PEYTON MANNING MOMENTS

September 30, 2010Read: Luke 9

"But Jesus said, 'You feed them.' They answered him saying, 'But we only have five loaves of bread and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people.'" --Luke 9:13

I've declared this week a Peyton Manning week. Of all the great things that Peyton is known for in the National Football League (NFL), changing the plays at the line of scrimmage is one of them. More often than not, he breaks the huddle, approaches the line and, based on what he sees in the defense, he yells out a different plan. He calls an audible and, in doing so, changes the game.

Now, for Peyton to be able to read the defense is a gift, no doubt. But I'm as impressed with how his offense adapts so quickly to his changing mind. One thing is for certain, you can't work with Peyton and expect routine. As for me? I'd prefer Peyton to simply remember what we agreed in the huddle; 'Just stick to the original plan, would ya?' I love my daily routine. I can deal with the expected.

You know, Jesus was known for calling a few audibles of his own. Like we see in today's passage, asking the impossible, he'd watch his disciples go from scratching their heads to rubbing their eyes. Maybe that's why Jesus so often asked where their faith was. I know He'd ask me the same. Can anyone relate? Anyone else having a week of unfamiliar routes and last-minute audibles? Anyone else rubbing their eyes yet?

--J.P.

MASTERING YOUR BODYWEIGHT How a simple increase in intensity can maximize your workouts

At Prayfit, we rely a lot on bodyweight exercises. In many of our weekly workouts, you'll see maybe a plyo-push up or a jump squat. Those moves are incredible for developing lean muscle. But I want to explain why. Take the plyo-push up for example. During the plyo-push up, you lower your chest toward the floor slowly, then you press yourself up as powerfully and explosively as possible in order to let your hands come off the floor. Some of you can even do clap push-ups, clapping your hands on each rep.

Well, there's a lot of science behind that simple move. See, during a typical push-up (and any standard rep on anything in the gym for that matter) we decelerate the move so that our hands remain in contact with the floor. Same thing with, say, the bench press. We decelerate the bar as we press up so the bar doesn't leave our hands. BUT, during plyo-push ups, we forget about deceleration and allow our hands to leave the floor. Doing so causes more fast-twitch muscle fibers to be utilized. Fast-twitch fibers are those muscle fibers most responsible for tone for the ladies and muscle mass for the guys. The explosive nature of the ply0s calls those fibers into play.

So the next time you see a jump squat or plyo-push up, you know why. AND, when you get too tired during any of those sets, simply resume the exercise with the standard version of that move and you'll help tighten and tone even more.

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