Lessons from the Iron: The Bible “Lifting” Belt

The weight lifting belt is a common sight at gyms. And its use varies from person to person depending on their goals. Bodybuilders may use it to keep their waist tight to allow them to keep their “V” taper(bro science). Normal every day gym goers may use it to protect their back. And for those who may be attacking heavy weight—powerlifters, strong men or anyone wanting to push his mind and body to the limit—the belt is a tool to enhance their power.

No matter what your goal is when utilizing a belt, it won’t work unless you use it correctly. The goal of the belt is to increase the intra-abdominal pressure by filling the abdomen with air and pushing the abs out against the belt. This intra-abdominal pressure creates 360 degrees of stability allowing the lifter to keep the torso tight to keep the back from rounding, preventing injury, and possibly lifting heavier weight.

But, there are many ways to misuse the belt: wearing it too tight, wearing it too loose, breathing into your chest instead of your gut, or relying on it too much thus not strengthening your lower back muscles and other core muscles.

Just recently I have realized that I need to wear it a little differently for each lift. Traditionally the belt should be worn centered over the belly button. But, when it comes to the core lifts for me, squat, bench, deadlift, I have to wear it a little differently. On the squat and deadlift I need to wear the belt a little higher on my abdomen so it doesn’t pinch at the bottom and I’m able to push my abs into the belt better. On the bench I wear it lower to push against it when I’m arching.

The lifting belt is much like scripture. It is useful but only if utilized correctly. And, the correct use can vary from situation to situation. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”

When teaching, refuting, correcting, and training, the one using scripture must approach the person they are trying to evangelize based on their situation. There are those who choose to use scripture by bashing people over the head with it and attempting to shame or scare them into conversion. I think this strategy may work but only for a minority of people, and probably only for those who are already far on their journey and know scripture. Jesus mainly utilizes this aggressive form of evangelization with the Pharisees, those who are in charge of leading people in their spiritual journeys. Those in a faith leadership position should know better and should lead by example with humility. St. John Chrysostom addressed this when he said, “The road to Hell is paved with the bones of priests and monks, and the skulls of bishops are the lamp posts that light the path.”

When the aggressive approach is used with most people, telling them they are sinners (which we all are), going to hell (which no one can claim to know), disgusting, pagan, etc, they are most likely going to be turned away and hard hearted to the Gospel message. There are many people who have left the Church or didn’t even give it a chance due to Christians attempting to evangelize them by attacking them with scripture.

For most of the people who need to be evangelized, scripture must first be lived as an example. “Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words,” – (attributed to) St. Francis of Assisi. Most of the time, Christians are evangelizing by the way they act whether they know it or not. For the majority of people Christ came into contact with, he did not quote scripture to them, or come out guns blazing calling them a horrible sinner or that they are going to hell. No, he dined with tax collectors and prostitutes, he sits with them by a well and has a conversation with them, he calls them down from a tree and tells them he is going to stay with them. When he called the apostles he didn’t tell them to correct their life and then come follow him, no, the first thing he said was “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men,” Matthew 4:19.

People aren’t drawn to follow Christ by our knowledge of scripture or doctrine. They are drawn in through relationship. Christopher West puts it beautifully in his latest book “Fill These Hearts,” “When Christian teaching is presented without beauty, the heart is turned off and shuts down, even if what’s being presented is true. Worse still, when Christian teaching is set to an “ugly tune,” so to speak-for example, when the presentation of truth is tinged with self-righteousness, condemnation, accusation, or judgmentalism-the truth can come across as an affront to our hearts. And when this happens, our hearts revolt-with good reason: we’re made for beauty. We must have it. We yearn for it. And when the version of Christianity that is presented to us doesn’t supply what we’re looking for, we seek it elsewhere.

If we want others to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ we have to first do as Christ did and call them down from the tree and stay with them, dine with them, love them. And for us to become disciples to then go forth and make disciples we first must, “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore," John 8:11.

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” -- 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

Here’s a very informative video from Chad Aichs, world record holder in powerlifting, on how to use the lifting belt correctly: Aich's Belt Use Tips

Phil Robertson: Racist?

First off, I think it's ridiculous sometimes what gets a nation so hot and bothered and takes our mind off of more important things than what a TV celebrity says in an interview. But, I'm more hot and bothered about people's reactions so here goes...

The piece about Phil in GQ is not written in traditional interview question and answer format. It's more or less an article where the author tells of his experience with Phil and his family. Throughout the article he highlights some of Phil's seemingly "controversial" topics. One of them that has brought some heat upon Phil for being a "racist" is what he says about his experience of working with black people in the fields. Personally, I don't see it that way so here's my interpretation:

 

“I never, with my eyes, saw the mistreatment of any black person. Not once." It is totally possible he never SAW the mistreatment. He was a worker alongside blacks. Unless he is just out right lying, he most probably never saw it happen. Not ALL white people, business owners, farmers were racist bigots.

Also, he may have seen it and didn’t realize it. I have friends who have said things that to my ears were racist/ignorant (though I know the person so I know they didn't mean it this way), but obviously not to them. An example of this is when back in high school a friend of mine said the local movie theater was getting more and more ghetto. Well the only apparent change in the area was that more and more black families were moving into our area. So I interpreted her statement that ghetto means black people.

"Where we lived was all farmers. The blacks worked for the farmers. I hoed cotton with them. I'm with the blacks, because we're white trash." I think he’s talking about class. He was poor (labeled white trash) so he was going to be a worker, laboring with his hands. He would be looked down upon due to his status. Blacks were looked down upon due to the color of their skin. Obviously one was historically treated worse than the other. He was a laborer like the blacks, treated like lower class, but obviously it wasn’t the same.

"We're going across the field.... They're singing and happy. I never heard one of them, one black person, say, ‘I tell you what: These doggone white people’—not a word!... Pre-entitlement, pre-welfare, you say: Were they happy? They were godly; they were happy; no one was singing the blues.” Why in the world would he have heard the blacks talking about mean white people…HE IS WHITE! They probably would never have talked bad about their white bosses in front of another white person in fear that they would be ratted out. And in those days if a black person were to speak up asking for better treatment, better pay, a raise, they were afraid to be fired, beat, or even have their family threatened. There was no other way to act. It had to be "yes suh" and "no suh".

Some people think racism is dead because they live in a predominately white area and never see the conflict/interaction between races. They have no experience to reflect on. And if they were to see it they may not notice it since they have never had to be on the defense due to the shade of their skin.

I have a good friend who I worked with at a Catholic summer camp. We were in the back woods of Georgia. Our team went into town, Tiger, GA, to get some Dairy Queen on a day off. There's nothing like a Dairy Queen Blizzard in the middle of the hot Georgia summer. He was the last in line and tried placing his order but the lady behind the counter kept saying, "Next...Next...", she wouldn't take his order. We also experienced being treated differently at the local Waffle House. No one would come to our table to take our order. And our favorite, experience was when we ate at Waffle House and the whole time southern rock was on the juke box. Well, once we got up to leave all of a sudden Outkast's "Hey Ya" came on. Coincidence? Anyways, if we wouldn't have told people about Dairy Queen no one would have known. We were the only ones from our group who were in the restaurant. No one would have known a member of the camp staff was ever mistreated due to his race. They didn't see.

But you know what? This is just my interpretation. I can't go and ask Phil to sit down and explain every word to me. But, oh wait, Duck Dynasty is on!

Victoria's Secret Fashion Show Collateral Damage

I realized today how little actual TV I’ve been watching when I found out that one of the year’s largest prime-time events that annually tops the ratings and attracts the advertiser-sought 18-49 demographic by the  millions was happening tonight. I became aware of this event when I saw this empowering article from Life Teen:R.I.P. Self-Esteem: On the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show . The Victoria’s Secret Fashion show has been going on for 18 years since 1995.

While scrolling down my Facebook wall I saw the confirmation of what Emily Wilson mentioned in her article, women gathering together for viewing parties all over the world. I shared this article on my Facebook page and it received multiple comments. The synthesis of the comments is an agreement about the article’s point but the commenters would still watch to see the art and fashion.

As referenced in the article, it is possible for women to watch this program and enjoy it while not having their self-esteem affected. I will concede that it is entirely possible for a woman to watch this solely for the appreciation of the fashion. I am fully on the side of Emily’s article but I want to approach this from a different angle. For those women whose self-esteem isn’t affected, those who watch in appreciation of the art and fashion, for those who may even say they are encouraged by the models to be healthier, do you watch the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show with the men you care about present?

For those women who chose to view the program, was your husband around, was your brother, father, male friend, cousin, nephew, or any other male in your life around? If so, do you know their struggles and desires to live a chaste life or not? When I was dating my wife we had many great conversations about each sex’s struggle with chastity. My wife would ask me if it was really that hard for men to keep a chaste mind and lifestyle. She was fully taken aback when I described to her the daily, hourly, by the minute struggles men endure. Everything and anything can and is advertised using sex. When we browse the internet, when we walk through the mall, when we drive past billboards along the high way, we are inundated by society using our concupiscence and fighting against our desire for chastity to sell a product and make a buck.

So I ask again, were any men in your life around? When it comes to fashion, the way we dress, the things we like to do or watch that may be questioned as drawing others into sin, the common choice of defense is, “I’m not responsible for their sin, lust, etc.” But, am I my brother’s keeper? That was Cain’s question to God after taking his brother’s life. God’s answer, banishment, was too much to bear according to Cain. So yes, we are our brother’s keeper. Is your husband working to be a chaste loving man? Was watching the fashion show worth tempting him? Was watching it worth possibly causing your little brother, cousin, relative to drift into lust? Was it worth the effect it may have on other married men present that would directly affect his marriage?

I’m not placing judgment. I’m not saying that women that watched the show are bad people. I truly believe that the majority of women don’t fully grasp men’s struggles for chastity. I would bet that most women did not realize they may have been giving the men in their lives an open invitation to lust.

As mentioned in the Life Teen article, women want to be empowered and respected and not objectified. But, when a woman sits with a man to watch something like this, has it on as if there is nothing wrong, or even goes as far as to tell the man she does mind if he looks at this or any other source of possible temptation to lust, she is giving him permission to objectify all women including herself.

I’ve personally had to struggle with how my actions may affect others. At a certain time in my life I looked back on when I was not living a life of holiness and I was terrified by how I may have caused others to go astray. Christ’s warning against this convicts the heart, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of things that cause sin! Such things must come, but woe to the one through whom they come!” Matt. 18:6-7. My hope and prayer is that this post does not hurt or offend but provides another perspective, one that may not have been thought about.

What's going on?! A blog?

This is a long time coming. I've been debating, thinking, praying about starting a blog for the past 2 years. I try to read a lot and come to my own conclusions about things and have discussions and battles inside my head and sometimes I take those to actual discussions with others. This will allow me to get things out of my head and hopefully spark good conversation and evangelize.

I was also inspired by one of my favorite blogs, The Art of Manliness, with their post: How and Why to Start a Journal. Yeah, just read that.

I plan on blogging about whatever I want because it's mine, MINE I TELL YOU! Anything from my Catholic faith, bodybuilding, powerlifting, fitness, nutrition, LOTR, being a husband, being a dad, and anything else that may come up and how that is all connected is open game.

I got the name for the blog from Christoper West's new book "Fill These Hearts: God, Sex, and the Universal Longing". Christopher uses this phrase, "vertical wildness", to mean "letting good things run wild". He goes on to say, "We have wild desires in us because we're made to "go wild" with God, in God. The saints speak of this as a kind of "divine madness' or "holy intoxication." Take this desire to "go wild" horizontally (that is, to the things of this world), and you end up at a frat party. But aim it heavenward (easier said than done), and you end up launching into infinity." I think this is how life should be lived. "The glory of God is man fully alive." - St. Irenaeus.

It's taken a while to get this going but something happened this week that really put a fire under me so here goes...