First thing is first. God is first. Always. So let's take a moment to say a prayer together to Him:
“Father, we want to thank you for everything you have done for us and are doing for us right now. We thank you for working out all things together for good for us. Please help us to always keep you in our minds first. We know that we are to love you and to love everyone else. When we are able to do this, we are following your commandments and only good things will happen. Please be with us here today as we learn how to improve the body you gave us. We want to be strong and healthy so we can fulfill the plans you have for us. Please provide us with all the strength we need to do this. We thank you so much, and we love you. Amen.”
Prayer is one of your weapons against evil. Use it often each day.
Prayer should always be a first for everything that you do. When you wake up in the morning, say a prayer to Him. Before you do your weight lifting workout, spend time in prayer to Him. Before every meal, pray. Before you drive to school or work, pray.
If you don't know what to pray, you can always use this guidance and the most perfect prayer from the almighty Jesus Christ:
“And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” — Matthew 6:5-13
One of your weapons in the battle against evil is prayer. Sickness is evil. Unhealthy foods are evil. Use prayer to combat all darkness in evil in your life.
If things aren't going your way, maybe you need more prayer. Talk to God and get to know Him. Things will turn around.
You're going to need a sword to do battle.
Everything in this life will be a battle when you're moving in the right direction towards God. You will battle darkness and evil each and every day. If you're not, be cautious of the calm before the storm and always be ready.
Since you're in a battle, you're going to need a sword. You don't go to battle without your sword.
The Word of God is the Sword of the Spirit. The spiritual realm is real. Just because we don't see things, it doesn't mean something isn't there. When you speak the Word of God, you are fighting away evil and darkness.
Speak the Word of God into existence and it will go out and conquer evil throughout your life.
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;” — Ephesians 6:10-18
You need to have the Word of God available at all times. If you have a smart phone, you can download a Bible app. Please always use the King James Version as I believe this to be the Word of God. Other versions of the Bible have changed many words around, and the King James Version is not difficult to understand when you have God revealing His understanding to you.
Why do you think you've had so much trouble in the past when trying to improve your body?
There is evil all around us in so many different forms. Misinformation is a form of evil and is not the truth. You need the truth and only the truth.
The Word of God is THE only truth you'll need and find. Some things that I say might not be the truth, but I would never tell you something that I didn't believe to be the truth. But it doesn't mean I am correct. I trust God to lead me and to give me the truth. I trust Him to give me the correct guidance so I can lead you here at Weight Lifting Complete.
I do my best to give you the truth, but it's your responsibility to find the truth. The Word of God is the truth and will guide you to the truth. You will be given guidance from God as you move throughout this Weight Lifting Complete guide. If something doesn't feel right for you, trust God. Not me.
The best way to get the results you want is to trust God in all things. I am here to get you started and I'll be here if you need me, but God is the one you'll want guiding your path. Trust me. No one else will do.
With God guiding you, I promise you will reach your goals. And you'll not only reach them, but God will overflow your life with so many rewards that you'll laugh at the goals you have right now.
You now know the importance of prayer and the Word of God. What's next?
Please never forget that you need God protecting you at all times. In order for that to happen, you have to take action. It's not Him, but you. You need to pray often and you need to speak the Word of God into existence in your life. Read the Bible and speak the words out loud.
This is how you are protected from darkness and evil. So remember that first. Always. A healthy meal is no good without first asking God to bless your meal. Reaching a new personal record on a weight lifting exercise is no good if you don't praise God for giving you that new strength. God is first. Everything else will fall into place.
Never forget the words you see above. Prayer and the Word of God is first.
You need to increase your activity level. Keep it moving.
I don't believe God made us to sit around most of the day. I have a job where I sit at my desk most of the day working on a computer. And obviously everything you see here was written sitting at a computer.
I have to take a couple of breaks during the day and get moving. When I do this, I am much more productive and my brain is clearer. This tells me God is working through the exercise I am doing. You need to be moving throughout the day.
How do you make sure you're moving enough?
I like to wear a watch that keeps track of my heart rate and number of steps throughout the day. I personally use a Fitbit to do this for me, and I absolutely love it because it also keeps track of my sleep automatically. I can also enter my food intake into the app from my smart phone.
You don't have to use a Fitbit or activity tracker, but I think you'll find one very useful to ensure you are moving often throughout the day. If you already have an activity tracker or plan to get one, a good starting point is averaging 10,000 steps per day.
“You've got to move it, move it.” Keep it moving.
If you're not accustomed to moving as much, shoot for a lower goal to start and increase it over time. For example, try to average 5,000 steps per day. Once you reach that for a while, move that goal up to 6,000 steps per day.
I highly recommend you track how much you move each day. It's actually very fun and you can start competing with others as well. My wife and I have a battle many days to see who gets the most steps. She usually wins, but I joke with her that her Fitbit isn't working right.
Increasing activity is the number one way to feel better and look better. It's that simple. Move more.
Taking results to a new level: one that you've never seen before.
We're going to take the results to a new level, though, by adding regular weight lifting and regular cardiovascular exercise. We're also going to improve your eating habits to make sure you're always moving the correct direction.
Building lean muscle and burning nasty body fat is the direction you want to move. Please read that previous sentence again and understand what you're reading. I'll explain more.
Weight loss is not the goal to have. Let me explain.
Some of you reading this might be here because you want or need to lose weight. Having a lower body weight can help in many ways. As an example, less impact on your joints and less work for organs within your body. Higher body weight can lead to additional issues such as high blood pressure.
So yes, weight loss might be why you're here.
But trust me on this one. If you make weight loss your goal, you'll most likely want to see the number on the scale go down as quickly as possible. Then you start changing things in order to see your body weight decrease as quickly as possible.
Yes, I've done this myself in the past. This resulted in a “skinny-fat” type look where I was much smaller overall but I still had lots of body fat. I had lost most of my muscle mass and kept much of the body fat. Not good for health or appearance.
You don't want to lose lean muscle mass in order to lose weight fast.
When you start trying to lose body weight as fast as possible, you begin to lose lean muscle mass. Fast weight loss usually occurs from losing water and muscle mass along with some body fat.
When you lose muscle, though, you are losing something that is very good. Muscle is active tissue that works for you. Extra body fat is not needed. So you want to focus on losing the body fat which decreases your body weight.
You want to keep the muscle.
Since you want to keep lean muscle mass and lose body fat…
Weight lifting is the key to building lean muscle and to maintaining lean muscle while you focus on burning body fat.
Cardiovascular exercise allows you to burn more calories and body fat while doing exercise.
Both weight lifting and cardiovascular exercise increase your metabolism and allow your body to continue to burn fat.
If you try to lose weight without weight lifting or any resistance exercise, you will most likely lose a much greater amount of muscle mass. If you do too much cardio without resistance training, you can burn muscle as quickly as body fat.
The foods you eat also play a huge role in building muscle and burning fat.
“And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.” — Genesis 1:29
Many people seem to believe that the above verse means you can eat any food that you want. The foods that you eat are choices that you make. No one makes you put certain foods in your mouth to eat. Or at least I hope not.
If you read the verse from Genesis, you'll see that God did give us food to eat. What God didn't do is genetically modify food so people can make more money. Unhealthy foods are everywhere today. Remember, evil doesn't come from God. Unhealthy foods and junk food are not from God as they will hurt you.
This is an example of darkness and evil entering our food supply. When this happened, our health started to decline. This is why we need to ask God for His protection as it's almost impossible to eliminate all unhealthy substances from your diet.
We fight bad food choices with more bad choices.
Once our health begins to decline, we go see the doctor. There are a large number of great doctors out there, but there are also a great number of doctors out there who contribute to the darkness.
Medicines are prescribed to combat laziness and bad food choices.
Instead, we need to turn to God first. Prayer and the Word of God will change everything. You will then make better choices and be led by His Spirit in the right direction: “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” — John 16:13
Yes, you should see your doctor when you are having health issues. But, you need to find the root cause of your health issues first.
Any good doctor will tell you this.
If you've been exercising consistently and eating truly healthy foods, then you may have an issue that truly needs medicine. God gave us doctors and medicine so use them if needed. If you're taking medicine to combat laziness and a bad diet, the medicine is just a band-aid and additional issues will come up later.
Get a good plan for exercise and a good diet plan. This is what you need first if you're beginning to have any health issues.
A yearly physical will tell you the status of your health. If you notice anything getting worse, then you need to get the darkness out of your life that comes in the form of bad foods, bad drinks, no exercise, too much work, no rest, or even laziness.
Remember, the Holy Spirit will guide you in all things. Stay with Him.
Let's summarize and then move onto the basics of the program.
Here's what you know so far:
- God first. He's first when you wake up in the morning and first in all things you do each day. Prayer and the Word of God will keep you going in the right direction at all times. Nothing else will do.
- God is the truth. Nothing else will do. Follow God and let the Holy Spirit guide you in all decisions you make. What you or I speak may not always be the truth, but what God speaks is certainly the truth. Always follow the truth.
- You were created to be great. You weren't made to sit all day. Get up and move more throughout the day. Increase your activity level unless you're already at a high level of fitness. Increasing activity will improve your health and appearance.
- Your goal is not weight loss. Your goal is to build lean muscle and lose body fat. This leads to results you'll want and be extremely happy with. You'll look great and feel great. Your health will improve quickly.
- The food and drink choices you make play a huge role in the results you achieve. You can control your results through healthy foods. Junk food, genetically modified food, and processed food will hurt you. Unhealthy drinks will hurt you.
- Don't make additional bad choices due to other bad choices you have made. This will take you down a dark and lonely road. Get things right in your life. God is the home base and leader of your life. Start there. Make new choices based on Him and what He wants in your life. God has a plan for you.
So you're going to use weight lifting to focus on building muscle, cardiovascular exercise to burn body fat, and use a great diet plan to control your results.
Let's move onto the basics of what you're going to need to follow this program.
Next, let's see what you need to follow the Weight Lifting Complete program.
Go here next: Basic equipment you'll need for the Weight Lifting Complete Program.
You'll find everything you'll need there to execute the WLC Program flawlessly.
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