Practising Physical Disciplines

The physical disciplines can be separated into the three categories of physical exercise, rest, and nutrition. All three areas are vital in order to have a healthy physical life. As we look through the areas, we should be able to identify the areas that are well maintained in our lives and those that are lacking. The next stage is to consider what we need to do consistently in order to build our physical capacity. Once we have identified our needs, we can consider what we are willing to do on a weekly basis. It is important that these areas are developed consistently and not sporadically. We can cause ourselves problems if we neglect these disciplines for several weeks, and then exercise intensively for one week. It is better to start small and to increase our commitment over a period of time, rather than over-committing ourselves.

This section is intended to give some practical guidelines and will be suitable for most people. However, you may need to adjust some of the practices to suit your physical condition. For example, exercising for 30 minutes should be fine for most 30-year-olds, but is probably not recommended for an 80-year-old!

Physical Exercise

It can be thought that exercising regularly will take a lot of time, but this is not the case. We can draw great benefit from as little as 30 minutes , three or four times a week. Physical exercise can be thought of in terms of developing three areas: energy, flexibility, and strength. Probably the most important area for us as leaders is that of energy.

Energy

Energy comes from aerobic exercise, from cardiovascular efficiency: the ability of the heart to pump blood around the body. Examples of aerobic exercise include running, cycling, swimming, and most ball sports (like football or tennis). The aim should be to raise the heart rate for around 30 minutes.

It should be possible to find some form of aerobic exercise that should cost you little, if any, money, which you find enjoyable. There can be great benefit in exercising with other people as you will gain from their support, encouragement, and accountability. This will especially help on those days that you do not feel like exercising!

Flexibility

Flexibility comes mainly through stretching. It is recommended that you warm up before exercising and cool down after exercising. Stretching is an important part of the warm up and cool down procedures, and it will help to prevent soreness and stiffness.

Strength

Strength can be developed through muscle resistant exercises such as push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, and weight lifting. Depending on your situation, this area will probably not be as important to your work as aerobic exercise and stretching.

Rest and Relaxation

The discipline of rest can be thought of as something dull or boring. Perhaps we have images of someone spending hours in bed or sitting at home doing nothing. Fortunately, there is greater scope in this discipline. Rest and relaxation include any activities that will help to revitalise us mentally, emotionally or physically. For some people this will be enjoying some time reading a novel, for others perhaps playing games with some friends, others may enjoy painting or writing, for others it may be a hobby such as hiking, stamp collecting, embroidery, or fishing.

It is good to be aware that not all activities provide rest and relaxation. For example, excessive sleep or excessive television can leave us drained of physical and emotional energy, rather than renewing our resources. We need to take care that the time that we invest in rest and relaxation does not undermine our spiritual and mental lives. As Paul advised the Corinthians, everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial (1 Corinthians 6:12).

Nutrition

"Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, "Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink."… At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food." (Daniel 1:11-15)

Some food companies have used the slogan "You are what you eat" in order to sell their products. Though this is an exaggeration it does underline the importance of what we eat. In order to remain healthy and to maintain our energy levels we need to ensure that we eat a balanced diet. There has been much research into food and eating habits over the past years, and many researchers have come to conflicting conclusions, so it can be difficult to decide a good nutritional policy for our lives. However, the researchers agree on a number of areas, and this is what we will focus on.

A healthy diet should provide the body with all the substances necessary to maintain growth, to keep good health, and to repair damaged tissues. It should contain sufficient amount of food to satisfy the body's energy needs and no more.

Nutritionists classify foods in a number of ways, but they normally include the following groups: dairy products, meat, cereal, and fruit and vegetable. For a balanced diet, we need to eat items from each of the four food groups on a regular basis. Examples of items in each group are:

• Dairy: cheese, eggs, yoghurt, milk
• Meat: fish, red and white meat
• Cereal: bread, potatoes, rice, pasta
• Fruit and vegetables: apples, bananas, tomatoes, carrots, broccoli

In addition, a vital part of our diet is water. Water is often neglected or substituted with 'stimulants' such as coffee, tea, or carbonated drinks. However, these are a poor substitute for drinking water.

Different nutritionists would advise differing quantities of foods from each group, but most would agree that the cereals (which provide us with energy) should be the greatest part of our diet.