Discipline Your Body: It’s Test Time!

‎”I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.” 1 Cor. 9:27

Of course I love it when scripture refers to athletes, but the reason I love this one so much is it reminds me doing what we SHOULD do takes WORK. How much work? Well, one version says “I beat my body and make it my slave”. Another says, “I keep it under control”. Basically, the author (Paul), is using some harsh words to get his point across and to describe just how hard it is to control your body.

Of course Paul is talking about the spiritual things in life, but there is nothing our body wants to do on its own that is good or right – not even stay healthy because that takes work too. It’s like our body and spirit are two different people, joined together, both trying to worship two different Gods. My spirit wants to worship the God Almighty and live to His high standards, but my body wants to worship Satan, the deceiver that says his way is more fun.

My body wants to be lazy – to eat, sleep, and want for everything, but not work for anything. No matter how I grow in my spirit, my body’s desires will never change. The only thing that changes is how good I get at keeping it under my control.

This is why I believe self-examination is always in order. How do you know if you are improving in school? You take a test. How do you know you are improving in your spiritual walk? Your faith is tested. And how do you know if you are improving in fitness? You guessed it – you take tests.

Maybe you’ve been floating around gym too long, doing the same old routine over and over. Maybe you treat going to the gym like going to church on Sundays – just a time to clock in and clock out because that’s the “right thing to do”.

You say you’re faster, but how much faster? You say you’re stronger, but how much stronger? Maybe it’s time to test your fitness routine and see if it is actually working.

3 ways to test your fitness:

1. You should perform better

2. You should be improving your body composition (weight & body fat vs muscle)

3. Your doctor should report health improvements

Quitting is not just stopping – Quitting also happens when you quit trying to improve. There is no room for complacency in life. There is ALWAYS room for improvement – and as soon as you forget that, you’ve quit on yourself. You have the potential to do greater things – whether you do them is up to your effort to always work on improving – both spiritually and physically.

BCx Performance Test:

Test your body regularly to make sure you are always improving. Whether you have never worked out a day in your life or you workout all the time, these exercises will strengthen you, challenge you and help you to track improvements. Even if you are 80 years old, you still have to SQUAT down to get something, PUSH UP off the floor, PULL UP after a fall, SIT UP out of bed and RUN to avoid something (or someone ha!). These activities will help you until the day you die, so if they are already things you do, why not make sure you can do them well – and better and better?

Do the following exercises as many times as you can in 60 seconds and record the time:

1. Air Squats

2. Push Ups

3. Pull Ups (girls do assisted pull ups)

4. Burpees

5. Sit Ups

6. 1/4 mile run (do this for time)

Do this regularly, including it in your weekly workout routine for the best results.