Welcome to Day 4 of the Faith and Fitness Challenge!
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Hello Challenger -
Welcome to Day 4. Congratulations on making it this far in the Challenge, you are well on your way to a healthier fitter you! This has been an amazing experience so far, and the good news is: it doesn't have to end here. Spirit and Muscle Academy picks up where this challenge leaves off. More on that later, right now let's get into today's Challenge!
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Faith Challenge: Romans 12:1
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Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy,
to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God,
which is your spiritual service of worship.
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Day 4 Devotional: The problem with a living sacrifice is it tends to crawl off the altar. It's interesting to me that God calls us to sacrifice the part of ourselves most given to sin, our fleshly bodies. Our body's default setting is sin, laziness and gluttony. Here's where a solid fitness program is useful in the life of the believer, providing structure and accountability in putting into practice today's verse. Of course it doesn't stop in the gym, everything we do can become an act of worship to God.
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Going deeper: Go to Bible Hub and type this verse in the search bar. You will see different translations, cross references and commentaries to give you deeper insight on how you can apply this verse to your life.
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Day 4 Prayer Focus: In prayer and worship offer your body as a living sacrifice to God today, offer everything you do today as an offering to God. Also please continue praying for His blessing on this Challenge and for all the participants.
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Day 4 - Reach Your Fitness Goals - Virtually Guaranteed!
In today's Video training, learn how to set highly achievable goals AND how to achieve them! This session will help you get direction, focus, clarity in decision making, and control of your fitness journey, virtually guaranteeing you reach your fitness goals!
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Exercise Challenge: Day 4 - "Move More" (Cardio)
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If you have access to a gym or cardio machine (stationary bike, treadmill, elliptical machine): choose your preferred cardio exercise. If you are working out at home: take a brisk walk. You can even walk in place indoors if the weather is not conducive.
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Beginners: First warm up for 5 minutes at a light pace, meaning a slow comfortable pace. Then walk or ride briskly for 20-30+ minutes or as long as you can. If you did 20 minutes Tuesday, today try for 25 minutes! You should be able to talk, barely, a few words at a time. If you can carry on a normal conversation too comfortably then increase your speed a little. Hold this moderate level of intensity as long as you can. When you can't go any longer, cool down for 5 minutes at a light pace.
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Intermediate: Perform 30-50 minutes of moderate intensity cardio exercise of choice. Add 5-10 minutes to what you did Tuesday. Remember to warm up and cool down for 5 minutes each at a lower intensity.
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Advanced: Continue with your regular workout routine for today.
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Day 4 - Stretching: Legs
Refer to the "Spirit & Muscle Safe Stretching Guide" (pages 3-4 of your Notebook) for the benefits of stretching and the proper and safe way to stretch.
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Beginners and Intermediate: Since we used primarily legs in our cardio workout, do the following stretches:
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Advanced: Continue with your regular stretching routine.
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Nutrition Challenge: Day 4 - Plan Ahead
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Before we go on to today's nutrition challenge, take a few minutes to go over your 2 day Nutrition Assessment from Day 1. What do your current eating habits reveal about your current state of fitness? What are your strengths? Your weaknesses? How do your calories and macros compare with the your daily calorie and macro goals from the Estimated Calories and Macros Worksheet? What changes do you have to make to move closer to your daily calorie and macro goals? This exercise is not meant to heap guilt on you, rather simply to reveal the truth about your current eating habits. Answering these questions honestly will give you knowledge to empower you to move forward with confidence.
Day 4 Nutrition Challenge: "If you fail to plan then you plan to fail." When you first start tracking your food intake, it's nearly impossible to hit your calorie and macronutrient goals without planning ahead. The easiest way to succeed is to plan out what you're going to eat tomorrow today. Take a few minutes each evening before you go to bed to plug into MyFitnessPal, or whatever app you use, what you're going to eat the next day - breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks - make sure that the calories and macronutrients all add up. And then the next day you simply follow your plan. Having a plan mentally prepares you for success.
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***When Complete***
When you complete the exercise and nutrition challenges for today, don't forget to mark them off in your Challenge Workbook. Share your successes and struggles and pics if you want with the community in our Facebook group!
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Congratulations - Day 4 Complete!
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Congratulations you have completed Day 4 of the Faith and Fitness Challenge. Now relax and enjoy the rest of your day and I'll see you bright and early tomorrow for Day 5.
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