Joey's Prayer Site

Prayer and the Swiss Ball

(Seventh Post on Exercise Thread)

The Swiss Ball is a unique and practical piece of exercise equipment.  Unique in that it allows you to do a variety of exercises.  Practical in that it is so cheap anyone can own one.

I for one have 2 Swiss Balls at home.  I use the ball to do a lot of different exercises.  I use it as a bench to do upper body weight lifts.  I also use it to do abdominal crunches as well as leg extensions.

The Swiss Ball works for the reason that it is a ball.  What makes it so effective for exercise is because it is unstable to sit on.  It is this instability that forces our bodies particularly, the abdominal and back muscles to constantly be engaged. 

Prayer and Swimming

(6th Post on Exercise Thread)

I  love swimming as an exercise.  I love it because of the water, it is cool on my skin and feels good specially living in the Philippines where it can be very hot.

The most basic thing to learn in swimming is how to float.  This can be learned by lying on the water on your back or on your chest.  By doing so you will quickly realize that our bodies freely float in the water. 

This puts you at ease, which is very important when swimming.  The more relaxed the better.  It is only when we are relaxed and floating that we can make the necessary strokes to get us moving in the water.

Prayer and Runner's High

Fifth post on Exercise Thread.

Runner’s High is a phenomenon that people experience when one undertakes continuous strenuous aerobic exercises.  The operative word is continuous – usually this occurs when one exercises over 30 minutes.  This requires perseverance.

Scientists have debated on what causes the high.  On the one hand there are those who believe that our bodies release endorphins while other groups believe that it releases anandamide.  Still otthers believe it releases both.

While the debate rages it is important to point out that both endorphins and anandamide are powerful chemical substances.  As these naturally occurring substances enter one’s bloodstream they naturally relieve our bodies of stress and pain and allows us to run, swim, bike or do exercises for long periods of time.

Prayer and Weight Lifting

Fourth post on Exercise Thread.

Weight lifting is an Anaerobic exercise. If Aerobics means the efficient use of oxygen by pumping our hearts Anaerobic exercise is the exact opposite. Anaerobic simply means “without air or oxygen”.

Aerobic exercises are great for our hearts and for efficiently distributing oxygen to the cells in our bodies.  However, Aerobics alone is incomplete if one is desiring good health.  Anaerobic exercises like weight lifting build our muscles which aid our frame and keep our bodies toned.  Built up muscles aid in reducing fat – muscles love to feed on proteins (including  fats) is just one of the many benefits. 

Prayer and Aerobics

Third post on Exercise Thread

Research shows that aerobics (or cardiovascular work-outs) is one of the healthiest forms of exercise.  Why? Because it helps us use oxygen more efficiently by conditioning the heart and lungs. This pumps our hearts that stirs and moves the waters in our bodies.

Approximately two thirds of our bodies are made up of water.  Now imagine a pool of water in a basin.  Left for days, weeks and months the water will become dirty and full of slime.  In time it will be covered will algae, viruses and bacteria.  This is how some of our bodies look like.

Prayer and New Balance Shoes

Second post on Exercise Thread

A few years ago my friend Joe Clendenney (owner of nbwebexpress.com) the largest retailer of New Balance products on the internet taught me an important lesson that greatly improved my running.

The lesson came in the form of a question.  He asked:  “Do you know the “pronation” of your feet?”  To which I responded, “what in the world is pronation?”

Apparently pronation is how your feet are prone to strike the ground when you run.  The wrong landing each time repeated over hundreds of times on long runs can unnecessarily injure you. 

Prayer and Exercise

First post on Exercise Thread

I am starting a new thread on this site.  The thread is all about prayer and exercise.

About 13 years ago at the age of 37 I began to feel my energy was no longer the same as it was when I was younger.  It was then that I decided to change things. 

My first stab at improving my energy levels was to start an exercise regimen.  For starters I began to swim.  In a matter of days I noticed a big difference with how I felt.  The energy boost was motivation enough to wake up early, pack my trunks and towel, stretch and swim.

Prayer and Melatonin

A few years ago a food supplement called Melatonin took the world by storm.  It was so popular that hundreds of brands surfaced in a matter of a few years.  People took Melatonin because it claimed to be a natural sleep aid.

Melatonin is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland in the brain.  It plays a critical role in determining when we fall asleep and when we wake up.

When the sun goes down and darkness comes our bodies are designed to respond to it.  Internally the pneal gland  releases  Melatonin into our bloodstream.  Melatonin is what makes us sleepy.  Rather than taking it externally it is best generated internally.

Prayer and Calcium

Healthy bodies need healthy bones.  Our bones form the structure that holds the parts of our bodies in place.  The essential nutrients for healthy bones are Calcium and Vitamin D.

In a previous post Prayer and Vitamin D I wrote about the benefits of Vitamin D, one of which is healthy bone development.  However, it is important to point out that without Calcium our bones will not grow, mature and stay healthy.

Prayer and Vitamin B-complex

If you will recall in my first post on this thread of vitamins I started with Prayer and Vitamin C.  There I explained that one of the supplements which I take in regularly is Vitamin B.

Historically Vitamin B was thought to be a single vitamin like Vitamin C.  Future research however showed that what was considered a single vitamin was in reality a set of chemically distinct vitamins that often coexist in the same foods.

When scientists realized this, supplement manufacturers containing all of the 8 B vitamins (B1, B2, B3 others) termed their products B complex.  The value of this combination of vitamins was they were responsible for the efficient metabolism of the body’s cells.  Without them we would be limp, sluggish and always weary.