Just six exercises today, done twice, that in 9 minutes provided a time-effective workout of all the major muscle groups.
Warm-up followed by:
--Neutral-grip pull-ups
--Barbell squats
--Bench Press
--Bulgarian Split Squats
--Ab-Wheel roll-outs
--1-leg Stability-ball curls
Did each exercise for 18 seconds followed by 27 seconds of rest before engaging in the next exercise. I did the entire circuit twice, which made for a 9-minute workout.
For me this workout was of medium intensity. It wasn't a piece of cake, but neither did it totally wipe me out. It felt great to complete.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Something Deeper than Just Positive Thinking
Scripture Passage that Caught My Attention Today: Lamentations 3:19-23 The thought of my affliction and my homelessness
is wormwood and gall!
20 My soul continually thinks of it
and is bowed down within me.
21 But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
Lam. 3:22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
Observation: Times were admittedly tough, but the author of Lamentations still had hope.
Application: I’m not a big fan of the power of positive thinking, at least not in the rah, rah/cheer, cheer/everything’s-just-fine sense of the concept. It seems to me that an honest person needs to face situations in an honest way. Real concerns need to be noted. Things do not always work out just fine or in a way that is devoid of heart-ache.
But by the same token, things are seldom as bleak as they might appear either. Even in the midst of outright devastation there is still space, if one will allow for it, for hope and promise.
The writer of Lamentations understood such things. Times were tough. It would do no good to pretend otherwise.
But being realistic, the writer of Lamentations also allowed space for at least one thought of promise—“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
This, we are told, is what he called to mind. This is what gave him hope. A simple pair of verses—most likely from a song of faith in his day or at least intentionally set in prose—that he could summon up for consideration whenever things seemed especially dark.
That’s the kind of positive thinking that refuses to ignore, for example, that the way of life often includes the way of suffering just as surely as Jesus himself took the path that led him to the cross. But it also refuses to ignore the fact that although the way of suffering may at times be our path, it is not our destination.
That’s something, through Christ, that I like to call to mind. It is for that reason that I have such hope.
Prayer: Lord, whatever challenges we may at times face, help us to nevertheless put our trust in you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
(Readings today included: Lamentations 3-5 and Revelations 15)
is wormwood and gall!
20 My soul continually thinks of it
and is bowed down within me.
21 But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
Lam. 3:22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
Observation: Times were admittedly tough, but the author of Lamentations still had hope.
Application: I’m not a big fan of the power of positive thinking, at least not in the rah, rah/cheer, cheer/everything’s-just-fine sense of the concept. It seems to me that an honest person needs to face situations in an honest way. Real concerns need to be noted. Things do not always work out just fine or in a way that is devoid of heart-ache.
But by the same token, things are seldom as bleak as they might appear either. Even in the midst of outright devastation there is still space, if one will allow for it, for hope and promise.
The writer of Lamentations understood such things. Times were tough. It would do no good to pretend otherwise.
But being realistic, the writer of Lamentations also allowed space for at least one thought of promise—“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
This, we are told, is what he called to mind. This is what gave him hope. A simple pair of verses—most likely from a song of faith in his day or at least intentionally set in prose—that he could summon up for consideration whenever things seemed especially dark.
That’s the kind of positive thinking that refuses to ignore, for example, that the way of life often includes the way of suffering just as surely as Jesus himself took the path that led him to the cross. But it also refuses to ignore the fact that although the way of suffering may at times be our path, it is not our destination.
That’s something, through Christ, that I like to call to mind. It is for that reason that I have such hope.
Prayer: Lord, whatever challenges we may at times face, help us to nevertheless put our trust in you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
(Readings today included: Lamentations 3-5 and Revelations 15)
Saturday, September 8, 2012
1 Rototiller + 1 Person + 1 Timer = Great Workout
Today's workout was unconventional to be sure, but highly effective nonetheless.
Basically it was a sled-pushing workout except that I don't own a sled. But I do own a rototiller which, when placed in neutral (and NOT running) pushes with a fair amount of resistance.
So I got out my gymboss timer, kept it set for 18-second and 27-second intervals, and got to work.
After the warm-up I pushed the rototiller 12 times for 18 seconds with 27 second rest periods between each 18-second push.
Wiped me out...but in a good way!
On with the day!
Basically it was a sled-pushing workout except that I don't own a sled. But I do own a rototiller which, when placed in neutral (and NOT running) pushes with a fair amount of resistance.
So I got out my gymboss timer, kept it set for 18-second and 27-second intervals, and got to work.
After the warm-up I pushed the rototiller 12 times for 18 seconds with 27 second rest periods between each 18-second push.
Wiped me out...but in a good way!
On with the day!
Good Advice?
Scripture Verses that Caught my attention today: Jeremiah 42:3-4 Let the LORD your God show us where we should go and what we should do.” 4 The prophet Jeremiah said to them, “Very well: I am going to pray to the LORD your God as you request, and whatever the LORD answers you I will tell you; I will keep nothing back from you.”
Observation: the people said they wanted to know what the Lord wanted them to do. And Jeremiah promised to tell them what the Lord wanted. But if one reads on, the people did not listen to what the Lord, through Jeremiah, spoke.
Application: The world is full of people who ask for advice but then don’t take it. Granted, not all advice is good and all advice must be weighed and measured. We are responsible for ourselves, after all, at least in terms of our actions and decisions. Yet there is plenty of good advice out there that we flat-out ignore, perhaps because we have settled into our own way of doing things or our own mindset and are not willing to summon up the gumption necessary to, well, change.
I’m guilty of this myself in some areas and I’m willing to wager that you probably are too.
For whatever reason, the people of Jeremiah’s day had it in their head that they had to go to Egypt to be spared. Yet the word of the Lord indicated that just the opposite was the case. It’s easy to second-guess this situation from afar, but part of me sympathizes with them. Decisions are sometimes hard and the benefit of hindsight seldom comes when you really need it. Still, they asked for a word from the Lord and even received a word from the Lord but refused to believe it. I’d like to think I would have handled it differently, but who knows, maybe I’d have done the same thing.
Prayer: Lord, the saving grace is not that we always do the right thing but, rather, that you ARE the right thing. You are the one in whom trust can be placed. Help us to trust in you regardless of how wise or unwise our decisions and mindsets might be. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
(Readings today included: Jeremiah 42-44, Psalm 48, and Revelation 13)
Observation: the people said they wanted to know what the Lord wanted them to do. And Jeremiah promised to tell them what the Lord wanted. But if one reads on, the people did not listen to what the Lord, through Jeremiah, spoke.
Application: The world is full of people who ask for advice but then don’t take it. Granted, not all advice is good and all advice must be weighed and measured. We are responsible for ourselves, after all, at least in terms of our actions and decisions. Yet there is plenty of good advice out there that we flat-out ignore, perhaps because we have settled into our own way of doing things or our own mindset and are not willing to summon up the gumption necessary to, well, change.
I’m guilty of this myself in some areas and I’m willing to wager that you probably are too.
For whatever reason, the people of Jeremiah’s day had it in their head that they had to go to Egypt to be spared. Yet the word of the Lord indicated that just the opposite was the case. It’s easy to second-guess this situation from afar, but part of me sympathizes with them. Decisions are sometimes hard and the benefit of hindsight seldom comes when you really need it. Still, they asked for a word from the Lord and even received a word from the Lord but refused to believe it. I’d like to think I would have handled it differently, but who knows, maybe I’d have done the same thing.
Prayer: Lord, the saving grace is not that we always do the right thing but, rather, that you ARE the right thing. You are the one in whom trust can be placed. Help us to trust in you regardless of how wise or unwise our decisions and mindsets might be. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
(Readings today included: Jeremiah 42-44, Psalm 48, and Revelation 13)
Friday, September 7, 2012
Today's Workout
Great workout today at the picnic shelter house at the local park. Did another 9-minute routine that I had to modify slightly on the last set because, well, I couldn't do anymore chin-ups! But when I was all done I suddenly realized why...I had gotten confused and did 4 sets when I only meant to do 3 sets! Oh well...if you see extra muscle on me sometime, you'll know why! :)
Anyhow, here was the workout after a brief warm-up: Each exercise was performed for 18 seconds followed by a 27 second rest before the next exercise. Even though the exercises are grouped in "sets", there is still only 27 seconds rest between every exercise. There is no extra rest between sets.
--Chin-ups with Knee-ups (while hanging from the rafters)
--Box Jumps (onto seat of picnic bench)
--Push-ups
--Inverted Rows from rafters
--Chin-ups with Knee-ups (while hanging from the rafters)
--Box Jumps (onto seat of picnic bench)
--Push-ups
--Inverted Rows from rafters
--Chin-ups with Knee-ups (while hanging from the rafters)
--Box Jumps (onto seat of picnic bench)
--Push-ups
--Inverted Rows from rafters
(Extra, unintended set)
--Cross-Body Mountain climbers (couldn’t do any more chin-ups!)
--Box Jumps (onto seat of picnic bench)
--Push-ups
--Inverted Rows from rafters
Anyhow, here was the workout after a brief warm-up: Each exercise was performed for 18 seconds followed by a 27 second rest before the next exercise. Even though the exercises are grouped in "sets", there is still only 27 seconds rest between every exercise. There is no extra rest between sets.
--Chin-ups with Knee-ups (while hanging from the rafters)
--Box Jumps (onto seat of picnic bench)
--Push-ups
--Inverted Rows from rafters
--Chin-ups with Knee-ups (while hanging from the rafters)
--Box Jumps (onto seat of picnic bench)
--Push-ups
--Inverted Rows from rafters
--Chin-ups with Knee-ups (while hanging from the rafters)
--Box Jumps (onto seat of picnic bench)
--Push-ups
--Inverted Rows from rafters
(Extra, unintended set)
--Cross-Body Mountain climbers (couldn’t do any more chin-ups!)
--Box Jumps (onto seat of picnic bench)
--Push-ups
--Inverted Rows from rafters
Absorption
Scripture Passage that Caught My Attention today: Revelation 12:15-16 Then from his mouth the serpent poured water like a river after the woman, to sweep her away with the flood. 16 But the earth came to the help of the woman; it opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth.
Observation: The Lord provided for the woman, absorbing all the wrath that the serpent endeavored to pour out.
Application: Earlier this week, in a separate little spiritual discipline, I reflected on materials of absorption. I noted that we need absorbing materials at times to soak up spills or even just plain old sweat.
In the passage above it is the earth that absorbs the river from the dragon. And in Christ we have God’s son absorbing, as it were, the sins of the whole world. Years earlier it was the prophet Isaiah who, referring to the suffering servant said, “by his wounds we are healed and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
Absorption. It’s a work of God for the benefit of us.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for absorbing all that is wrong within and through us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
(Readings today included: 2 Kings 25, Jeremiah 40-41, Revelation 12)
Observation: The Lord provided for the woman, absorbing all the wrath that the serpent endeavored to pour out.
Application: Earlier this week, in a separate little spiritual discipline, I reflected on materials of absorption. I noted that we need absorbing materials at times to soak up spills or even just plain old sweat.
In the passage above it is the earth that absorbs the river from the dragon. And in Christ we have God’s son absorbing, as it were, the sins of the whole world. Years earlier it was the prophet Isaiah who, referring to the suffering servant said, “by his wounds we are healed and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
Absorption. It’s a work of God for the benefit of us.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for absorbing all that is wrong within and through us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
(Readings today included: 2 Kings 25, Jeremiah 40-41, Revelation 12)
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Today's Workout and Why I'm not Doing P90X
It was a beautiful morning and a "cardio-only" day for me, so I chose to do 12 18-second sprints up and down our long lane with 27 seconds rest in between. I ran the sprints at about 3/4 speed. That adds up to only a 9-minute work-out! Hard to beat that combination of efficiency and effectiveness.
By the way, I had my yearly physical (with a few "extras" since I've crossed the big Five-O) the other day and the results were really good. The lab results were excellent and the blood pressure and resting heart rate once again prompted the technician to ask me if I was a 'runner' since they were so good.
The doctor asked me the same thing and, when I said I just do my own thing, she wondered if I did P-90X.
Nope. Not gonna do it. P90X is fine for those who want or can spend an hour or so on their workouts. I won't argue that. But for the last several years I've gotten similar results from workouts that last no more than 18 minutes. And for the last few weeks I've been conducting a little personal experiment developing a possible exercise program that takes just 9 minutes a day and--get this--only about 3 1/2 actual minutes of exercise!
It sounds crazy, but from what I can tell thus far, it really works. Stay tuned...and toned!
By the way, I had my yearly physical (with a few "extras" since I've crossed the big Five-O) the other day and the results were really good. The lab results were excellent and the blood pressure and resting heart rate once again prompted the technician to ask me if I was a 'runner' since they were so good.
The doctor asked me the same thing and, when I said I just do my own thing, she wondered if I did P-90X.
Nope. Not gonna do it. P90X is fine for those who want or can spend an hour or so on their workouts. I won't argue that. But for the last several years I've gotten similar results from workouts that last no more than 18 minutes. And for the last few weeks I've been conducting a little personal experiment developing a possible exercise program that takes just 9 minutes a day and--get this--only about 3 1/2 actual minutes of exercise!
It sounds crazy, but from what I can tell thus far, it really works. Stay tuned...and toned!
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