FTF #81

🔎 In This Fit Tip Friday 

 Inside you'll find:

• 📖 Stories of strength - Beowulf

• 💪 Exercise as outsourced movement

• 🗓️ Workout on Mondays

• 📃 Something I've enjoyed 

• 📜 Quote for the Week

📖 Stories of Strength - Beowulf

I read Beowulf for the first time this year. If you haven't read it yet, stop reading this newsletter and go pick it up. Beowulf's story will make you want to sail across the sea to find a Grendel to fight. King Hrothgar's realm is haunted by the vicious monster Grendel. This malicious brute only comes out at night, hunts men, and had tormented King Hrothgar for years. When Beowulf hears about Grendel, he sails across the sea to assist King Hrothgar. Beowulf and his men wait in the hall Grendel typically haunts as the sun sets. Each man tries to ward off sleep, knowing the monster will arrive soon. The monster arrives. Within an instant he pounces on a man and devours him. With blood dripping from his lips, he lays his hands on Beowulf, thinking he will be as easy to devour as the first man.To Grendel's shock, his grip is met with one that rivals his own. Beowulf drops his sword, seeing that Grendel is unarmed, wanting a fair fight. The two grapple with each other for hours all over the hall. Eventually, Beowulf puts Grendel in an arm-bar, and with his mighty grip he tears Grendel's arm off. Grendel, mortally wounded, flees from the hall before Beowulf can finish the job himself. 

💪 Exercise as Outsourced Movement

Most of our jobs don't require much physical movement. In fact, if you're a guy, you're probably only taking 5,000 every day. This inactivity is a novel phenomenon that evolved with the rise of Industrialization. Fundamentally, exercise replaces movement that we've lost due to our modern day lifestyles.

• We don't have to physically labor for our food

• We don't have to walk long distances to get to places

• We don't have to lift, pull, or carry objects anymore

This is not a call to ancestral living. This is a reminder that God created our bodies as marvelous gifts that we should use to move. So, when our work does not require much movement from our bodies, we can outsource that movement through exercise, so that we can steward our bodies and work even more effectively. 

🗓️ Workout on Mondays 

If you're a guy with a family & 9-5 schedule, there are going to be unexpected things that occur during the week.One of your kids will unexpectedly get sick. There will be a surprise assignment or problem at work that requires extra time. Something will break in the house.  

Get ahead of the unexpected by starting your weekly exercise routine on a Monday. Do it right after you wake up on a Monday morning, before the responsibilities of the week demands your attention.It's hard. But so is everything worth doing.Show up every Monday morning for a month and see what happens.

🖋️ Something I've Enjoyed

Greek Yogurt parfait. This has been my go-to snack, a dessert substitute, quick breakfast, or gotta-have-something-sweet-right-now snack.Here are the ingredients:

• 3/4 cup of Greek Yogurt (plain, no added sugar)

• 1 tablespoon of honey

• 1 apple, diced 

There's ~15-20g of protein in this delicious mix, at <300 calories, with all kinds of vitamins, minerals, and yogurt cultures to boot. So good. So delicious. So simple. 

📜Quote for the Week

“They have seen my strength for themselves, have watched me rise from the darkness of war, dripping with my enemies’ blood. I drove five great giants into chains, chased all of that race from the earth. I swam in the blackness of night, hunting monsters out of the ocean, and killing them one by one; death was my errand and the fate they had earned. Now Grendel and I are called together, and I’ve come.”

- From Beowulf