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Health Devotional
How to Win the Race
Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. 1 Cor. 9:24, NKJV.
We've got an enemy that's always trying to trip us up on our race through life. Satan wants us to become weary and tired, so he has filled life with all kinds of stressors, many of our own doing. Such stresses become trials that sometimes lead to sickness and death. What makes the difference between living victoriously or losing in defeat may be simply how much exercise we engage in each week.
Two researchers, David Holmes and Beth McGilley, chose 34 high-fit and 34 low-fit people to determine how their heart rate would respond to stress. Half of each group went on an intensive 13-week aerobic training program. The other half served as controls. The low-fitness half who did not undergo any training (who served as controls) showed no change in heart rates between pre- and post-test. The low-fit subjects who exercised had a similar starting heart rate, but they were able to lower their resting heart rate significantly as a result of the training. The low-fit individuals who did not have any training had an 11.8 beats per minute (bpm) increase in response to the psychological stressor. When it combined with their already high resting heart rate, the low-fit individuals exhibited a 29 bpm higher rate change than their trained and untrained high-fit counterparts and their trained low-fit teammates.
Why is this important? We know from animal studies that rapid rises in heart rate and blood pressure greatly increase the risk of damage to the lining of the arteries and therefore aggravate the process of atherogenesis in damaged arteries. In a nutshell, unfit individuals who experience stress respond with higher heartbeats, which increase their risk of developing atherosclerosis of the arteries and early death from heart attack or stroke.
The bottom line is that if we wish to win this race called life, we must be physically fit as well as spiritually fit. The Creator-God designed our bodies to function best when exercised.
How can you run the race of life to obtain the prize of good health?
We've got an enemy that's always trying to trip us up on our race through life. Satan wants us to become weary and tired, so he has filled life with all kinds of stressors, many of our own doing. Such stresses become trials that sometimes lead to sickness and death. What makes the difference between living victoriously or losing in defeat may be simply how much exercise we engage in each week.
Two researchers, David Holmes and Beth McGilley, chose 34 high-fit and 34 low-fit people to determine how their heart rate would respond to stress. Half of each group went on an intensive 13-week aerobic training program. The other half served as controls. The low-fitness half who did not undergo any training (who served as controls) showed no change in heart rates between pre- and post-test. The low-fit subjects who exercised had a similar starting heart rate, but they were able to lower their resting heart rate significantly as a result of the training. The low-fit individuals who did not have any training had an 11.8 beats per minute (bpm) increase in response to the psychological stressor. When it combined with their already high resting heart rate, the low-fit individuals exhibited a 29 bpm higher rate change than their trained and untrained high-fit counterparts and their trained low-fit teammates.
Why is this important? We know from animal studies that rapid rises in heart rate and blood pressure greatly increase the risk of damage to the lining of the arteries and therefore aggravate the process of atherogenesis in damaged arteries. In a nutshell, unfit individuals who experience stress respond with higher heartbeats, which increase their risk of developing atherosclerosis of the arteries and early death from heart attack or stroke.
The bottom line is that if we wish to win this race called life, we must be physically fit as well as spiritually fit. The Creator-God designed our bodies to function best when exercised.
How can you run the race of life to obtain the prize of good health?
Used by permission of Health Ministries, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.
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