The Men of Iron Minute
by Chad Zueck | Director of Content Creation
Necessary Resistance
Scott’s love of fitness and physical health morphed into a dream of being a certified personal trainer. He grew up lifting weights as a teenager and soon fell in love with the physical gains it brought. His confidence grew in proportion to his physical strength, and now he loves to help clients reach better health for better tomorrows. As Scott learned terms like time under tension, muscular strength, and hypertrophy, he was stricken by the word resistance. In an odd gravitational pull towards resistance, he learned to befriend what it meant and the growth it fostered in his workouts. How can someone befriend resistance? Is this a sadistic plot to destroy humanity? Praise God. The answer is a resounding no. Resistance may not change the world, but it can change your life. Scott became enamored by other areas of his life that could benefit from resistance too.
As Scott learned, the fitness space defines resistance training this way: Resistance training is a form of exercise intended to increase muscular strength and endurance. It involves exercising muscles using some form of resistance. This resistance could be weights, bands, or even your own body weight working against gravity. In the everyday man space, resistance is saying no to apathy, indifference, busyness, laziness, greed, or distraction. I like how Schwarzenegger put it, “The resistance that you fight physically in the gym and the resistance that you fight in life can only build a strong character.” Look for necessary resistance. As a man notices areas that need to change and begins to feel like it’s an uphill battle, you’ve met resistance. Facing resistance helps you grow physically, mentally, spiritually, and relationally. Warning: necessary resistance births more necessary resistance. The New Testament word sanctify characterizes how we continually and progressively grow in our faith, confronting outright sin and indifference to sinful patterns. Resistance is not always sin, but resistance helps to rid of sin when we respond well.
Resistance keeps us from praying, believing, and trusting God wholeheartedly.
*Mentorship is a tool designed with the idea of necessary resistance. Mentorship is a helpful and non-judgmental way of sharpening one another while acknowledging the resistance we may or may not see. In a godly manner, mentorship gives a 360-degree view of areas that need attention and increased confidence to master that which we resist.
Easy doesn’t grow a man.
Facing resistance does.
Do something.
Dare greatly.
Be a better man.
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