Navy SEAL – From Jocko Podcast 28
Mantra
To train the body is to train the mind.
Application
You have to get to a gym and train your body. If you can’t afford a gym, you need to get to work on body weight exercises and cardio every single day. We live in an age where there is no excuse to be ignorant on any subject. The internet has the answer to every question you could possibly have, so lack of knowledge is no excuse for being fat.
- Choose a desired exercise type (Strength training/calisthenics/cardio) (I urge you to stay away from moderate intensity exercise like jogging or circuit training unless you are having a rest day or just starting to train for the first time. If you are going to train the body, you need to have intensity and train like a man. A few intense 20 second sprints would be better than a mile jog).
- Start with the smallest possible step (If you are just beginning to train, be intense in your training but do not go all out until you have conditioned your body to handle that type of effort. Leave a few repetitions in the tank on each exercise for at least the first 2 weeks).
- Add more work slowly over time (Once your current exercise starts to feel comfortable, you must add intensity back to it. You can add intensity by: Decreasing the rest periods between sets, increasing the weight lifted or increasing the total sets and reps completed).
Every single day you must make progress on yourself.
Do not focus on how fast you can get to your goal but focus on making exercise a habit every day. Exercise is a non-negotiable item. There are no high-performing couch potatoes in the world. You have to make sure that no matter what comes up, you are doing at least something to promote physical well being.
Get up.
Train.
Progress.
Be a Man.
Sample No Equipment Beginner Full body Workout: Research exercises online if you have not heard of them. Perform full body work Every other day
Complete as many sets as it takes to meet repetition requirements (AMAT). Break up the sets if you are concerned about injury.
Muscle Burn = Good Pain
Joint/Bone/Ligament Pain = Bad Pain
| Exercise | Sets | Repetitions |
| Wide Arm Pushup | AMAT | 75 |
| Air Squats | AMAT | 125 |
| Tree Pullup | AMAT | 10 |
| Plank | AMAT | 90 seconds total |
| Calf Raise | AMAT | 100 |
Sample Cardio Workout
| Exercise | Sets | Repetitions |
| Warmup Joints | Until Warm | Until Warm |
| Short Jog | 2 | 100 Yards |
| Sprints | 5 | 20 seconds |
Conduct Yourselves Like Men.