I believe the world works in a rhythm. Obviously we have the seasons of weather and the cycle of our days and weeks, months and years. We operate on these patterns and repetitions and become successful when we master what needs to get done on a continuous basis. But I also believe that repetition needs to include moments of rest and renewal in order to keep progress going.

It’s been widely reported this week that Aaron Rodgers has come out of his four-day total darkness were all he had was a bed, a toilet, and a yoga mat inside his very small and dark quarters. I’m sure some sports fans have thoughts on this tactic and other sports fans and casual on-lookers roll their eyes. But could Green Bay’s QB1 actually be on to something? Many Christians believe a Sabbath day of rest is essential for their spiritual walk with God. Our culture’s reliance on and obsession with technology has led many to impose a period of no screens to give the mind (and eyes, the doorway to the soul) a much needed break. On this Sunday morning as I sit alone with my own personal thoughts, I wonder if there is a connection between Rodgers’ extended solitude and a Sabbath day of rest.

I have a challenge for you: take your phone and turn the screen setting to grey scale. On my iPhone it’s under Accessibility-Display-Color Filters. Looks weird, right?

Now maybe it’s just me, but I’d be willing to bet that after a few moments or maybe a few tries at this, you’ll notice less visual stimulation from your device. Those colors, those apps, the worlds of information and entertainment inside those apps suddenly, if only moderately, are less immediate, less important. I feel like I’m taking control.

Every so often Katie and the kids are gone and I have the house to myself. I’m pulled in multiple directions: part of me wants to clean, another part wants to watch YouTube and Netflix, and sometimes I have a deep desire to create things. Like this piece you’re reading now. Most times it’s this last option that is best for me. I need time to collect and process my thoughts – some of them get posted, others are in my journal. But this extended and hopefully deep time of solitude is essential and it brings really good things into focus. I haven’t checked any social media accounts today… do you know how good that feels? When’s the last time you’ve (intentionally) done that? I can’t wait to see my family, but this silence, if I allow it, speaks boldly to my soul. The Bible says that for six days God created everything on Earth and on the seventh day He rested. I will not be resting this entire day, but it’s been more than a few hours so far and I don’t want it to end.

I obviously don’t know Aaron Rodgers and certainly don’t presume to know his mindset going into this four days of darkness to figure out his next move in life. I also don’t know the pressures of his life and career. But think about this: he was passed over in the draft (chip on his shoulder ever since), proceeded to become a superstar and first-ballot Hall of Famer, by all reports is estranged from his family, high-profile girlfriends have not worked out, he’s become a polarizing figure on and off the field, when the team seemed ready to move on he won another MVP and then followed it up with one of this worst seasons. The money, the Super Bowls, the love of the game, the pressure to win and have fun doing it has got to be exhausting, maybe even more that one man should have to carry.

When I first heard Aaron was going into a dark room for four days I rolled my eyes. But after reflecting on my life and recognizing my need to inhale and exhale without the distractions of this world and my life, I chose to believe extreme circumstances call for extreme measures.

Happy New Year! Today I look back at 2022 with deep reflection on the good, the bad, and everything in between. Maybe you’re doing the same. Let us all to love deeper and wider than ever before. I’ll go first, will you join me? I will love my God, family and friends deeper and wider in 2023. And I welcome any friend who wants to kindly and respectfully check up on me with how I’m doing on this, because it is in community that we all grow stronger.

Here’s to a healthy, strong, confident year full of love and grace. Here’s to 2023 being our best version yet.

Memorial Day is the unofficial kickoff of summer. To get yourself ready for all the things you want to do, I have a single training tip that will guarantee success: be greatly consistent.

The last two times I was on Fit and Fabulous I talked about my monthly training program called In Pursuit Athlete. It’s based on the First Four pieces of equipment I think people should buy when starting their home gym. The program delivers five workouts per week using that equipment but also includes modifications for less or no equipment (body weight version). That’s the program, now how do we get it done?

Many people struggle with their fitness program because they think they need to be consistently great. I can appreciate the lofty goal, but a better mindset is to be greatly consistent. We are not out trying to win competitions; we are trying to become the strongest and fittest versions of ourselves we can be – for our family, for our friends, for our community.

Health and fitness professionals will tell you that current exercise guidelines are for adults to get 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week. Examples include recreational swimming, doubles tennis, brisk walking, and casual biking. The guidelines also allow for 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity. Examples include singles tennis, biking faster than 10mph, running/jogging, hiking uphill or with a heavy backpack, and swimming laps.

Starting Monday there are three full weeks until the end of the Memorial Day weekend – the unofficial start of summer. Tomorrow on Fit and Fabulous I will be announcing a weekly challenge to help us be greatly consistent.

It’s called Challenge 93. Your challenge is to get 93 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity every week through the end of the Memorial Day weekend. Yes, it’s partly based on 93.1 JAMZ but it’s also scientific, 93 minutes is within the guidelines range of 75-150 minutes per week. Now 93 is closer to that 75-minute guideline of vigorous activity so most of your minutes should be just that. If moderate intensity is more up your alley, try to get closer to the 150-minute range. We are working on the honor system – the goal is to be greatly consistent!

Use this challenge to jump start your summer. Use #Challenge93 on social media to show people what you did, why you’re doing it, and get other ideas for your next workout. This type of challenge is what got my friend Jon into his fitness program – tag a friend and start Challenge 93 this weekend!

I knew I wanted to camp one more time this year… hopefully in a little cooler weather. Katie had to prep for her annual meeting (virtual this year – lots of work!) so this past weekend I took the kids to Governor Dodge State Park for a night of camping.

On this trip I wanted to teach the kids a card game and it worked! I introduced them to Hearts. Saturday night I taught Sorin and Norah while Christian watched. At the end of the night, Christian asked if we could play the next morning because he wanted to play. And he got it! (Earlier this week we played as a family and he actually won our first game!)

What I’ve learned is that camping takes a pretty good financial investment (I love the gear, especially the good stuff). Camping also takes an investment in time and patience (yes they’re getting good but dad is the pack mule and workhorse). But the benefits of getting outside, waking up in a tent, making the campsite work is worth every dollar and ounce of sweat you put in – great memories for the family.

Many people will look at the calendar today and say “Friday the 13th!” But I see the beginning of the 12 Days of Fitness! Since many of us are leading up to Christmas, those of us in the health and fitness world put together workouts that lead up to December 25th. And to get in 12 days, that means we start today on the 13th!

Here’s how this works. Start with Day 1 and do the exercise. Tomorrow you’ll do Day 2 and (as the song says) also do Day 1. Each day you’ll do the exercise plus all of the exercises from previous days. By Christmas Day you’ll have a nice 30 minute workout put together and hopefully a streak of 12 days of workouts.

Sing it with me: “On the first day of Fitness my trainer gave to me…”

1st day: 1-minute jumping jacks
2nd day: 2 minutes of side shuffle and skips
3rd day: 3 plank walk-ups on each side
4th day: 4 reverse lunges on each side
5th day: 5 sets of squats
6th day: 6 side lunges
7th day: 7 push-ups
8th day: 8 hip hinges
9th day: 9 burpees
10th day: 10×10 jump ropes
11th day: mountain climbers
12th day: 12 reps of the Faithful Four (push-ups, sit-ups, squats, reverse lunges)

Now the exercise build on themselves but as you get to the middle days, don’t forget to get a good warm-up in. Have fun with this! This will just be an add-on to your normal workout or it may be a jump start to your workout routine for 2020.

Let me know if you have any questions and as always, Happy Training!

Pick up something heavy. Carry it a distance. Repeat. Kind of primitive, right? That’s a very good thing.

TRX row. Kettlebell row. Rowing machine. There’s a lot of ways to pull. Find an exercise that is a nice opposite of the push we just did.