Exercise: The Good Alcohol

Please know that I am of sober mind and body as I type this; I am not in a state of exercise-induced intoxication.  Perhaps this may post might be better if I had just been on the rower.  At least I came up with the idea after being on the rower.

Exercise can be like alcohol.  No, this is not drinking a beer for each lap or a beer for each mile.  No, in fact this does not have anything to do with the type of alcohol which can result in a DUI.  It does, however, have much to do with a freeing of the mind and a freeing of the mouth.  In running, it is often referred to as "the runner's high." It has this in common with alcohol:  It is a type of liberation quite refreshing to those of us who are either naturally or by force of habit or by force of will rather self-restrained.  I think I am one of these.

I first learned of the intoxicating effects of exercise while running with the Woodside Striders, a competitive running club.  Running was the vehicle, and running with the Striders gave me a very strong dose of the drug!  It is one thing to do gentle exercise; to do a 20-minute brisk walk or easy jog.  There is no doubt that such exercise is good for the health and good for your general mood.  20 quarters (400 meters) at a hard running pace with only 100-200 meters JOG recovery is another thing altogether!  This is not all.  Imagine the workout began with a 1-mile warmup and will conclude with a 1-mile cooldown.  Imagine that after finishing the 20 quarters, you are informed (surprise!) you will complete 10 x 200 meters at a hard pace (nearly a sprint) with 100 meter JOG recoveries between each...THEN you will have your 1-mile cooldown jog.  Yes, that is a different kind of thing altogether.

The kinds of workouts I referred to in the preceding paragraph illustrate opposite ends of the spectrum.  At one end of the spectrum is the healthy feeling and slight buzz that often occurs as a result of mild and moderate exercise.  At the other end is the relative drunkenness which results from a very hard workout.  It really is intoxicating, and it really does free up the inhibitions.  I was a fairly shy and reserved teen, especially with those of the opposite sex.  Running was my alcohol.  If I wanted to be able to look a girl in the eye and feel confident - or speak to her and not feel uncomfortably self-conscious, a hard workout was my drink.  A race was good too.  These things gave me the confidence to be bold - or at least to THINK boldly...because the opportunity to say and do those things I felt so free to do were often not conveniently there.  Maybe that was a good thing.

As a teen it was about girls and the means to overcome my shyness and lack of confidence.  As an adult it is about much more.  Not every workout should be super-hard, but there needs to be some which are.  It is good for the soul.  It is good as a mirror to discover who you really are and who you really desire to be.  Can you overcome the natural wimpiness and timidity that urges you to stop short of self-realization and victory?  Each unwarranted abandonment of an otherwise good workout is like a surrender to timidity.  Each unwarranted surrender changes you into that person you really don't want to be - the timid and wimpy person who restrains himself not out of a real prudence and good sense, but instead out of shameful pain-avoidance and timidity.  Surely we don't want our self-realization to come that way - with self-defeat.

Rowing on my Concept 2 rowing machine has been a real truth-tester for me.  Do I really have the guts to slave away at sub 2:00/500m for 20 minutes - staring at a tree?  Running and cycling workouts are made easier by the fact that much of the time I am miles away from home; I have to at least get back home to experience creature comforts.  On the rowing machine I am 20 feet from the sliding glass door to the house; 20 feet from food, drink, toys, loving smiles, happy laughter, and all the comforts...well, all the comforts a hobbit (this is for you, Tolkien fans!) could want.  The mind battles itself during these trials.  The stiffer the pace is, the greater the internal struggle.

I'm off topic a little bit, but it's all related.  Enduring the struggle not only makes me progressively more and more the person I want to be, but it probably makes me more and more the person my family wants me to be...and maybe more the person I (in a cosmic sense) SHOULD be.  Aside from the struggle and victory components, there is the very real reward of the mind liberation I referred to earlier.  Problems and issues which felt so hazy, difficult, and unapproachable become surmountable.  If there was something bold and true I should have thought or should have said, this comes to the fore of the mind with crystal-clarity as an unavoidable must-do.  Indeed, the clarity is such that I wonder why I would have every thought otherwise.

Make no mistake, hard exercise is no substitute for God, prayer, or proper theological or other type of study.  I am not advocating some new exercise "religion."  I am convinced though that it (hard exercise) does help with these things.  In past centuries the exercise was much easier to come by; now many of us have to force it - find time for it.  I am convinced that it is indeed worth it.  It is the "good" alcohol.  It releases inhibitions not through muddying-up the mind, but by giving clarity and by both requiring, giving, and promoting a good and right boldness.

The Romans 12:2 Change

"And fashion not yourselves like unto this world, but be ye changed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what that good, and acceptable and perfect will of God is." (Romans 12:2, GNV)

Some thoughts on the passage:

This command for the follower of Christ is so simple - yet very radical at the same time.  It is "simple" in the sense that a renewed mind will automatically think differently than a not-renewed mind...so this should work to guide the actions.  However, it is "radical" in the sense that actions coming from a renewed mind, will necessarily clash and conflict with the thinking and actions of the "world" (i.e. the thinking and actions of those people whose minds are not renewed).  So, to "this world" the thinking and actions of the follower of Christ will be radical and strange.  No, not because of different clothes, hairstyle, or speech pattern. These things may indeed change with the new birth - but in many cases they won't and don't need to.  Instead, "...be ye changed" has to refer to the fact that the true follower of Christ will be characterized by trustworthiness, integrity, and unflinching adherence to truth - even when it would seem to not be in his best interest.  A Christian however must be committed to such changes - and indeed make it a lifestyle - because his Master is the very definition and embodiment of Truth (John 14.6) - and Satan conversely is described as "the father of lies." (John 8:44)

Don't misunderstand me.  Christians are not universally trustworthy, full-of-integrity, and honest.  There is not one of us who is! However, this is what we should strive for (by God's grace) and it is what our lives should be characterized by.  May God grant both me and you the renewed mind and the boldness to be different - to be not conformed to the world.