Besides the great people around me, this is something I look to for inspiration. I know that most everyone in the world thinks that bodybuilders are disgusting and gross and too big and what not…I agree, it’s so irregular, but what inspires me is that this is where it started for Arnold. This is what started a life that was successful because of discipline and hard work. I want that life. I want to have discipline and work hard. Thought I’d share. Toby & Bryan, here’s to you guys!
No video blog this week either. Not sure about the whole video blog thing. I kind of like the “mystery” not doing one offers…LOL! Nah, I really just don’t want to. This past week was a good one for me, the weigh in Saturday was a LARGE success, pardon the pun. I lost 5.2 pounds to achieve my goal for the week. My goal for this coming week is to lose almost 9 pounds. That’s entirely doable given the state of my current fat-suit. I’m pretty excited. 5 pound loss after only working out 3 days last week…this week will lend itself to more working out, which will help the cause even more. So, with that in mind, I decided that I would give you all a look into my workouts and what I do when I’m in the gym.
My main form of working out is bodybuilding. I have been an avid fan of bodybuilding for a long, long time…dating back to when I was about 7 or 8. I’m not sure why, but I have always thought that it was cool. Although, as a disclaimer, I do think it a tad bit excessive to be like these guys who win Olympia and the Arnold Classic. I have never desired to look so irregular. LOL! I do a typical, 2 part split per day, working what is considered complimentary muscle groups. What that means is, I work 2 muscle groups per day, and they’re 2 muscle groups that work together. For instance, when you bench press, you work your chest and triceps. So, one of my training days is Chest & Triceps. I generally spend anywhere from 40-50 minutes on each, making sure to exhaust the muscle group. I stick to a somewhat prehistoric model (used by Arnold himself) of 5 sets for everything. I call it prehistoric because the norm nowadays is to just do 3 sets and that’s it…I think that’s a great way to go if you’re toning, but if you’re building muscle mass, I prefer the 5 set system as it will allow you to go heavy more gradually and reduce your risk of injury. I’ll be 35 in a month, so saving myself from injury is something I think about OFTEN!
To answer the “Why?” part of any question you might have, the reason I do this format is more bio-mechanical. I burn just as many calories, if not more, than I would if I were on an eliptical. Just picking up the heavy stuff burns calories, and then lifting and pressing burns even more. For our bodies, it’s the muscle mass that consumes the fuel, i.e. fat. If we increase our overall muscle mass, we burn more calories, here’s the kicker, wait for it….even at rest. If you have more muscle mass, it will require more fuel to even sit at rest, so the more you increase your muscle mass, the more calories, overall, you will burn, whether working out or resting. I don’t even touch cardio. The closest I get to it right now is walking past it to leave the locker room or return to the locker room. LOL!
Will I ever do cardio? Yes. I actualy enjoy cardio so I will eventually do it again, but wanted to take time to strengthen my legs a bit and just get back into the routine more.
So last week I started a new schedule. I started working a 5-day, 8 hour/day schedule. It has been a little over a year since I last worked a 5-day schedule, but even though I’m working 1 more day per week, there has been a drastic change in the quality of life for me. I no longer have to get up at the butt crack of dawn and then work a 10 hour day with a 2 hour round trip commute leaving me exhausted by the time I come home. I now find myself enjoying leisure time and sleeping more and relaxing more….I’m happier, less tired, and I’m working out again which has been incredible. I’ve been a long time believer that health is more than just diet and exercise. It’s total wellness.
My friend Toby (@Pastor_T) has started something called “Life Change” on his blog. He’s making an effort to really transform his health and wellness, and, like only Toby could, he has drawn us in with him. I’m not exactly sure what I need to do to be part of this, like, do I need to make video entries, or what? LOL! Even if I’m not officially in the real loop, I’m with him in making big changes to enhance our quality of life and increase our overall wellness.
For me, it’s meant everything….diet, exercise, more sleep, more play/leisure time, more social interaction, etc. It’s been great. I actually just got in from the gym and now I’m catching up on life with some “leisure” time. The difference is pretty much night and day. Stress is easier to deal with, I’m sleeping better, and I’m just having more fun….I’ve drifted a long way from the Brad who used to be a 3-sport high school athlete and a college athlete…hoping to get back to that.
@Pastor_T asked me to share this recipe here on the blog, so I thought I would do so. This is a new recipe for a post-workout shake. Give it a try and let me know if ya like it:
8oz skim milk
8oz cold water
2 scoops Whey Protein (about 48-50 grams of protein, your choice of flavor, I use Chocolate for now)
1 whole banana
1/4 cup frozen blueberries (or fresh if you prefer, I like the frozen ones because it makes the shake colder)
1/4 cup Special K cereal
Blend on “Crush Ice” till shake is smooth.
You’re going to get all the protein you can handle, potassium, fiber, anti-oxidants, and some added carbs so that your body will have an easier time making some glycogen.
Over the course of the past 5 days or so, I conducted a poll on twtpoll.com to ask 1 simple question to Christians, believers, followers of Christ, Christ Followers, Jesus Followers, and whatever other name you can think of for someone who follows Jesus Christ and his teachings.
I’m a firm believer that the mission at hand for Christians is Matthew 28, where Jesus instructs all who are present to “Go and make disciples…” I believe that this very mission is what The Church should be doing and that if people who are attending church are identifying themselves as saved/followers, than they too need to be moving towards making disciples.
The poll was a simple question:
Are you currently discipling someone, yes or no?
That’s it. The reason I didn’t specify a certain type of discipleship, since there are several methods, was to see how many people directly said, “No.” Some people I talked to who took the poll were kind of torn because they were consistently meeting with people weekly to be accountable with and to help instruct and to even go out and share their faith intentionally. Others were parents asking, “Do my kids count?” Of course your kids count, the Bible is clear that parents are to raise their kids in the admonition of the LORD.
Whenever I venture out to collect data to support (or sometimes negate) a hypothesis, I try to predict the results and for this poll, I predicted that we would see a landslide to one side or another, that it probably wouldn’t be a 50/50 thing or even-steven. Well, much to my surprise, the poll ended and what you see above is exactly what I thought WOULDN’T happen. 51% Yes, 49% No. I was shocked and at the same time very, very intrigued!
The first 2 questions I asked, and where I’m at now are:
What does this mean for the Christian/Christ Follower/Jesus Follower?
What does this mean for the Church at large?
And that’s what I’m working on now….putting together thoughts on those 2 questions. Please comment and share your thoughts on this, discussion is crucial.
My posts here seem to be less and less frequent. Not sure what that means or where that’s leading. There are times I just want to forfeit the online space for the pen & paper once more, but I just keep coming back to blogging. I think the draw is the idea of an “audience”. In reality, I don’t really have that draw to worry about, as I checked my feedburner statistics today and found that I only have 1 subscriber. LOL! I think that’s kind of funny. If that intrigue is gone, then what is motivating me? I don’t really know. Anywho, I don’t want to keep rolling around in this, so I’ll move onto what I wanted to talk about with this post…
Leadership vs. Discipleship.
I’ve been a leader in the church for most of my Christian life. I’ve greeted people, taught children’s church (scary, right?), volunteered at lock ins, let small groups, preached sermons, etc. I’ve been immersed in what I call the “leadership culture” most of my believing life. Over the past 6 or 7 months, I keep asking myself one simple question:
Leadership or Discipleship?
See, it IS a very simple question. I’m not sure how to answer it. I would imagine the safe thing to do would be to say that there’s a happy medium that’s a blend of the two and I would imagine that discipling someone has to involve some form of leadership so I’m not sure you can divorce the two from each other.
But the not-so-safe side of me says that it’s about 95% discipleship and 5% leadership. I found myself investing in books on leadership and how to lead “organizations” and all this other inspirational and motivational type stuff, yet I haven’t led many people to Christ. I haven’t walked through life with a lot of folks yet either. I wonder if all that leadership stuff I was learning was keeping me from pursuing discipleship?
I don’t have some formed answer on this as I’m still talking about it in my head with myself and with Jesus. I’d ask what your thoughts are but since I get about 1 comment every 4 months I figured I’d just let it be. Interact if you want.
Over the weekend, my dear friend Travis posted a video on his facebook from the Young At Heart singing choir. Young At Heart is a collection of seniors (for lack of a better term) that sing current or recent pop/rock songs. The embedded video below is a rendition of Coldplays “Fix You”, which happens to be one of my favorite Coldplay songs. The version of this song in the video below has touched me more than the Coldplay original due to the context of the video. The song was sung in memory of 2 members of the singing group who had passed away that week. Knowing that and hearing this song really brings a whole new meaning to the song and for me, changes everything. It’s beautiful. Just a way context can change something. I hope you enjoy.
“One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but decrease. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity” –Bruce Lee
Think about that for a moment. Let it sink in. I’ve thought a lot about that quote today. I keep finding myself in this place where God is drawing me to simplicity. Refining things in my life, removing hindrances, drawing me closer to him. I think we have a tendency to complicate things. I know I have a tendency to think “big” when it comes to structure, and times, that’s probably the right thing to think about. But as I continue to grow and be challenged in my faith, I keep hearing God tell me to simplify. To reduce, to move freer. To not carry much with me. Keep letting go of more and more so that my focus becomes one instead of a scattered focus.
I also just keep hearing, “Slow Down”. I have this urge to slow down and just take life a day at a time and to try and SAVOR every last second of every last minute of my day. I don’t want to be caught up in the details and outside what’s really going on, but in the middle, slowly working my way through what’s at hand instead of getting caught up and stressed out and worried to death about what’s going to happen 2 weeks from now. Instead, I’m feeling this nudging to direct my attention to the now and where I can be used NOW.
Anyone else going through this or have thought about it?
Just wanted to say “THANK YOU” to everyone who donated to get Pastor Gona a netbook. When Shawn started the fundraiser last week, he set a goal for March 4th….well, due to your generosity, the goal was met just a few short days after the fundraiser started. It was so incredible to watch everyone respond and give! Shawn and I both were very overwhelmed by the response.
You guys rock and we can’t think you enough! Thanks!
Readers, this post is a call to action! I need your help! My buddy Shawn, over at shawnw.org has presented us all with a very unique opportunity to help a fellow brother in India. Pastor Joshua Gona is being used in very BIG ways by God to spread the Gospel to his people. Pastor Gona is in need of a computer…well, a netbook specifically. Shawn has found a very inexpensive netbook we can purchase and ship to Pastor Gona. The total cost will be $260 to purchase the netbook and then ship it to India.
Now, before you get a little stressed about giving money, I know we’re in a recession and that things are tight for all of us. Trust me, I even stopped myself and thought twice before I gave my donation today, but then it hit me that my life & my finances are in the hands of an Almighty, sovereign God who loves me. I’m asking you all to make a move in faith and donate just $1.00 to the netbook fund. You can find the link to donate via PayPal here, http://shawnw.org/lets-buy-pastor-gona-from-india-a-netbook/ or I’ve posted it below!!
Besides the great people around me, this is something I look to for inspiration. I know that most everyone in the world thinks that bodybuilders are disgusting and gross and too big and what not…I agree, it’s so irregular, but what inspires me is that this is where it started for Arnold. This is what started a life that was successful because of discipline and hard work. I want that life. I want to have discipline and work hard. Thought I’d share. Toby & Bryan, here’s to you guys!
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