When I was seven I took my first gymnastics class. I can remember my pigtails and the bright pink leotard I wore (that would have been bejeweled if I’d had it my way). We started our balance beam work on a ground-level beam. First, we started with simply standing, then progressing to walking, then leaping, and jumping. Eventually, my skills progressed to the point where I could do backbends on the thin beam! This skill progression was a result of proper programming focused on building strength and stability.

The same goes for training our bodies for functional movement, sports, triathlons, and activities of everyday living. If we have the proper programming down to progress us to weightier, faster, or bigger movements we will handle them with more efficiency and optimization. Outside of making gains with our lifts, we still require a stable foundation for any movement of everyday living (picking up the laundry, crouching down to fix our car, taking the trash out, nursing the baby–you name it!) If we head into kettlebell swings, squats, and pull-ups without first building our base of support with balance and stability training, we will get hurt and inhibit our performance. Creating a stable base of support before moving onto strength, sports conditioning, hypertrophy training or power training is essential for moving efficiently and optimally.

Stability and balance training work to activate and strengthen our deep core intrinsic core musculature that connects to our spine as well as the tendons, ligaments, and muscles surrounding our joints. These are essential to train because they are what the primary muscle movers pull on when given heavier, more demanding tasks or loads. The workout above incorporates all of these principles!

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:26

As we go about the rest of our day today, let’s not forget that similar to our body’s need for a solid foundation, our souls need it too! Together, let’s commit to building our soul’s foundation on the love of God. On Christ, the solid rock we stand. Everything we do flows from the base of support our soul is on and the river of life our thought life flows from if we so choose it! What is one thing you can do right now to sink your feet deeper into Christ?

 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” 

Matthew 7:24-25

The next time you head into a workout, first ask yourself what your soul needs. Have you sat with God in the stillness in His word and trained your spiritual muscles by putting those words into practice? 

Likewise, next time you head into a workout, ask yourself what your body needs. Are you building muscle on a weak stabilization system? I invite you to take 5-10 mins before every workout to assess where you’re spiritually at and to put into practice a few stabilization exercises you’ve learned today. Be blessed as you challenge yourself and live from His grace every “step-up” of the way.