Homeostasis

Reading: Psalm 29

Don’t let the fancy Biology term intimidate you. For all you non-biochemists out there, homeostasis is the body’s natural response to create and maintain internal equilibrium. Just like a thermostat uses its energy system to raise or lower the temperature of a room based on the environment, our body is in a constant effort to raise or lower systems in response to what’s going on around us. Although less scientific, I think a better way to describe homeostasis is not achieving balance, but rather maintaining healthy tension. Exercise is one of the external factors that pushes the body to maintain healthy tension. Over time, repeated exposure to physical challenges results in the adaptation of muscular and aerobic energy systems bringing us into homeostasis.

Here’s the challenge. Our bodies are highly conservative energy systems. Translated another way, we’re lazy. Biologically, the body wants to use the least amount of effort possible to get the result desired. That makes sense when you think about the evolution of humanity beginning with hunting and gathering. When you don’t know where the next meal will come from or when the next bear will attack, your body systems must become conservative so that when called on to perform the next task, energy and effort are available. In the 21st century, this type of evolution can work against us, especially in our journey to develop physical fitness. Let me show you how.

Take someone new to fitness. When they come off the couch and walk in the gym, their body is already on high alert. Having killed no lions and escaped no bears for the first four decades of life, they walk around with a very limited energy system. Any physical challenge feels like death – and it also produces a training effect. The first three years of CrossFit for most people produce these types of training effects. The body responds by shedding fat, growing muscle, and becoming more efficient at oxygen transfer. To a point. Then without realizing it, athletes stop making gains. By no fault of their own, their biological system has brought them to a point where physical challenges are achievable. Doing workouts “as prescribed” is now a reality. Simply put, uncomfortable has become comfortable over time.

To pursue fitness is to constantly pursue discomfort. For experienced athletes, this means maximizing every training day. Not maxing out, not going all out, but maximizing the training day. How do you do that? By being mindful and present in your training and evaluating it to see where you hit and where you missed. This is why spiritual training is so important. You’re not just a physical body. We all have a soul, or spirit, that is ordering our thoughts and feelings. The anxiety you feel at work is your physical body trying to respond to something your soul is experiencing. Fight or flight is not very beneficial in a conference room or on a Zoom call. Although your boss or coworkers may feel like a bear about to kill you, the truth is you won’t die over poor performance or missed opportunity. The body doesn’t know what to do with that kind of stress, so it defaults to what it has done for generations. Physical training won’t solve that. It may distract you from it, but it can’t take your fears away on its own. Spiritual training is what makes the difference.

I invite you to take five minutes each day and see for yourself. All you need to do is reflect on the three questions below. Take a screenshot of them with your phone, then use that image to walk through some daily self-reflection. Your body is responding to the thoughts in your mind. Spiritual Fitness teaches you how to focus on the thoughts that lead to more purpose and joy in life, while giving the others over to a Higher Power. It’s not about training the brain. It’s about giving yourself over to something so much greater than you. Only then will you experience your greatest gains in life.

Questions for reflection:

When today did I have the deepest sense of connection with God, others, and myself? When today did I have the least sense of connection?

When did I experience the most shalom today? Did anyone or anything vandalize it?

Where did life feel rushed or hurried today? Where did life feel smooth and in rhythm with God?

Revelation

Reading: Matthew 6:1-15

Mechanics. Consistency. Intensity. The most effective functional fitness training models, including CrossFit, are all built on these three principles. The athletes who get the most out of their pursuit of physical fitness do so because they are mechanically sound. More than that, mechanics become a pursuit all on their own. In our gym, we call it “training position.” Great positions don’t happen on their own – they must be sought after. The further you get into your fitness journey, the more you realize the value of good position. This is why the best coaches in the world don’t progress an athlete to load until they can not only demonstrate good position, they can also do it consistently without correction. Mechanics matter more than you think, because they form the neurological highways to habits. Contrary to what you might think, heavy loads don’t develop habits, rather they reveal them.

The easiest way to see a habit is to give an athlete some weight. It’s one thing to overhead squat a PVC pipe and another to try even a third or half of your body weight. If you want better results, build better habits. Nowhere is this more important than in your warmups. Warmups prepare the muscles to train position. You’re building some of your best, or worst, habits when you warmup. Sure, it’s nice to catch up with friends or finish your cup of coffee but take warmups seriously. This is your time to develop and refine your positions. This is your time to do some extra mobility work with a lacrosse ball or a band. I guarantee you the fittest athletes in your communities are giving great attention to accessory work and warmups. By the time you pick up the barbell or start the workout, it’s too late. Your habits have already been formed and the reason your coach has stopped cueing your hips or your knees or your finish position is because she knows it’s too late. Really let this sink in – heavy loads don’t develop habits, they reveal them.

The same is true in Spiritual Fitness. The weight of the world isn’t going to build a habit, it’s going to reveal it. When you lose your job or your marriage or a loved one, you’re not in a frame of mind to build some healthy spiritual habits. Instead, you’ll default to whatever you do when life gets hard. Maybe that’s escaping to your social media feed or a third glass of wine or maybe you just start beating yourself up, recalling all your past failures and adding this new thing to it. If I could give you one habit to develop in training the mechanics of Spiritual Fitness, it’s prayer. Prayer is simply a conversation with God and in my opinion it’s foundational to all other spiritual training. Just like warmups and accessory work train position, prayer trains our spiritual position, or posture. Talking to God will bring you new perspective on life. It will give you a place to go and cry out on a hard day. It will let you work out your anger and hostility before you walk in the door or pick up the phone. Build a habit of daily prayer. Start with simple things like praying before a meal or asking God to help you with a challenging situation. Grow in your prayer life by first praying for the needs of others or the leaders of our Country or the injustices in this world that break your heart. Your resiliency in life is not built by how many difficult situations you encounter. Those moments simply reveal the habits of your Spiritual Fitness. If you want more out of life, build better habits.

Questions for Reflection: Post your answers to the comments below

What habit gets in your way of a more spiritually fit life?

Is it ever hard to talk to God? Why or why not?

Empty Fitness

Reading: Matthew 19:16-30

The pursuit of fitness is a lifelong journey. From the first time someone laces up a shoe, stands at a starting line, or walks into a gym they are beginning a pursuit. And it’s incredible to watch! I’ve seen people do things they never thought they could or would. From weightlifting to gymnastics to simply crushing calories on the rower, the journey of fitness can provide experiences I don’t believe anything else can compare to. And yet there’s so much more to life. When our athletes step through the bay doors they leave the world behind. For an hour they get to stop thinking about work or finances or kids or whatever it is. We all do our best to leave those distractions at the door so we can focus on fitness. I think that’s one of the reasons people enjoy working out. I know I do. But when the hour is over, all of life comes rushing back. The problems that plagued you at 6:30 am are still there at 7:31, and no PR or top score on the leaderboard can change that. Unchecked, athletes can develop an unhealthy habit of using the gym as an escape mechanism from life, which it was never designed for. This can create a condition I call empty fitness.

Empty fitness is a mindset issue and it will affect most athletes at some point in their journey, even the elite. Take Rich Froning for example. Arguably one of the fittest, if not the fittest athlete in the world, Froning fell victim to empty fitness early in his CrossFit career. He made it to the finals of the CrossFit games in his very first appearance. That in and of itself is incredibly impressive. Going into the final event, it looked as though he would emerge the champion, only to humbled by rope climbs. While still making the podium, Rich was disappointed not only in his results, but also himself. The frustration gave way to depression and he almost quit the sport of CrossFit altogether.

Then something happened in Rich’s life. A close friend had the courage to sit down and essentially ask him the question, “So, what?” In other words, what are you really doing all this for? In Rich’s heart, he knew the answer. He was doing it all for himself. The hours of training, the secret sessions, the extra burpees all fueling his pride and ego. That’s why his fitness left him empty. It wasn’t that the work didn’t matter, it’s that it wasn’t pointing to something greater than himself. It was in that moment Rich decided to dedicate the rest of his fitness career to pointing people to God and he began training his Spiritual Fitness.

The following year he went on to win the CrossFit games as an individual competitor, then defended his title for three more years. After that, he competed in the Team category and won four more titles. Eight CrossFit championships, and yet one of the humblest guys around. The difference? He gave it all to God. Now, I’m not about to guarantee you a spot on the podium in the games, but answer this question in your own heart – what’s it all for? Is all the sweat on the floor and clothes in the washing machine really so you can sit back at the end of the day and revel at the trophy beside your name on your gym’s whiteboard app? If so, you’ve yet to really experience what this journey is all about. Life is not about our personal bests, it’s about the legacy we’re leaving behind. It’s about having peace no matter what happens. It’s about putting other’s needs before our own. Physical training is good. But training for Godliness is better. Promising benefits in this life, and the life to come.

Questions for Reflection: Post your answers to the comments below

When it comes to fitness training, what’s it all for?

What does training for Godliness look like to you?

How do you keep personal bests and new achievements in perspective?