Consistency, Progression, Overload, Specificity, Reversibility

With the arrival of the holiday season comes the consequent increase of excitement about fitness. Sadly, in many cases this excitement is short lived. As the year relentlessly presses forward, fitness is often given a lower priority as other commitments and challenges manifest themselves. In some instances, fitness resolutions that were once seen as a daily must are completely abandoned after only a few months.

Does this sound familiar? If it does, don't get discouraged. Like anything else worth doing in life, a commitment to fitness is a demanding task. One of the biggest obstacles that stops people from reaching their resolutions can easily be overcome. The obstacle is a simple unawareness of five basic principles that every exercise routine should be based on. Study these principles carefully and make sure that your New Year's fitness resolutions incorporate each one.

Principle One - Consistency. The principle of consistency simply means that for any workout of any kind to provide a positive effect it must be done consistently. Our bodies, much like our mentalities, are adverse to change. Rather than making deep, lasting changes they will do all they can to change only temporarily and superficially. To convince your body to make lasting changes and adapt to a more fit lifestyle consistent exercise is required. Working out 3-6 times a week will provide optimal results, but even 1-2 workouts a week, done consistently, will provide health benefits.

Principle Two – Progression. As you consistently work out your strength and stamina will increase. Eventually the work out that you started out with will feel easy and your performance will plateau. If maintenance is your goal continue with this same work out. If, on the other hand, you wish to continue to improve, your work out needs to increase in intensity. This can be accomplished in a number of ways, such as increasing distance and/or weight, or trying something new such as a fitness class or new type of physical activity. To see continued improvement your work out should continually adapt so that it is always challenging.

Principle Three – Overload. The overload principle states that each workout should leave you tired. For your cardiovascular system, muscles, flexibility and balance to improve they need to be pushed during each workout. For weight lifting a good rule to follow during endurance training is to push your muscles to exhaustion over the course of 15-20 reps. For strength training push your muscles to failure over the course of 4-6 reps (usually complete 2-3 sets of every exercise for both styles of training). Over all, overload means you should be demanding success from your body by consistently pushing it during each workout. Don't let yourself off easy!

Principle Four – Specificity. The hardest part about this principle is the pronunciation. The rest is relatively easy. The principle of specificity simple means that to see improvement in a specific area you must do exercises that target that area. For example, to improve your cardiovascular health you must do cardiovascular training. And, if you want chiseled abs, you have to do exercises that will chisel them. General exercises provide general improvement, but specific goals can only be met by exercises specifically designed to help you reach those goals.

Principle Five – Reversibility. Reversibility means that if a fitness routine is abandoned your body will naturally return to the state it was at before. A healthy lifestyle requires consistent exercise; not periodic bursts of activity.

The five principles of fitness, consistency, progression, overload, specificity, and reversibility, should be the basis for every exercise routine.


Periodization

In his song, “Feeling Good” Michael Buble sings, “It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life, for me, and I’m feeling good!” For many the New Year and its accompanying resolutions bring hope of a new life that will leave them “feeling good!” One of the most common resolutions to help people feel is good is “Getting in better shape.” Like any resolution, however, it is not easy; proper understanding and organization are essential to starting and maintaining a healthier lifestyle.

Last month in the Summit Scoop, we detailed five fitness principles that should be the basis of every fitness program. These principles are especially helpful for designing workouts on a daily basis. We now present a sixth principle—known as Periodization—that provides a basis for designing a long-term fitness program.

Periodization, as its name implies, means breaking your fitness plan up into different periods to ensure that your body has enough time to adjust to the changes in your lifestyle. A fitness program based on periodization provides two major benefits. First, it will help you avoid injury while you work towards meeting your goals. Second, it will help make the changes in your body more enduring and substantial. For a practical discussion of periodization and its benefits, we will define the two major periods into which your plan should be divided. They are, in order, Conditioning and Strength/Speed Training.

Conditioning - During the conditioning phase, the individual focuses on preparing their body for more strenuous exercise. This is important in every aspect of fitness. Failure to condition your body properly can lead to nagging injuries. For example, an out of shape individual gung-ho about their resolution to run the marathon could seriously injure themselves by attempting to sprint ten miles the day after New Years. Running a marathon is a great and realistic goal for the individual, but they must begin working to it in a safe manner. The best rule to follow for people just starting or returning to a fitness program, is to start with low weight and high repetitions, or the equivalent in other areas (for example, those engaging in cardiovascular training should travel longer distances at slower, maintainable speeds). Lifting your max weight just a few times or doing dead sprints with no conditioning places strains on your body that it is in no way prepared for.

As stated before, conditioning also helps to make the changes in your body more substantial and longer lasting. Conditioned muscles and bones will be able to deal with the stress of strength/speed training more effectively. Once properly conditioned, your body will be able to use all its energies to develop muscle mass, strengthen bones, improve cardiovascular health, etc. Think of it as a basketball coach working with a conditioned athlete as opposed to an unconditioned athlete. The conditioned athlete will be able to complete and learn from rigorous drills whereas the unconditioned athlete will simply suffer through the drills and be unable to concentrate because of their exhausted state. In addition, quick improvements in health will be lost just as quickly in the event of injury or cessation of the program.

Strength/Speed Training - Strength/speed training can be characterized as high weight, low repetitions or its equivalent in other areas. This type of training convinces your body that you do not just wish to improve your endurance but also to improve the level at which your body can perform various functions. Strength/speed training builds muscle and trains muscles to perform at elevated levels, and is equally important for both men and women. Interestingly enough, this type of training also helps in ridding oneself of undesired fat. As your muscle mass increases and is used more often, your resting metabolism increases. This means that you will be burning excess fat not only while you exercise, but also while you perform your other daily functions.

Repeat - After some time in the Strength/Speed Training phase, your body will eventually plateau. You simply will not be able to lift any heavier, run any faster, or stretch any further. One of the best ways to push past a plateau is to return to the conditioning phase. You will find that thanks to your previous Conditioning and Strength/Speed Training you will be able to condition at a much higher level this time. After several weeks of conditioning, your muscles will be better prepared for another round of Strength/Speed Training and you will have a much better chance of moving beyond your previous plateau.

This cycle of Conditioning and Strength/Speed Training will not only help you to reach your New Year’s resolutions, but will make the changes in your body greater and longer lasting. Most importantly, you will be much less likely to sustain an injury.

Healthcare: Solving The Problem By Specialization.

There are three basic ways to take care of your car:

1. Baby it – give it the best oil and best fuel, wash it weekly, have regular checkups, take it in any time it even pings and park it in the heated garage.

We all know this option is the best for your car. If more people would do this cars would last longer, perform more efficiently and run cleaner. Perhaps, the biggest reason for people to do it would be to reduce their problems and anxiety. If you knew that before you left on your long road trip your oil was changed, your gas tank was filled up with premium fuel and your car had had a full tune up think how much more relaxed you would be. Also, imagine how much your peace of mind would increase if this is how you had treated your car since you drove it new off the lot.

Realistically, this is not how most people treat their cars. Instead, they opt for one of two other alternatives:

2. Enough – change the oil, fill it up with regular gas, wash it when it’s dirty and when it breaks down fix it up.

3. Into the ground – never change the oil, put fuel in it when it runs out and when it breaks get a new one.

You probably know as well as I do the results of these two options. With option two the car works well enough until it breaks down, at which point you fix it up. With option three, like the name implies, you drive it until it won’t drive anymore; and then you buy a new one and do it again. The abundance and relatively cheap cost of cars allows this to be an option. You probably also know why most of us choose options two and three: option one is just too much work.

Now consider something that may make you change which option you would choose. What if the first car you ever bought would be the only car you could ever drive for the rest of your life? Which option would you choose then? Obviously the first. In today’s society a car is so essential that if you were only allowed one for roughly 60 years of driving you would do everything you could to make sure it would last and that it would continue to perform as well as possible.

Yes. One car for 60 plus years would indeed be a challenge. In fact, many people, myself included, would not be content with just regular checkups. Cars, as we all know, are just too temperamental. Besides that, it would be such a hassle to spend so much time worrying about maintaining our vehicles. We would want not just option number one, but option "number one plus!” We would want to put our vehicle and its future squarely in the hands of the most qualified mechanic we could find. In additions to oil changes and tune-ups we would want the mechanic, not ourselves, to regularly perform complete diagnostic assessments and install new equipment that would ensure longevity. As brilliant as we are we wouldn’t trust something as important as our one and only car to our clumsy supervision.

Thankfully, this is not the case. But this imaginary situation does evidence a tendency that humans, and especially Americans have. When something is vitally important to us and immensely complicated we wisely abdicate its supervision to specialists more qualified than ourselves (this is commonly known as specialization). Think about it. How many Americans do their own taxes? Most people hand it over to highly trained and specialized accountants. They figure it is far easier to pay a professional a healthy fee than it is to spend hours puzzling over forms themselves. What about plumbing? When the water heater breaks do you get out the wrenches and instruction manuals or do you call the guy with the crack? Or, how about on a national scale: when foreign nations threaten your safety and security do you personally pick up your rifle and head off to war? Probably not. You pay taxes to fund and train a professional army of soldiers. Learning how to be an accountant, plumber, and soldier, while all worthwhile goals seems to be too much for the average individual. Instead, we choose to specialize in one discipline and make enough money doing that to pay other people to meet our needs by specializing in their disciplines.

So what does all this have to do with healthcare? Simply this: for far too long Americans have been content to trust something immensely complicated and tremendously important to their own supervision: that is, their own health. We know that the average American can’t do taxes, can’t fix a leaky kitchen sink, and certainly can’t defend themselves against terrorists; yet we somehow think that they can optimally manage the maintenance of something as complicated as the human body. Well, here’s a revelation for you: we can’t. Although the life expectancy of the average American is much longer than ever before it is ridiculously low considering how much knowledge and expertise is available. The current debate over health care in America recognizes this. What it fails to recognize is that the solution to the American health care problem is the same as the solution to the American accounting, plumbing and defense problems: when they are managed by people ignorant of their intricacies you will only get poor results. It is far past time that we turn the maintenance of our bodies, the only vehicle we have not just for 60 years, but possibly 100 plus, to the most qualified professionals we can.

“But wait a second!” you may be saying. “We already do! We have regular check ups with our doctors and head right to the ER in times of big trouble.” What we don’t realize, however, is that this is hardly option number two, and not even close to option number one, let alone option “number one plus!” Regular check ups with the doctor are comparable to badly needed oil changes and ER visits are more like calling a tow truck for a wrecked vehicle than anything else.

What then, would a health care option, “number one plus!” consist of? Quite simply this: a qualified professional would regulate all aspects of your health and be paid handsomely for their services.

“Great!” you say. “And impossible too.” It is, however, easier to be achieved than you think. What will make the difference is how completely Americans follow the principles of specialization they follow in other areas. For instance, how many people upon hearing what their plumbing problem is and how their plumber intends to fix it say, “great, lets do that; but I want to pick out the parts myself.” Nobody does that! It would be ridiculous. If you can’t even correctly diagnose the problem or figure out how to fix it how likely is it that you’ll be able to pick out the necessary repair parts? Yet how many people, upon hearing their doctor say, “you need to take better care of yourself!” implement their own “custom” workout program or start the first random diet they stumble across?

The real failure to meet the health care problems, however, lies not with individuals but with the private industry. They have, almost unanimously, failed to apply the principles of specialization found in other industries to health care. Besides ridiculously expensive and short-term health spas there are no health care facilities that purport to completely meet all the needs of clients. For example there are lots of gyms, but most gyms just turn you loose and let you do your own thing, regardless of weather its good for you or not. Some gyms offer personal training, ensuring that the exercises you’ll be doing will indeed be beneficial, but offer no advice on nutrition. Other gyms do offer personal training and nutritional counseling but fail to proscribe a realistic long term way to implement the two. It is like our car example earlier: how many people really would have the dedication to do everything necessary to keep their car running for 60 years in optimal condition? Just a few; the rest would want to pay a specialized mechanic to do it for them while they concentrated on other things. There are no gyms or health clubs that do this. They’ll train you and council you on what you should eat but then they’ll leave it up to you to come to your training appointments and leave it up to you to implement their nutritional council.

So what should they do? Should the government require you to go to the gym every morning and get your meals in the cafeteria after? Absolutely not. The key to achieving success is doing what the other specialized industries have done. Make your product so superior, so affordable, and so easy that to not buy it and do it yourself would seem as ridiculous as a business owner doing his own taxes. And here, in a few steps, is how you do that:

1. Find out what people’s real needs are.

2. Take over in meeting those needs.

3. By doing steps one and two free people up to specialize in the areas they’re good at.

These steps merit a bit more discussion.

Step one: find out what people’s real needs are. In this step the health care facility or business would do extensive work to find out what really needed to happen to help people get in and stay in optimal health. This would include evaluating the current health status and eating habits of the individual. It would also include a detailed physical examination and evaluation of past, current, and likely future health conditions.

Step two: take over in meeting those needs. This would happen in three main ways. First, based on the results of step one the health care facility’s personal trainers would post each day an exercise plan for their clients to complete. They would also provide the necessary instruction and facilities to complete the plan. Second, the facility would not just provide nutritional information for their clients but would provide the actual meals. Only in this way could they ensure that their clients were indeed getting the right food and right amount of food for their particular situation. This would also serve as an additional motivating factor to come to the gym. A person would know that if they skipped out on their workout for the day they would also be skipping out on the three meals that they had bought and paid for. Then they would have to go to the added hassle of picking something up at McDonalds or going to the grocery store. Within a little while going shopping for groceries would become completely unnecessary. Your gym would be your grocery store. Lastly, for step two, the health care facilities would need to provide on site physicians and schedule regular appointments based on the clients needs. For example, a fifty-five year old man wouldn’t keep on putting off scheduling his colonoscopy but would find out in a friendly phone call that next week at three p.m. he had an appointment with his doctor in room five of the club.

Step three: by doing steps one and two free people up to specialize in the areas they’re good at. It must be remembered that the two preceding steps should be done in order to free people up to specialize in things they’re better at. And they would. Imagine how much more time you would have if you didn’t ever have to go shopping for food, plan another meal or build another “custom” workout. Imagine how healthy you would be if you followed such a regimen? With meals guaranteed to provide you with all the essential vitamins, minerals, proteins, amino acids, etc. you wouldn’t get sick near as often. Also, within in a short time you would be in good shape, reducing your risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, etc, plus have the added energy that comes from being healthy. Not only would you be able to earn more money with your increased physical and accompanying mental capacity but your insurance company would probably be more than happy to pick up some of your gym bill for you as well. After all, it’s no big deal to insure someone in perfect health, especially if that person is doing everything possible to maintain that health.

Finally, I should also address the two biggest arguments against this.

First: it would be way too expensive for both the facility and its patrons. Well, actually, I don’t think it would be. It is important to note that I don’t envision something like this happening overnight. I know of few venture capitalists that would be willing to fork out the dough necessary to start such a facility from scratch. Profitable existing clubs, however, could start the trend. They could begin by offering daily-personalized workouts. Next they could add a kitchen offering one, then two, and finally three meals a day. Lastly would come the in-house physicians. As for the clients they would indeed be handing over a sizeable chunk of change each month; but they would also be saving a lot of money. As mentioned before, they wouldn’t be spending any more money shopping for groceries. This also means they wouldn’t be spending any more time shopping for groceries. And, again, as healthier people they would be more productive and could expect their insurance to help cover some of the bill.

As for the second argument I can hear it already: “You’re sick! How can you advocate handing over your freedom and responsibility like that to someone else?! That’s as bad as supporting government health care!” To this simple-minded objection I offer the following rejoinder. You are not giving up freedom or responsibility if you maintain the right to take back that freedom and responsibility any time you want. That would be like saying the person that hires a plumber is no longer free to do their own plumbing. If you don’t like the gym you can quit. If you don’t like the meals you don’t have to eat them. If you think your club’s physicians are quacks you can go to a private doctor. As long as the government doesn’t take over and make it mandatory for you to frequent a federally ran health facility you will maintain the right to walk away whenever you want or never join one in the first place. And in fact, this is what many people would do. Not everybody needs an accountant and some people can do their own plumbing. Not everybody is incapable of maintaining an optimally healthy lifestyle. For all the millions Americans that can’t, however, there exists or should exist specialized individuals willing to do their accounting, plumbing and health maintenance for them. This is the American way: solving problems by specialization.

'Extraordinary'

“Basic principles: No woman wakes up saying:"[Man], I hope I don't get swept off my feet today." Now, she might say, "This is a really bad time for me." Or something like, "I just need some space." Or my personal favorite: "I'm really into my career right now." You believe that? Neither does she. You know why? Because she's lying to you, that's why.”

Did you catch the quote? It’s from the movie Hitch and it’s a good one. In fact, it’s so good that it and other quotes from the movie are probably going to be submitted to the general body of the Church for an addition to the Doctrine and Covenants. I’m pretty sure.

That, however, isn’t what this article is about. Instead I would like to focus on another equally important quote from the end of the movie. Cast your mind back and remember that at the end of the movie Will Smith goes chasing after the woman of his dreams only to find her more than a little reluctant to even speak to him. In her attempt to get rid of him she says:

“Maybe it's like what you said. We should just both go our separate ways and then we'll do just fine.”

He replies, “What if fine isn't good enough? What if I want extraordinary?”

His question offers a profound insight into human desire and evidences a basic yearning that is common to all people. All of us, at some time or another find ourselves saying, “What if fine isn't good enough? What if I don’t want to just have a ‘good job’ or to just be a ‘fine basketball player’? What if I want extraordinary?”

C.S. Lewis described this another way and evidenced the problem with our desire for the extraordinary:

Most people, if they had really learned to look into their own hearts, would know that they do want, and want acutely, something that cannot be had in this world. There are all sorts of things in this world that offer to give it to you, but they never quite keep their promise. The longings which arise in us when we first fall in love, or first think of some foreign country, or first take up some subject that excites us, are longings which no marriage, no travel, no learning, can really satisfy. I am not now speaking of what would be ordinarily called unsuccessful marriages, or holidays, or learned careers. I am speaking of the best possible ones. There was something we grasped at, in that first moment of longing, which just fades away in the reality. I think everyone knows what I mean. The wife may be a good wife, and the hotels and scenery may have been excellent, and chemistry may be a very interesting job: but something has evaded us. (Lewis, C. S. 113)


Understanding this, that we all want extraordinary, but that there is something that, as Lewis says, ‘just fades away in the reality,’ and ‘has evaded us,’ makes us wonder what it all means. Why do we want something more? What is that something? Is it possible to ever get it? And, if it’s not possible to get extraordinary now what should we do about it today?

C.S. Lewis answered several of these questions. He wrote:

‘Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: Well there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. (Lewis, C. S. 113-4)


While this certainly answers the questions, “Why do want extraordinary? What is extraordinary? And is it possible to ever get extraordinary?” it still leaves us wondering if it’s not possible to get extraordinary now, no matter how bad we want it, what should we do about it today? Sadly, I think the reasoning mentioned above often prompts us to take a foolish course of action and ignore a far better path. Upon realizing that real, total, and complete happiness, the extraordinary, is not possible now we often give up even on the partial happiness we could be enjoying and settle for ‘just fine.’ For example, although this may surprise those of you that know me best, I love living in spotless living conditions. But, by now, aware of the reality that my room will never in this lifetime be truly ‘spotless’ I usually am ‘content’ to live in a room that besides not being spotless couldn’t even be considered somewhat neat or organized. The same is true for other people and other conditions. How many people, upon realizing they don’t have a ‘perfect relationship’ and aren’t going to have one any time soon, cease striving to have the best relationship possible and settle for mere convenient co-habitation? How many people, disappointed and disenchanted with their efforts to ‘get in the best shape of their lives!’ give up their New Years exercise program and even the hope of getting in ‘decent shape’? The classic example is the filthy child before bath time: “why do I have to take a bath?! I’m just going to get dirty again!”

The problem with this is we fail to realize that the path to extraordinary is indeed a path and requires treading. Just because we were made for ‘another world’ and that world is capable of satisfying our desires does not mean we will be satisfied when we get there. For example, nobody would enjoy playing basketball with a championship team unless they possessed the same skills and experience as the other players. They may enjoy watching the other players play, and may admire their expertise but as far as they are concerned they will feel awkward and will wish that they too could dribble, shoot and guard like their teammates.

The answer then is that to realize extraordinary tomorrow it is essential to work for more than ‘just fine’ today. While it is true that my room will never be truly spotless, working to get it neat and organized will teach me principles that will approach spotlessness. Also, having lived in neat and organized I will be far more likely to recognize spotless when I see it and enjoy extraordinary when I live in it. With this in mind we should look for the things we can be better in and start getting better at them. By doing so we’ll approach extraordinary far more quickly than those that contentedly settle for ‘just fine.’

Supe's Second Winter 09 Summit (Oct. 30)

The official text read:

"Supe's second winter 09 summit. Some peak in the Wellsville Mountains. Guesstimated elevation 9000 plus ft. Visibility maybe 50 feet. Hands very cold!"
The pictures are (1) My summit self portrait :) (2) A view of Sardine Canyon (3) & (4) Yes that's ice in my hair!

Supe's First Winter 09 Summit. (Oct. 15)

The official text read:

"From the top of some snowy peak. Supe's first Winter 09 summit!"

That snowy peak turned out to be Logan Peak, around 9600 ft. elevation I believe. The pictures are (1) A moose that almost scared me to death! (2) Cache Valley (3) The view from the summit (4) Dry Canyon, the canyon I hiked around on my way up and down.

The Temple Mount

Today in my intro to Jewish Folklore class we looked at a photograph that billions of people have probably seen and that I have seen many times before. It was an aerial photo of Jerusalem. My teacher, Steve Siporin, has lived in and visited Israel many times and explained the picture to us in more depth than I have ever heard before. He pointed out the Western Wall (the holiest place in Judaism), the Dome of the Rock (an especially holy place in Islam) and the Garden of Gethsemane (an immensely reverenced place of my own faith Christianity). He then proceeded to point out another very holy Muslim Mosque, Hebrew University and BYU Jerusalem. All these were centered not just in Jerusalem but on and around one specific place: the sight of the ancient Jewish Temple and current site of the Dome of the Rock, anciently known as “the Temple Mount.” Next he showed us places where Jews can go but where Muslims and Christians aren’t welcome, places where Muslims can go but Jews and Christians aren’t allowed and finally places for Christians that Jews and Muslims would do best to avoid. He also told us some of Israel’s history over the last 60 years and of the thousands of people that have died in this one climactic spot.

As Professor Siporin spoke I reflected on not just the thousands that have died recently but also on the millions that have died and still will die in consequence of this place and the conflicts centered there. It made me wonder why; why the bloodshed, hate, fear, attacks, reprisals and counter-reprisals? What is it that starts such an awful tragedy and what is it that perpetuates its continuation?

I am mature enough and honest enough not blame the religions under whose banners so many atrocities are committed. Those that believe religion is to blame are often looking for an easy culprit and excuse to blame something other than the real motive that is far more common than religious zeal. Indeed, were it not for religion far more people would have died throughout history’s course and would have died far more unhappily. What is it then that turns a once peaceful village like Jerusalem into an historical symbol of hate and jealousy?

It turns out that for the answer to such a complicated question I would need an in depth case study into human nature: an intramural soccer game.

For the past month I have been playing on an indoor soccer team at USU. We are undefeated, skilled players. We are all also all white: born in the USA, raised in the USA, English speaking men. Several hours after my class and its discussion of Jerusalem we played a team as different from ourselves as could be. They were dark skinned men of Arabic descent that spoke some unknown foreign language. In fact, to all appearances the only thing we had in common was our love of soccer and our intense desire to win. To add to the charged setting we each had our own cheering squads. Ours was composed of about 12 white, very loud girls. Theirs consisted of about 20 equally loud Arabic girls and boys.

As play commenced we quickly realized that the other team was just as skilled as we were. Their moves were quick, their passes accurate and their shots right on target. Accordingly, the level of play intensified. When they would score our fans would “boo” while theirs cheered wildly and vice versa. When we pushed they pushed back.

What happens in such a situation? Two teams of equal skill and determination both playing for mastery of a small court and a smaller ball; each, if realistically examined with equal claim to the victory. One may comparatively ask, what happens in a similar situation on a worldly scale? One, two, three religions of equal doctrinal intricacy, tradition and history all vying for mastery of a small city and prominence; each, if realistically examined with equal claim to possession.

I can only tell you what takes place in the soccer game and only from our side of the court. Early on a pass goes out of bounds and both teams contest the possession. The refs decide in our favor but the other team continues to assert control. Our player, knowing he is “in the right” makes a grab for the ball which the other player rudely avoids. In exasperation, injured pride and self righteousness another of our players takes a decisive and predictable step. He angrily yells, “Give him the ball you dirty Indian!” There! We’ve done it! Now the two sides are clearly delineated. On the one hand we have the injured and justified rule loving Americans calling on the offensive and uncouth “others” to honor the impartiality of the referees. That is what happened on our side.

Although I don’t know if this indeed occurred I can imagine similar happenings on the other side of the court. The refs (both white) have once again discriminated in favor of their countrymen. Truth is not the issue; clearly, his foot touched the ball last! "The arrogant Americans are cheating again!" And so with raised tempers and clearly insulted pride the game proceeds.

The “Arabs” score! Their fans go wild. They yell gesture and celebrate. We can’t understand what they’re saying. Who knows how they’re insulting us! They’re in America! Why don’t they speak English?!

Payback. Our player deftly winds through the opposition, shoots and scores! Our fans go wild! Now it’s our turn to celebrate. The choice: what should we yell? What gestures should we make? Fortune it seems has smiled upon us. Isn’t it time to “get them back?” What was it they were yelling? We couldn’t understand it but don’t we know?

It is the decision faced by each religion, culture and person in Jerusalem at some time or another. Fortune smiles upon us. Now we control the Temple Mount! What should we do with it? Isn’t it payback time, a time to right generations of wrongs? “They murdered our ancestors, the original inhabitants of the land under the banner of their ‘One True God’!” “They burnt the Temple and defiled the vessels of the Lord!” “They killed the Messiah, the redeemer of mankind!” Now we have the power! What do we do with it? How do we celebrate our goal?

What did our teammate do; the one that dribbled the ball juked the defenders and made the shot? Celebration and derision: “That one was for Allah!” There again! We’ve demonstrated our power once more! Not only have we scored but we’ve insulted their religion, and thrown it in their teeth! What are they going to do about it?

The second half arrives. Now comes the real contest. Time is quickly slipping away. Advantage changes rapidly from one team to another. And, sadly, terrifyingly and in clear terms it is my turn. Where will I stand? What will I do when I control the Temple Mount? It’s my turn in goal. The ball goes out of bounds and results in an indirect kick for them. Players are everywhere! A hard fast shot comes streaking in. If it goes in the goal but doesn’t touch anybody, no goal. If it touches someone and goes in, goal. The ball goes in. In the confusion our team solemnly swears it touched no one. The other team just as solemnly adjures that it hit someone and should be counted. The refs are at a loss. In their consternation they move to call it a no goal. Only I know that the ball brushed the side of my foot as it went in.

What do I do? Isn’t the answer obvious? Fortune, our true friend has smiled on us again. All I have to do to move our victory towards a more certain conclusion is keep quiet. Besides, what do I care about them?

I wonder, how many times over the past six thousand years has this question been asked. When placed in a position of power with the opportunity to better your people’s estate solely at the cost of some “other” group what do we do? When fortune smiles on us, lifts us up and gives us control by telling us all we have to do is stay silent or call out an insult what do we do? The answer it would seem is easy. The Golden Rule is not unique to Christianity but is a creed in every religion of the world. Why then hasn’t it been followed? And why when it’s my turn do I struggle deciding whether or not to come out and say that the ball glanced off my right foot?

Someday, somewhere the out of bounds ball in your life will be contested. What will you call out to the “offending player” when you are sure you’re in the right? Someday you’ll score the goal. How will you celebrate? Someday you’ll be the only one in a gym of 50 people that knows the ball barely grazed your foot. What will you say or not say? What will you do when you control the Temple Mount?

The story could very well end there and stories that end on thought provoking questions often end best. This one, however, because of its outcome merits an ending.

In complete control of the Temple Mount I weight my options. It’s just a game. Why should I speak out to help some people I don’t even know when all it will do is injure my friends? If they’re so good anyway they should have scored a more spectacular and obvious goal.

At the same time, how many times in everyday life do you have such a clear choice between right and wrong? For perhaps the first time all day, all week, there is no gray; just “it touched my foot” or silence. “Perhaps,” I wonder, “if I choose the right now in these clear circumstances I’ll be able to distinguish more clearly with the more difficult decisions I have to make.”

“Wait. It hit my foot. It’s a goal.”

The referee responds, “it did?”

“Yeah, just barely.”

“Oh. OK. Thanks!” He turns to the two teams. “It’s a goal!”

What happens then? Surely you know the answer. The other team raucously and unintelligibly calls out, “we knew it! Cheating Americans!” Our team angrily glances at me, “damn do-gooder,” but saves their most stinging insults and brutal play for the opposing team.

But wait. It didn’t happen that way. The other team and their fans, somewhat astonished look at me and then give me the “thumbs up” with smiles on their faces. Our team and our fans look at me, somewhat quizzically, and clap. “Good job man.” The game is still intense, play continues in earnest but something is different. By the end of the night not two teams leave the court saying, “I’m glad we don’t have to play those jerks again,” but rather ten intermingling men walk out saying “that was a good game.” The answer of all ten players to the question is, “I guess we’ll share the Temple Mount and have more fun this way.”

Motivating Mottos

As dark thunderheads rolled towards us, sub-zero temperatures set in (ok, maybe more like 50 degrees. But it was cold!) and wind speeds climbed to upwards of 20 knots one recurring thought dominated my training hardened Half Iron man to-be mind: “Why the crap did I ever leave St. George?”

August 15^th, for many of Summit’s dedicated triathletes marked a major trial of their faith and determination. There really were thunderheads, so threatening in fact that they delayed the start of the swim for almost 45 minutes. I’m not a sailor so I really don’t know wind speeds in knots but it was blowing hard that day. At one point, on a perfectly flat surface riding a full carbon frame I was only managing 11 miles an hour. The girl passing me was probably only doing 11 ½ (curse her). Running conditions, however, were probably as ideal as could be asked for. The course was shielded from the wind, was completely flat and followed a beautiful meandering track along the river. In fact my only complaint about the run was the fact that the ground mysteriously became six times harder that day than usual. Other than that it was quite lovely.

My own experience taught me a great lesson that day: there comes a point when you want to give up.

Mine came on the bike ride. That Saturday morning at mile 20 I came into conflict with perhaps the greatest dichotomy facing young triathletes: great potential health but no money. It presents itself this way: my body is at that point when it can be trained to reach its peak performance and recover quickly from the stresses placed on it. But, as a poor college student I face the necessity of spending my time training other athletes rather than training myself. Ironically, by the time I’m a rich college graduate (after student loans are paid off, of course) I’ll be a decrepit old man. Anyway, suffice it to say the people I trained were in great shape; me not so much. And boy did I feel it at mile 20.

The other great obstacle I encountered at mile 20 was my bike. Like all triathletes I dream of a full carbon fiber bike with components so light you get them mixed up with you recently shaved leg hair and a flashy paint job sure to attract ladies and sponsors. Instead, like many other realists I spent my money on rent and rice. I did, however, have a nice bike that day. My older bro, an ex bike mechanic, lent me his Trek (full carbon frame and fork), shoes (Richey pedals) and his low profile helmet. He even fitted the bike to me… mostly. “I’m not sure if we have the seat adjusted at the correct pitch,” were his parting words. He was right.

At about mile 20 I came to the painful realization that (a) my bro’s feet and consequently his shoes are really quite a bit smaller than my own, (b) the seat was NOT tilted right, and (c) my 10-20 mile rides I’d been squeezing in at random really were not nearly as long as the days 56 mile course. The results were completely numb feet, an assurance that my future posterity depended on my getting off the bike immediately, and that my butt would feel like it had been kicked by King Kong for at least the next month. As the pain of these facts set in the relief truck slowly drove past…

“I could give up right now,” I thought, “and all this ridiculous pain would be over!” As I was contemplating this ray of sunshine in the midst of the day’s gale force winds and approaching hail storms a completely random thought came to my mind: “Pain is temporary, pride is forever.”

“Where did that come from?” I wondered.

And then I remembered. I’d seen it on the back of some Dixie High School T-shirt years before. Apparently, that motto had stayed lodged in my brain, waiting for an adequately painful moment to bring it forth. Despite its ancient origins it had a profound effect on me. More than my sore buttocks was on the line in this race. And it wasn’t just stupid pride either. It was my dad’s belief that you should finish what you start, my intense desire to prove to myself that I was capable of doing hard things and my will to validate my preaching to everyone I knew that man in general can do whatever he sets out to do. With this in mind, and the motto “Pain is temporary, pride is forever” set on repeat in my skull I forgot about numb feet, stood up (for posterity’s sake and my rear end’s as well) and pedaled on. The next 36 miles were no less brutal than the first 20 but I did it.

And the saying held true. After about two miles of running I could feel my feet again and all the pain was a distant memory of triumph as I faced new obstacles. When I crossed the finish line in 4:58, just under my goal of 5 hours I knew it was all worth it and that I’d be back.

In reflection I’ve stopped to consider the power of mottos in the midst of crises. Just do it, this above all unto thine own self be true, the Lord giveth the Lord taketh away, and so on. The question is what motto plays in your head in your crisis moments? Discover it, follow it, and as you cross your own personal finish lines you’ll look back at the wave tossed wind buffeted course you’ve traversed and see nothing but dedication, glory and a path to your next great victory.