If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. Numbers 30:2
There are no shortcuts to any place worth going. “Commitment is what transforms a promise into a reality.”
Have you ever considered the difference between commitment and obligation?
The action of either begins in your mind. The number one secret to success in anything is commitment. An obligation is something you’re required to do. Commitment means that you are in it for the long haul. Commitment rises above bad days, hectic schedules, and volatile emotions. Commitment hangs in there when you don’t want to do it, when you don’t feel like doing it and when you don’t have time to do it. True commitment doesn’t depend on how you feel. It depends on your integrity and on living for the purpose you have set for yourself. The real rewards come when you not only commit to the process but also are consistent with those workouts.
To get results, you do not need expensive clothes, fancy home gym equipment, or a complicated workout plan. What you need is commitment. If you are committed, the rest of the pieces will fall into place. You can start today. Don’t overthink this.
Just start, and commit to doing something every day for the next five days. Comment down below and hold yourself accountable.
SHARE with a friend who could use some encouragement or motivation.
Are you committed to living a healthier lifestyle, or are you obligated?
Meditation:
I am committed to the process
My Prayer for you today:
Father God,
Help me be committed to taking steps to help build my strength. Lord, let me show up for all things that I do as if they are for you. In complete excellence and dedication. Help me to be diligent but not to idolize. Help me to focus on you, Lord, and be committed to taking care of the one temple you have gifted me. Not just physically but also abiding in You with prayer and devotion. Continually throughout the day and the process. Lord, let my heart not show up out of obligation but reverence and adoration for you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Let’s Reflect:
Have you considered the difference between obligations and committed?
What is holding you back from completely committing? Have you taken it to the Lord?
What steps do you need to take to commit?
Why are push exercises important?
Push exercises are exactly how they sound. It’s an exercise that involves pushing the resistance away from your body. The muscles mostly used are the chest, shoulder, and triceps. The back muscles usually assist by stabilizing while you push. The most familiar exercise is a pushup, but there are so many push exercises for you to add to your upper body workout.
Have you checked out my 14-Day Praise Plank Challenge? Its a great way to strengthen your core to build up for a pushup . We praise God with Scripture meditations, prayers, and daily workouts and devotions.
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
You can hit all your macros, do all your workouts, check all the boxes and still feel incomplete, just like in our faith. You can perform all the duties of being a Christian but not feel the presence of God. Duties, checkboxes, and obligations will not give you the desires of your heart. It’s our way of self-control rather than giving God all the control and trusting in Him to provide the way. Abiding in God is the only way to sustain our hearts.
Today, set your intentions with God. Lay them at His feet. Praise Him through your work and seek His strength. Rely on the Lord while you work for what you want, and your efforts will not be in vain pursuit but always abounding in Him.
Our bodies or temples, as I call them, are dwelling spaces for the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:22). We are meant to bring God glory in all we do, and that has nothing to do with the way we look but the way we act how we carry His likeness as we encounter people of this world. We cannot use our gifts at total capacity if our bodies cannot serve us. This series is about getting strong from the inside out and learning to lean on the Lord for our strength and trust Him for our deliverance.
Our strength begins there, and then it manifests in our bodies. How do we get stronger by consistently training both? We train our minds and spirit through prayer and continually learning and growing in His word. You have to show up more than once a week; or a month. It means daily sacrificing time that we would like to spend and devoting to spending it with God. Strength training is very similar. Time needs to be offered daily to gain strength—consistently challenging yourself to grow. We serve the Creator, who is all about growth. As you go through these next seven days, let us grow in our spiritual and physical capacity Challenging ourselves daily, Not out of obligation but with a commitment and reverence for our Father to honor our bodies.
My prayer for you today:
Father God, I pray that I rely on you for my strength in my labor. Help me to put my methods of control aside and to trust and depend on you and your ways. In Jesus” name, Amen.
Meditation:
With God, no work is in vain.
Let’s Reflect:
What are you keeping from God?
What would happen if you released that burden to the Lord?
Are you ready to completely lay your burdens at God’s feet? Why or Why not?
Why are planks important?
Planks are important because they are the foundation of most strength-based movements. Bracing your core stabilizes muscles, gives you support to lift and prevent injury, and keeps you aligned and engaged for form. Most people hate planks, but this is where you should begin your strength training. Check out the video on why we are beginning the Get Strong Series in planks,
Educational Videos
The move of the Day
Workout of the Day
Suppose you would like to receive the 7-day Guide that includes: Fitness Tracker, 7-Day Healthy Eating Guideline, and Workout on Your Plan. You can access it for FREE Here!
Which should I do first? Cardio or Strength Training?
A common question is which one I should do, cardio or strength training? Many studies support Cardio first, then strength training, but some studies conclude you should strength train before cardio training. Which one is right? Both!
The great thing about our bodies is that they are uniquely made, and when it comes to fitness, there’s more than following a standard formula. Have you checked out my YouTube Video: Working out for your body type?
You will discover that our bodies are built differently and require variations of the same movement. We also have different goals. An ectomorph may want to gain more muscle. I would not suggest cardio training before strength training but for an endomorph who wants to lose fat. I may recommend low-intensity steady-state cardio before strength training. It all depends, so I was hoping you could read this post with that in mind. We are all individuals and need to do what works for us. Not what works for an Influencer that you admire.
Why does it matter if you do Cardio training or strength training?
Working towards your goals is hard enough. It can be discouraging if you’re using a method not meant for you and not reaching your goals.
We need to be intentional. Autopilot is inadequate, and if you are on a lifestyle journey, be willing to experiment to see what works best for you. That is why I created the Get Strong Series and Bible and Bootcamps. Both programs educate you on how to live a healthier lifestyle that works for you. It’s not a cookie-cutter approach to your wellness but an opportunity to identify and be intentional about how you care for your health.
Which one is better for achieving my goals? Cardio or Strength training?
Everyone wants a cure-all. Because you often sweat more when doing Cardio, if you’re not challenging yourself in strength training, people think that helps them lose weight. And it does, but the results don’t look as you desire. Women are often afraid if they lift weights, they will become “bulky” or have the muscle mass that looks like a man. That is not the case in our genetic makeup. Without artificial stimulants, it’s challenging for a woman to have the muscle mass of a man. As you age, it’s challenging for women (and men) to maintain muscle mass. What do you do? How do you reach your goals?
How to train to reach your weight loss goals?
Let’s talk about cardio and strength training. So I want to say that no matter what you do, the more you weigh. The more that you will burn, the more you have to burn. When you are leaner, it becomes more challenging to burn. Your level of exertion is higher, and you have to challenge yourself to change adaptations. Keep that in mind, whether it’s Cardio or strength.
When doing your Cardio, Cardio burns more calories during the session. I’m going to say that again. When you’re doing Cardio, you’re going to burn more calories during your cardio session. Still, in strength training, you burn more calories resting than you do when you’re doing your strength training.
Which one do I do first; cardio or strength?
If you are working on progressively loading your strength training. I suggest cardio afterwards so that you have the energy to lift the heavier weight. If you are going for High Intensity training with a light weight load. I recommend a cardio warm-up. It’s hard to answer that questions without knowing what’s your goal.
How does fat loss work on your metabolism?
How does that work? It all has to do with our metabolism. There was a study conclusion from NIH stating that there’s a 4% increase in resting metabolism, especially immediately after your strength training up to 38 to 72 hours based on your intensity. Now I also have to mention that the study indicated that there has to be a caloric deficit to achieve fat loss. (1) What does that mean? When you are training, you’re building muscles, and once you finish, your body continues to utilize fat to build muscle. Your metabolism is the process of converting food into energy which is affected by how you move. Your strength training directly affects your body’s ability to burn calories even at rest.
Our body functions off of energy. The energy expended to repair and build muscle results in calorie burning and fat loss. There are a few factors that determine the effectiveness of this fat burner. Your intensity is a significant variable. There’s a process called Exercise post-oxygen consumption (EPOC), after-burn. (2) You have to challenge your body to increase your EPOC. The same goes for cardio training. A sprint and a low-intensity steady-state cardio session have different calories burn effects on the body. The intensity of your workout is dependent on your fat burn.
The myth is that if you strength train heavy, you will become bulky. You will gain more muscle definition and become denser because your body will be composed of more muscle than fat, but if you were assigned female at birth. Strength training will not make you look like a man, but it will help you effectively burn fat for up to 72 hours once you finish.
Benefits of Strength Training
Strength training has many benefits. It helps with your hearth, posture, coordination, brain and age well. Check out my post on: The Benefits of Strength Training
How does cardio t aining help you achieve fat loss?
Usually, I get asked which is better ecause people are more likely to asso iate cardio or strength training with the other. But God gave us two muscle groups affected by Cardio and Strength training. Meaning we were made to achieve both. We were made to run from our predators and lift heavy things, so both should be trained. As a modern society we don’t have the same lifestyle needs that we did but our bodies are still capable to perform. We have to qualify both modalities to perfo m at our best intentionally.
Cardio is effective at achieving fat loss. You burn the most calories during the cardio session a terward but still achieve fat loss. Cardio training is also suitable for our hearts, lungs, and brain. I encourage my clients and those seeking advice to do both. And often, the next question is, how long and how ma y times? Again, dependent on your goals, but there is a standard approach you can do to optimize your health.
The Difference in Cardio and Strength Training
Cardio training is different from strength training. It recruits your Type 1 Muscles that allow your body to endure movement for extended amounts of time. Type 1 is also activated in high rep strength training and isometric holds. During cardio training, you burn the most calories. The higher the intensity, the more calories burned. The great thing about both cardio and strength training is there are so many options. In strength training or short burst of exercise like sprints you use Type 2 muscles.
High Intensity Interval Training, known as HIIT, is very popular and effective. High-intensity interval training. HIIT is intense exercise with a brief rest period in different interals. Studies have proven that you can burn up to 25 to 30 percent more calories than any other form of cardio exercise. On the contrary, recent studies have shown significant benefits to low-intensity steady state cardio (LISS) in calorie burn effectiveness. (3)
I suggest that unless you have a personal trainer to help you create a plan that works best for your body and goals, you should try oth for 6-8 weeks consistently to see what works for you. It’s a time investment, but if you are working on your fitness for a healthier lifestyle you have time. I found my body responds best to a combination of both, and my rest and environment l stress have a direct correl tion with my achieving my goals. Check out my post on why stress may affect your weight loss.
Cardio can be done from 5-45 minutes. It is dependent on your goal. The Center for Drug and Disease Control suggests, “Each week adults need 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity and two days of muscle strengthening activity, according to the current Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.” (4)
Benefits of Cardio Training
Many benefits of Cardio exercises shouldn’t be overlooked, which is why a balanced training program includes both cardio and strength training. Cardio exercises increase your heart and lung capacity, which is essential to decrease blood pressure and optimize your health. A study concluded after four weeks of exercise that the participants reduced their stress, felt more emotionally available and had more self-efficacy and confidence, and felt better about their overall health. (5)
What should my workout schedule look like?
I also recommend some mobility training. A suggested workout schedule to help you optimize fat loss, strengthen your heart and lungs, and have you ove better can look like this:
This is just a suggestion, and if you don’t know what to do on the strength days or the Cardio. Check out the FaithFueled Life app. I will tell you what to do and how to do it. Each month you receive new workouts, and daily you receive new devotions, meditations, and prayers. Suppose you aren’t part of the FaithFueled Life community and want to do it independently. When creating a workout plan, you must factor in availability, ability, and goals.
When creating your workout I would recommend strength training, balance and mobility training, Ca dio, and recovery. That keeps you moving almost daily, which is what our body was made to do. I have created several programs to assist and guide you in movement. I have programs from 7 to 90 days that include devotions, prayers, meditations, video exercise demonstrations, follow-along wo kout videos, and explanations for what and why you are doing the movement.
It’s a great way to get foundational training if you cannot afford one-on-one services. There are also many resources for mobi e apps, websites, and books, but keep in that you want somethin made for you and your unique body.
Types of Cardio and Strength Training
I would love for you to check out my 7-Day Get Strong Series. It gives you the seven foundational moves of strength training. The next step would be my Bible and Bootcamps 7-week transformational program that is essential training for living a healthier lifestyle that honors your temple. I coach you through the best workouts and how to eat to nourish and fuel our workouts.
What does God’s word say about honoring your temple with daily devotions, prayers, meditations, and reflections directing and connecting you to God? And a workout plan that effectively includes strength training, balance and mobility training, Cardio, and recovery.
I would love to help you figure out what serves your body best so you can stop wasting your time and getting discouraged with the lack of results and begin living a lifestyle that honors your temple.
Join us for the 7-Day Get Strong Series and begin building a foundation that honors your temple.
Resources
Miller T; Mull S; Aragon AA; Krieger J; Schoenfeld BJ; “Resistance Training Combined with Diet Decreases Body Fat While Preserving Lean Mass Independent of Resting Metabolic Rate: A Randomized Trial.” International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, U.S. National Library of Medicine, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28871849/.2, Author Pete McCall Health and Fitness Expert Pete McCall. “7 Things to Know about Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC).” Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) | ACE Blog, https://www.acefitness.org/resources/pros/expert-articles/5008/7-things-to-know-about-excess-post-exercise-oxygen-consumption-epoc/.3. Lindberg, Sara. “ iss Cardio: Benefits vs. HIIT, Heart Rate, Workout.” Healthline, Healthline Media, 3 Oct. 2019, https://www.healthline.com/health/exercise-fitness/liss-cardio. 4. “How Much Physical Activity Do Adults Need?” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2 June 2022,
5.Bretland, Rachel Judith, et al. “Reducing Workplace Burnout: The Relative Benefits of Cardiovascular and Resistance Exercise.” PeerJ, PeerJ Inc., 9 Apr. 2015, https://peerj.com/articles/891/.
Fall is here, and that means that cold and flu season has arrived. Have you ever noticed that some people seldom get sick? Or maybe you have wondered why after being exposed to the same virus, one person gets ill while the other remains well.
The reason lies in the strength of the immune system. And the strength of your immune system is largely dependent upon the condition of your digestive system.
When you are exposed to bad bacteria or viruses, it is up to your immune system to protect you from being infected. If your immune system is strong, your body will fight off the threat. If your immune system is weak or compromised, you may end up sick.
Microbes: the good, the bad, and the ugly
Inside your digestive system are many microbes. Microbes are live organisms that affect your overall health.
Some of these organisms are beneficial and protect you from disease. These good bacteria recognize when illness-producing intruders enter your body; they promptly attack the intruders, so you do not get sick. If you do not have enough good bacteria in your gut, you will be more susceptible not only to infections such as colds and stomach flu, but you will also be at risk for autoimmune diseases such as colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, and Chron’s disease.
Ideally, you have a large supply of these good microbes in your gut. But they can easily become depleted. If you have recently taken antibiotics, you have had not only the bad bacteria wiped out but also the good bacteria. Antibiotics are not selective in their destruction.
Antibiotics are not the only way that good bacteria become depleted in your digestive system. The chlorine in your drinking water can destroy them, as can the pesticide residue on the food you eat.
Once the supply of beneficial microbes in your intestines dwindles, bad microbes such as yeast, fungi, and disease-causing bacteria begin residence. When the scale tips in favor of the bad, your immune system becomes compromised.
Enter Probiotics
If you think you might be deficient in good microbes, it is not difficult to remedy the problem. The solution is to take probiotics. Probiotics are good microbes that you can consume in your diet. They then settle in your digestive system and get to work protecting you from illness and destroying the bad bacteria.
Probiotics are available in capsule form, but you can also replenish the good microbes by eating yogurt. Check the label on the yogurt that you buy to make sure it says that it contains active cultures—those are the good bacteria that you need to eat.
I also am a big fan of Kombucha! and NOW FOODs has a great line of probiotics for adults and children that you can supplement to help regulate your gut health. Use code FAITHFUELED for 20% off your purchase.
Whatever route you choose! Take action now and get a head start on this year’s cold and flu season. You can get ahead of the game by improving your gut function and fighting illness. Also, Check out my post on ways your Easy Ways to boost your family’s immune system and protect your health.
When people want to lose weight, they tend to believe in long-enduring sessions on the treadmills, especially women. A common misconception that women have is strength training will make you bulky, but I am walking testimony to the contrary. The heavier I lift, the leaner I get. I have tried to get intentionally bulky and have found that it is determined by how I eat.
There are so many benefits to strength that many women are missing out on the fear of looking like men. But there are many more benefits to strength training before heading to the treadmill to achieve your goals.
Lifting weights does not have to be hour-long sessions at the gym. It can be short intervals, bodyweight, or even done at home. The only reason you should not be in strength training is if the doctor says not to. If not, all ages can benefit from a strength training routine.
Your metabolism is the chemical reaction your body goes through to change food to energy. Your body needs energy to function, and metabolism is the process that provides you the energy. The more muscle or body composition you have, the more calories you burn. [1]
Strength training is more effective because you continually burn calories after your weight training session. Building muscle is an effective way to burn calories, so strength training is encouraged in adult fitness programs, specifically if the goal is to lose weight and fat. For women’s weight, training can increase your resting metabolism or convert food to energy by 4%. [2]
Research shows that you continue to burn calories for up to 72 hours, depending on the variables of your strength training session. [3] The more intense the strength training, the longer the calorie burn.
There is a difference between weight loss and fat loss. You can quickly lose weight by skipping meals or going to the bathroom. Fat loss is a little harder to achieve without strength training. Fat loss can be achieved during strength training by the intensity of the workout. It creates a hormonal response that allows your body to utilize fat to build muscle. Changing variables like high intensity and short rest periods have an essential effect on your EPOC, which is exercise post-oxygen consumption, also known as the after-burn. [4]
There is a common misconception that muscle weighs less than fat, but that is not the case. Muscle weighs identical amounts to fat, but it just occupies less space. So the more muscle you have compared to fat, the leaner you look. Many of my clients are shocked at the difference they look at their goal weight when they include strength training. You may weigh a certain number on the scale, but if your muscle occupies less space than your fat, it may manifest in smaller pants size and a leaner look. People are often shocked when I disclose my weight because I don’t look like I weigh 136 pounds, but I do. I also have lower body fat, which looks different.
Strength training has been proven to help with brain health and power in older adults. A study by the Journal of American Geriatrics concluded that women ages 55 through 86 who strength trained twice a week improved their cognitive test scores compared to women ages 55 to 86 who had a decline in cognitive testing. Building strength increases oxygen and blood flow related to the brain, which has been correlated to improving cognitive skills.[5]
There has also been a finding that regular strength training reduces inflammation, stimulates hormones, and also increases the building of blood vessels in the brain. Many people also feel more brain clarity and memory improvement when they have regular strength training in their workout routine. It helps build your aesthetic muscle and muscles like the heart, which positively affects the brain.
Strength training has decreased your heart disease risk, lowered your blood pressure, and helped with metabolic diseases like diabetes. [6] A study that was done on a group of women ages ranging from 47-93 concluded that women who strength trained twice a week decreased their risk reduction of Type 2 diabetes and heart disease by 17% compared to women who did not include muscle strength training in at least 150 minutes of their weekly activity. Strength training does not only include working out at the gym. There are a variety of ways that you can train. Women who strength train typically have lower blood pressure than those who do not have strength training.
Women who train strength help build bone density, which is vital as we age. Adding weight-bearing exercises to your workout causes stressors to our bones, which gives our body the signal that it needs to adapt and increase bone density. Older women who do not have strength training tend to develop diseases like osteoporosis. Think of it like this: when your muscle contracts, it pulls on the bone to support your muscles. When your body signals the added stressors, significant if you continually challenge yourself. Your body will build more bone to accommodate the stress. I often tell my clients the purpose of their bodies is to adapt to keep them alive. Stress or failure is a good thing because it signals to your body that it needs to change.
Our muscles and our bones hold us up. Weak muscles cannot hold the weight of your body as effectively and may cause poor posture. Many of my clients are office workers or sit and work the front of their body more than the posterior or back. A common issue that I find is hunched shoulders and tight hips. We can usually correct these muscle imbalances through strength training by training the upper back and glute muscles. My clients show improvement in balance, posture, and confidence through various forms of strength exercise.
As we age, our muscles naturally deteriorate, known as sarcopenia. By ongoing strength training, you can slow down the process of muscle loss by maintaining or producing muscle growth. The other benefits of exercise include decreased heart disease risk, high blood pressure heart disease, and better posture, balance, and coordination to help reduce injury. Collectively these benefits allow us to age well. My personal goal is to be the fittest seventy-year-old woman in the world. I plan on utilizing the benefits of strength training to help me reach my goal. I would also encourage you to strength train for your future self and not just for aesthetic purposes. The confidence and abilities you gain from building muscles are worth it.
When adding strength training to your program, it may be best to seek a personal trainer to help you develop a program that will work for you. I am a National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) Personal Trainer, NASM Corrective Exercise Specialist, and Fitness Nutrition Specialist. I would love to set up a goal consult with you to help you with your goals. If not, check out my post on the Best Way to Strength Train to get a better idea.
J T Lemmer1, F M Ivey, A S Ryan, G F Martel, D E Hurlbut, J E Metter, J L Fozard, J LFlagg, B F Hurley PMID: 11283427 DOI: 10.1097/00005768-200104000-00005
3. Beau Kjerulf Greer, Prawee Sirithienthad, Robert J. Moffatt, Richard T. Marcello & Lynn B. Panton(2015)EPOC Comparison Between Isocaloric Bouts of Steady-State Aerobic, Intermittent Aerobic, and Resistance Training,Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport,86:2,190-195,DOI: 10.1080/02701367.2014.999190
4.Klika, A. (2017). The BEST Resistance-training Program for Fat Loss. Retrieved December 01, 2020, from https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/professional/expert-articles/6868/the-best-resistance-training-program-for-fat-loss/
5.Shiroma, E., Cook, N., Manson, J., Moorthy, M., Buring, J., Rimm, E., & Lee, I. (2017, January). Strength Training and the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease. Retrieved December 03, 2020, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5161704/
6.Physical Activity Guidelines Committee. Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee Report. Washington, DC: Department of Health and Human Services; [Internet] Available from http://health.gov/paguidelines/guidelines/report.aspx.
