Faith and Fitness: When Your Workouts Feel Lukewarm

Let's talk about God and the gym.

I go to church, and I feel something when I walk in and something when I walk out. But there's something to be said about the spiritual side of going to the gym and working out. It wasn't always like this for me. When you're still learning what to do, it's hard to get into that level of flow, to go deep enough inside yourself to pull a spiritual experience out of a workout. But once you have your footing, once you know what you're doing, it's beautiful. You can create something truly amazing in there.

So I'll be honest about who this is for, because I hate wasting anyone's time. If you're still new at the gym, there's nothing wrong with being new, but this one isn't for you yet (start here instead). This is for you if you've been going consistently, you're confident in your body, you know your exercises, and things have started to stall. You're going through the motions, not actually connected to your body or the experience.

When the gym feels lukewarm

Here's how it felt for me in that season. I'd walk into the gym and already not want to be there. Lukewarm. Part of my heart broke and part of my heart didn't care. I wanted to be involved, I wanted to feel like I was in my workout, but I was numb, bored, doing the same thing over and over, and the repetition got to me.

It was painful, because I knew I needed to keep doing this for my health, and I knew this was my passion. Something just wasn't clicking, and I couldn't name it. I didn't know how to talk to anyone about it; I couldn't even put it into words. So I went inward. I observed. What is happening right now? What is this experience teaching me, and where is it pointing me?

When you feel that un-jazzed about the thing you do every day, it doesn't stay in the gym.

It leaked into so many parts of my life. I'd been an outgoing person, and I felt like I'd lost my spark. So I was handling an identity crisis, still trying to keep my habits in, still pushing toward my goals, and wondering who I could even talk to about it. That's a lot of moving parts.

How I found God through my workouts

In training we talk a lot about the mind-to-muscle connection. When you connect your mind to the muscle you're working, you get a better contraction, and a better contraction means a better workout. That isn't only a feeling. In one study, lifters who focused on squeezing the muscle during each rep grew more arm muscle over eight weeks than lifters who focused on moving the weight. (Schoenfeld et al., European Journal of Sport Science, 2018)

So I deep-dived on that one principle. I put so much of my time and attention on the connection. It sounds so simple, almost dumb. But honestly, this is how I found God and faith through my workouts.

If this is your first time hearing me, welcome. I'm so happy you're here. The way I speak to God might be a little different from yours. When I ask Him for things, I keep my eyes open for the random ways the answer shows up, because through trial and error I've learned that the way I picture something arriving is often not what He has planned. That's totally fine. I've learned to open up to it.

What I saw was this. At that point, you already know how to do the workouts. You're going through the motions, there's no passion there, and what you're really looking for is that passion: something to come back online and light you up again. So I made the connection the number one thing. Every single rep, I told myself I could do just one more. Just one more. Just one more. I went into the muscle until it couldn't go anymore.

If you read about the ancient tribes and some of the ancient scriptures, one of the ways people connected with their spirit, and with themselves, was through long treks, very hard physical work and fasting. There's a lot out there that seconds what I'm saying. I'm giving it to you quick so you can take it and start applying it.

When you fully deep-dive into that connection, you're one with your body, one with your muscles, and then you're one with creation.

I know that might sound like a violent f***ing jump to some of you. It's because you're not doing it yet. You haven't had the experience, so you don't have enough information to connect the dots to what I'm saying. So go out and give it a try.

Not there yet? Keep coming back

I'll be straight with you: this won't work for everyone. If you want a good workout and you want to feel the spiritual connection I'm talking about, a few things have to come first. Not knowing what you're doing. Caring what people think. Not knowing proper form. Not knowing which muscle you're activating. Those have to be put into practice first. You can't walk in on day one and do this, because it isn't the beginner stage. The connection is the higher stage. That's why the people who are very successful all preach working out.

I don't say that to discourage you. If you're not at that level, you're simply not at that level, and that's perfectly fine. It's fine that you don't have that connection yet.

But I need you to focus on one thing: coming back. Keep going, keep going, keep going. It doesn't matter that you're not there yet, and it doesn't mean you won't get there. That's literally the one secret of it all: you keep showing up at the gym, you keep doing your workouts, you get better at your form, and you get better at not caring what people think. Because realistically, who the f*** cares?

No shame in showing up

If you care what people think, it's because you're not travelling enough. And if you're not travelling enough, walk outside. And if you're not seeing any weirdos doing weird things, go downtown, please.

There is no judgment and shame there for them. And all you want to do is go to the gym? Get some damn perspective. Are you okay?

You going to the gym is going to positively impact a bunch of people.

A lot of times we think personal development is me, me, me. That's the furthest thing from the truth. The reason I'm so into personal development, and into myself, is that I wanted to help so many people, and I realized the only way I could do that was to help myself first.

Go make a difference today

The best way to care about someone else, the best way to give them what they need most in life, is to tap in with yourself and with your Creator. Do the personal development. Figure out what level you're at, and go all in on it.

When you make that your thing, the passion you bring to it is going to light people up around you. It's going to inspire them and touch them, and that energy is exactly what we need more of right now. There are terrible things going on in the world, and putting our attention there won't help; it pulls us in. What we need is to keep one another going, stay positive, and keep building that good energy.

So with all of that said: go out there today and make a difference. Pour into yourself. Be honest about where you're at, what the next steps are, and what learning needs to take place, so you can develop into a better human.

My dog has come with a message, and now I need to go outside. We'll see you later.