Today I talked with a guy at the gym. We were sharing machines. We began talking about his workout routine. He is doing Zone training. As he explained it, it is made up of five zones. The focus is to begin at the first zone, and build a strong base before focusing on the next zone. Each zone takes your heart to its next level and percentage of capacity.
Interestingly, it’s in the two lower zones, the slower, more comfortable pace, where the most fat is burned. In the higher zone levels more calories are burned, but they are mostly comprised of carbohydrates. The higher zones focus on cardiovascular strength and endurance. As you go up into those higher levels, they should be used in intervals with the lower levels for optimum health and fitness.
This encouraged me on many levels. First of all, I am not a fast runner. Which means, I guess, that I pretty much hover in the lower zones where fat is burned. I like that! Slow and steady wins this race, right?
I also like the fact that building a strong base at those levels actually prepares me to go up into the higher zones (if I dare) which will strengthen my heart. Being consistent with what is doable for me will eventually enable my capacity for speed and distance to increase.
I won’t be running a marathon any time soon, or probably ever. But if I stay focused on the zone I’m in right now, build it up, and move to the next, I will see improvement in my body and heart. Once a week is not gonna cut it, though. It’s got to be integrated into my being, not as a temporary fix, but as a lifestyle. A continual area of growth and development. That’s when I’ll see the good stuff happening.
No surprise, it’s the same principle in life. Even spiritually. We see something we want to attain, a goal we want to achieve and we run at it with everything in us. We go straight to “Zone 5”. We’re moving fast and we look good from the outside, doing the right things, practicing the right habits. But what we’re wanting to achieve inside is not actually happening. We are only burning “carbs” not “fat”. And ultimately, we end up burning out.
Sometimes I think we get it completely backwards. We think that “spiritual maturity” is something to run after by doing things. But I think of it more as zone training. What if we operate from the zone we are currently in? What if we ask God, as our trainer, to show up where we are right at this moment, in zone one, and work with us. What if we develop a relationship with our trainer so that His way of life becomes our own? That’s where the inside work begins, where the “fat” begins to burn off. The change begins on the inside and works its way out. People begin to see the difference. But that is no longer our goal, to impress others. We begin to enjoy the relationship and the capacity of a healthy heart. We are freed up to live and love as we were intended. And those higher zones become not only our goal, but the natural next step. Consistency breeds growth and endurance and health.
Don’t rush the processes in life. Fully engage in the training that comes with the zone you’re in right now. Trust Jesus, your trainer, to prepare you for the next phase through what He’s doing right here and right now…
Phiippians 1:6 -… being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
