Want to Begin Exercising? Check out Your Local Church

I have an elliptical at home, but too many days after work it is easy to find a hundred other things to do rather than jump on the machine for thirty minutes. I guess it got boring too, doing the same form of exercise all the time. Wanting to join a gym, but not having much money I called the list I found on google. The ones reasonably priced were not located conveniently and the ones close to me or my work were far too expensive. That’s when I remembered my church has a gym.

Let's Go...

It's been about eight weeks that I've been going to gym at Brainerd Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tn. Some days I have to push myself to drive that direction, (it's only three miles from the hospital I work at) but the more I go, the easier it becomes. I love the fact that it is on my way home, I don't have to pass the house to get there.

What Should I Do?

There are plenty of stair steppers, elliptical, treadmills, and a padded walk/run track. They also have weight training machines focusing on each part of the body. In a separate room they offer heavy weight training that the bodybuilders use. They offer classes like core training and yoga as well as a cycle room. On the first floor there is a full size basketball court. Because I paid up front it was only $75.00 for the year.

At the age of 50 (gulp) I don't expect to get my 20 year old body back, or be that skinny. I want to lower my blood sugar and improve my health so that I preserve my mobility and strength for the future. When I finish a workout, I feel fantastic. It improves my mood and I can tell the next day at work my stamina is greatly improved. I listen to inspirational music rather than watch the televisions to feed my soul while I build my strength. The thing that I notice that encourages me is that there are all body types, young and old coming to do the same thing I am.

You Come First

As nurses, we often put others before ourselves. It is in our nurse DNA. We know what to do, it's putting it into practice that we sometimes have trouble with. If you are looking for a non threatening atmosphere to begin or continue a workout regimen, look into your local churches.

Some pastors are challenging their congregation to lose weight and be more active. The American Heart Association released an article in August that featured such a pastor. Pastor Steve Reynolds at Capital Baptist Church in Annandale, Virginia lost 130 pounds using a program he developed called Bod4God.

"I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes," he said. "Today I'm 57 years old, and I'm disease free."

Healthy....

We in the healthcare community acknowledge the obvious; weight control and exercise are extremely beneficial to our bodies. However, we are human too, with busy schedules, hang ups, financial problems, that affect our ability to focus on ourselves. More and more churches are not only jumping on the fitness center bandwagon, but offering blood pressure and cholesterol screenings in partnership with the AHA.

Making sure we integrate physical health with spiritual and mental is a must for each category to be effective as a whole. These church based programs are in response to the rising awareness of health problems caused by obesity coupled with the national focus on childhood obesity by the first lady Michelle Obama according to the article, "Churches focus on being holy and healthy."

T.D. Jakes says this about adding physical fitness to our daily activities, "No matter how much talent you have in your mind and spirit, if your body is not able to function you are not able to fulfill your destiny."

The most important factor in all this, is being our own advocate. We do heroic acts on a daily basis that never get acknowledged, because it's our job. Let's reward ourselves with honoring our bodies like we honor our profession and God. In the article, "Churches and fitness - a growing trend," Rob Killen says that while healthy eating choices are important, nothing is as vital as improving physical health too.

Church-sponsored Programs

Churches realize that adding programs to their campus will help them financially, along with being a great outreach ministry. Patrons can feed their need for fellowship and make new friends while getting healthy. We all can use some encouragement, right?

Need an attitude adjustment? Try exercising, it releases chemicals that improve attitude and help depression. Exercise also improves our performance in daily tasks. I know I feel better physically and emotionally after a workout. The less flabby arms and butt are a bonus. We encourage our patients to eat healthy and be active, so let's do the same for ourselves.

References

American Heart Association News. "Churches are increasingly adding health and fitness to ministry outreach." August 18, 2015. American Heart Association. 9 Sept. 2015. Web.

Harris, Hamil R. "Churches focus on being holy and healthy." June 29, 2015. The Washington Post. 14 Sept. 2015. Web.

Killen, Rob. "Churches and Fitness - a Growing Trend. August/Sept. 2015. Faith & Fitness Magazine. 15 Sept. 2015. Web.

Specializes in ER, progressive care.

I do not belong to a church. I work off my stress at the gym. I feel like gyms are a lot more affordable nowadays than they used to be. It's important to make time for yourself, even if it's 30 minutes a day.

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