July 15, 2010Read: Mark 9

"I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ, will certainly not lose his reward." --Mark 9:41

All week long, I've had this thought running through my mind: He who knows us best, loves us most. I'd like to break it down, if I may.

"He who knows us." Have you ever considered that God actually knows you? If someone famous knew you, how would that make you feel? You'd likely want to do a little name-dropping now and then, huh? Come to think of it,  this year I met some pretty big stars, but I bet not one of them can actually look up and count them. "He," on the other hand, can.

Am I as likely to drop His name?

"He who knows us best." We all have close friends, spouses, parents, and siblings. Some of us even have twins! But nobody, and I mean nobody, under the sun knows you better than the Son Himself. From thoughts we haven't even thought to the ones we wish to forget, He knows us best.

"He who knows us best, loves us most." Here's the kicker. He actually loves us. He doesn't like us or tolerate us. He doesn't excuse us or simply endure us.  He loves us. More than you love your kids, your husband or grandmother. Imagine?

"He who knows you best, loves you most."  You know,  it's really not a matter of how far we'll go in this life, but more about where we'd be without Him.

I feel like name-dropping. How 'bout you?

--J.P.

PRAYFIT 101: HIGH-INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING

Earlier this week, we introduced some serious interval cardio programs for you to try, and for good reason. Intervals are a great way to help people burn calories and get their bodies in serious motion. But how exactly do these high-octane bouts of cardio, more commonly known as HIIT or high intensity interval training, work in your favor?

>> What is HIIT? HIIT cardio involves intervals of high-intensity exercise -- at a rate near 90% of your max heart rate (read: about as fast as you can go) -- followed by intervals of slower-paced active recovery. A typical session will involve a two-minute warm-up of speed walking or slow jogging, followed by 12 minutes worth of work where  you alternate 30-second sprints with one-minute slow jogs. Then you cool down -- another walk -- for two minutes. Total time: 16 minutes. Total fat burned: much more than you're used to!

>> How is it superior to steady-state cardio? HIIT cardio is the best way to lose fat, despite the fact that it requires less total time. You can run at a slow or moderate pace for longer and still not trigger the same kind of fat loss as you would through a HIIT workout. The reason is simple -- the harder you work at anything in fitness, the faster your body will respond. So if you're doing, say, 10 all-out sprints at 30 seconds each, mixed in with slow jogs of a minute each, you've actally sprinted hard for five minutes total -- something you wouldn't be able to do without breaking it up. Long story short -- it's harder work, broken up into more manageable segments.

>> Is there research to support these claims? Uhh...boatloads. A 1996 study from Baylor College of Medicine (Houston) reported that subjects who performed a HIIT workout on a stationary cycle burned significantly more calories during the 24 hours following the workout than those who cycled at a moderate, steady-state intensity due to a rise in resting metabolism. Why? Since HIIT is tougher on the body, it requires more energy to repair itself afterward so you get the benefit of burning fat while you're catching up on your DVR inventory.

A study presented by Florida State University (Tallahassee) researchers at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) reported that subjects who performed HIIT cardio burned almost 10% more calories during the 24 hours following exercise than a steady-state group, despite the fact that the total calories burned during each workout were the same.

>> Do we have your attention now? Try the PrayFit Workout of the Week, "The Third Day."  Post your experience with it into your own workout log on the PrayFit forums or into the comments section below.

>> POLL: Where do you workout?

>> POLL: When do you workout?

Originally posted 12/3/2009.