How to Win the Race
| Do you not know that those
who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way
that you may obtain it. 1 Cor. 9:24, NKJV. |
We've
got an enemy that's always trying to trip us up on our race through life.
Satan wants us to become weary and tired, so he has filled life with all
kinds of stressors, many of our own doing. Such stresses become trials
that sometimes lead to sickness and death. What makes the difference between
living victoriously or losing in defeat may be simply how much exercise
we engage in each week.
Two researchers, David Holmes
and Beth McGilley, chose 34 high-fit and 34 low-fit people to determine
how their heart rate would respond to stress. Half of each group went on
an intensive 13-week aerobic training program. The other half served as
controls. The low-fitness half who did not undergo any training (who served
as controls) showed no change in heart rates between pre- and post-test.
The low-fit subjects who exercised had a similar starting heart rate, but
they were able to lower their resting heart rate significantly as a result
of the training. The low-fit individuals who did not have any training
had an 11.8 beats per minute (bpm) increase in response to the psychological
stressor. When it combined with their already high resting heart rate,
the low-fit individuals exhibited a 29 bpm higher rate change than their
trained and untrained high-fit counterparts and their trained low-fit teammates.
Why is this important? We
know from animal studies that rapid rises in heart rate and blood pressure
greatly increase the risk of damage to the lining of the arteries and therefore
aggravate the process of atherogenesis in damaged arteries. In a nutshell,
unfit individuals who experience stress respond with higher heartbeats,
which increase their risk of developing atherosclerosis of the arteries
and early death from heart attack or stroke.
The bottom line is that if
we wish to win this race called life, we must be physically fit as well
as spiritually fit. The Creator-God designed our bodies to function best
when exercised.
| How can you run the race of life to
obtain the prize of good health? |
|