With New Year’s around the corner, you might be making plans for your health in 2026. I was a certified personal trainer for several years and have stayed interested in health and fitness. Here are three tips you are likely not aware of.
Take your unique job and lifestyle into account when trying to be healthy. Paul wrote about that in 2 Corinthians 11:28, “Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.” Stress is higher in ministry, and that makes a pastor’s health and fitness different. Allostatic load is a term that means the cumulative stress from all sources and how that affects the body. Some experts that I trust believe that the body has a hard time distinguishing between types of stress. That means that piling super hard workouts on top of church and personal stress can have the opposite effect on your health that you want. The answer is to find the right amount of exercise, strength training, cardio, etc.
Find something that works for you now, not what worked when you were younger. You aren’t 20 anymore, so don’t make plans like you are. Don’t just repeat what worked when you were 17 or 20 or 29. When you were 17, your food, housing, and school situations were totally different. Your mom probably made dinner and did your laundry. When you did two-a-days for football, you didn’t have anything else to do that week. When you were 20, you didn’t have children waking you up or keeping you up. You didn’t have parents that you were caring for. Your testosterone and muscle mass are lower now. Your recovery ability is lower. Your stress is higher. Make plans that will work for where you are right now.
Be careful who you listen to. Steroids and other shortcuts are so common in health and fitness. Building and keeping large amounts of visible muscle with low body fat is incredibly hard to do without steroids or growth hormones, so I’m doubtful when I see it. Some people use old pictures to sell current plans. Some trainers reverse the order of their before-and-after pictures to make their fat loss program look more effective than it really is. Snake oil is everywhere online and at local gyms. Seek advice from local and trustworthy people. Don’t look for the largest or most ripped person. Be wary of all programs and advice, especially advice that promises quick or drastic results. Look for a knowledgeable and reliable person with a track record of helping people like you be healthy. Your doctor might have someone he or she can suggest.
May the Lord bless your efforts to be healthy. May you love him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.
