Category: Fitness

Best purchases?

August 1, 2026

What is the best purchase you have ever made?

I have a few things that I consider really good purchases. All three things changed my life.

  1. My Good News Bible – I got this back in 1990 as a fairly new Christian. It helped me learn and grow in my faith. And it helped me to learn more about Jesus and what He had done for me.
  2. My Gym Equipment – I started buying my own gym equipment back in 1985. It has helped me to stay fit and strong in to my late fifties. I still use my original equipment six days a week.
  3. There is Cure for Arthritis book – This book really changed my life. It helped me to see that being diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis at 12 did not mean a life of being crippled.

If I had to choose the best, it would have to be the Bible. It changed my eternal destiny, while the book and the gym equipment changed my life.

D.I.S.C.I.P.L.I.N.E.

June 9, 2026

I was in the gym this morning and in between sets I was thinking about the word discipline. I wrote down the following in my notebook I record my training in.

D – Determined – getting fitter or stronger or losing weight starts with a determined mindset.

I – Intentional – once we have our goal we need to be intentional in how we are going to achieve it.

S – Strict – when we exercise we need to use controlled and strict form. Injuries set back goals.

C – Committed – commitment is need to see our plan through…even on days when we are not motivated.

I – Intensity – we need intensity of effort when we exercise. We need to push close to failure to improve.

P – Proud – we should be proud of our efforts, our discipline and our commitment to train.

L – Longevity – our goals should always feed in to our long term goal of being fit and healthy as we age.

I – Inspired – we should look around to find motivation and inspiration to fill us up. We can inspire others too.

N – Never quit – our long term goal should be to never quit our health and fitness training.

E – Everyday – we need to find 30 minutes everyday to move. It is an investment in our future lives.

Curious about?

September 8, 2025

What are you curious about?

This is a good question today. What am I curious about? Lately I have been curious about ageing well in the next phase of life.

I have noticed as I get older my body and mind need more rest between bigger efforts. I have found in the gym, I need more days to recover between workouts. The same goes big efforts mentally.

I built a website for our church in the last few weeks. Years ago when I worked as a webmaster I would build huge websites and intranets and it would not take much out of me, but these days it requires more rest afterwards.

So I am curious about work, rest, recovery and ageing well and how that all works in the next phase of life.

Luxury I cannot live without

June 10, 2025

What’s the one luxury you can’t live without?

My gym would be my luxury I could not live without. I know how much of a difference weight training has made and still makes to my life. I could not imagine being without my home gym this past 40 years of training. I love the feeling I get while I do my weight training and how I feel the rest of the week. It has been good for both my physical health and also my mental health. For me personally, it would be hard to live without.

Strength training and stretching

June 9, 2025

One of my go to YouTube channels for fitness advice as I age is Train Right Fitness.

They talk about strength training performed twice per week, at a high level of intensity, with minimal sets. By minimal sets I mean 3-5 total for upper body, 3-5 sets total for lower body, 1-2 for core. That takes about one hour total per week, this leaves plenty of time for recovery and doing other things.

Their philosophy is about taking your muscles to momentary failure in a controlled way. This means on your last couple of reps the weights slow down and you cannot do one more rep in good form, at that point you stop.

A lot of there videos are based on peer reviewed scientific studies. As I get older I find it a lot more interesting and safer than watching a 25 year old fitness influencer secretly on steroids.

The video above is about stretching and weight training. When I was younger I would stretch religiously before weight training and cycling. These days I do not and I find I am way more flexible from just doing weight training in the way they suggest.

If you are interested in starting strength training I would binge watch their videos.