The lack of oxygen in your brain is what actually begins to cause your brain cells to die.
So I didn't want that.
So this idea of oxygenating my brain really kind of caught my attention.
One of the most fascinating studies that's ever been done was a study in Massachusetts
dealing with the importance of working out, and especially weight training.
This was what the study was showing, and it was with older adults.
And in this study, they were looking at individuals that were over 65 years old, and they were
doing a study on the benefits of weightlifting and the benefits of exercise.
Fascinating study.
I'm not going to go into all the details here, except to say this, that they found three
major things that happen when you work out, and these have been motivational tools in
my life.
I'm 66, and I'm probably in as good a shape as I've ever been in the last 30 years.
I work out every day, but it was these three things that had the most impact on me getting
back into a workout about a year and a half ago, doing it every day.
And so I either take a walk or work out or both every day.
I'll take usually Saturday off, and I'll just do a walk.
I won't do the weights and stuff on Saturday, but a lot of times I do it even on Saturday,
too.
So sometimes I'll go three or four weeks in a row without taking a break.
I love it.
I just really enjoy it.
But here's what the Massachusetts study showed three things about, they were talking about
older adults, okay?
So that's what was kind of interesting to me.
I really am not that interested in the studies for younger adults, because I'm not one.
But for older adults, and yet this is also true for younger, number one, working out
is the number one way to oxygenate your brain.
So believe it or not, oxygenating your brain, getting oxygen into your brain, which makes
you creative, which makes you energetic, and which gives you the needed boost for the
day.
Oxygenating your brain is through weightlifting and working out.
Wow, okay.
Well, that makes sense, because all the studies in the past have shown the lack of oxygen
in your brain is what actually begins to cause your brain cells to die.
So I didn't want that.
So this idea of oxygenating my brain really kind of caught my attention.
Secondly, they found in the study that working out increases your IQ.
It actually increases your IQ.
Now that's crazy.
That was such new data, because the study of the contours and the growth of brain cells
is kind of a new science, and we call it neuroplasticity now.
But studies at both Stanford, Harvard, and other leading schools have found that working
out, especially for older adults, actually increases your IQ.
So you can continue to increase your IQ even into your 70s, 80s, and even 90 years of age.
So I would have said, oh, it's from reading books.
It's from doing studies, and all that's true.
That also increases your IQ.
But working out literally, and I think because of the oxygenation of the brain, increases
your IQ and makes you just continue to grow your brain cells as you grow older.
And then thirdly, and this was pretty impactful to me as a teacher and a speaker, was that
working out increases your energy levels.
And I already knew that, but I didn't realize just how significant that was until I started
growing older.
Because for me, it's just I don't have the energy levels that I once had.
I don't have the, I don't put out the testosterone that I used to put out, and I'm not taking
any shots for it or anything like that.
So I don't have the natural T cells and testosterone flowing through my blood that I once had.
And so to realize that working out would increase my energy level, and that it would
increase it for about two to three hours after a workout, was really, really impactful for
me because I'm a speaker.
So what I began to do is, and usually my meetings that I have are in the morning, and my speaking
is usually in the morning.
When I'm speaking at another church or I'm at another location, it's usually in the morning,
which is awesome.
And I found it's really a big, makes a big difference in my life.
to be speaking in the morning but what I do even on Sunday morning is I get up early about
430 and I do a solid strong 30 minute workout and Tuesday morning where I'm meeting with
men we have our whole hearted men I speak to about 425 men on Tuesday mornings I get
up at 4 and I work out then if I'm on the road speaking at a church or a conference
or a seminar or something like that I get up early and I work out and if I'm speaking
in the evening like this week I was speaking to a group at 5pm is when it started that's
when we listen I needed to be there I think I spoke at 6 but I worked out at 4 so I'd
already worked out in the morning because I had Sunday morning service I worked out
then and then I worked out again at 4 and got in about 20 minutes there because I actually
needed to stimulate my mind and stimulate my energy levels so I felt like the best way
to do that was to work out so working out increases your IQ working out grows your brain
cells continue to grow your brain oxygenates your brain also gives you higher and higher
energy so here's what I want to advise for you that are listening to this and you don't
work out or you rarely work out remember this phrase probably should jot it down a little
done consistently is way better than a lot done sporadically a little done consistently
is way better than a lot done sporadically so to have this big heavy workout on Monday
and then you take Tuesday off and then you do a big heavy workout on Wednesday and then
you take Thursday off and then you do this light workout on Friday and then you take
Saturday and Sunday off and then on Monday you try to do another big workout but it's
not really that much of a workout because you're so sore from the last workouts then
Tuesday you don't work out and then Wednesday you forget to go in and then Thursday you
feel really bad because you missed Tuesday and Wednesday so then you do another heavy
workout and now it's the weekend you don't work out then then Monday you go back to a
heavy workout and then Tuesday you take the day off and then Wednesday you're really sore
again so you don't do much and then Thursday you go really hard you see what I'm saying
I'm just giving you what I used to do that sounds exactly like me in the past may I suggest
that you find a workout you really enjoy that you can't wait to do even if it's not that
hard so what I do and kind of what got me going was I decided to do push-ups and air
squats so I started off with five sets of 25 push-ups interspersed with five sets of
25 air squats now you might say well I could never do that well then don't do that do five
sets of five push-ups but just start somewhere I enjoy push-ups I enjoy air squats so that's
what I started with or you might say well I don't like any of that okay fine try walking
just walk to your mailbox and go back in the house every day and then you'll get hooked
and you'll be walking to your neighbor's house and back or you'll be walking down the street
and back because what happens is any kind of activity any kind of physical activity is going
to start giving you higher energy levels you're gonna feel better you're gonna be fired up and
so just starting somewhere that you can consistently do it is way more important than trying to be Joe
Olympian and being really really sporadic now what I do is I actually am blessed with having a machine
kind of an all-purpose machine we used to call them universal machines back in the day I would
call it mine's a Gold's Gym universal so it's got pull downs it's got butterflies it's got bench
press it's got lats you know it's got curls and it's got leg stuff so what I do is I have a routine
of four things that I do on one day and then I have four different things that I do on the next
day then I go back to the first group and so forth and keep leapfrogging those workouts and
even today I got up and I felt really strong and with a ton of energy I slept really good last
night so I did more than I normally do in my work
I mean I don't drink any coffee, I do everything in the morning. First thing I get up is I
go into the gym, which is in my house, but you could be driving somewhere, doesn't matter,
but I go there and I do my workout with water. So I've got a bottle, a bottle of water that
I got at this hotel one time, this five star hotel, really cool blue bottle and I fill
it up with water and I try to down almost all of it during the workout. But I don't
have any coffee, I don't have any caffeine or any stimulants like that. I let the workout
be the stimulant. Then when I'm done, and for me sometimes I have to remember, okay
have I done one, two or three. So in my workout room is actually my gun cabinet, so that's
where I keep all my guns, and I've got 380 round bullets on the top of my safe and I
just move one over after I've done a set. And then after I've done a set I move them
over, so I can look at the bullets. I've got my bottle of water up there and I'm constantly
drinking from the water, which by the way I also have a cat, so the cat's always going
in between my legs. So I'm petting a cat, working out, moving bullets, drinking water
and it takes about 20 to 30 minutes and it's a great workout. So I want to challenge you.
You want to have a maximum impact with your life. You need to be physically active. You've
got to be working out. You've got to make workout a big part of every day of your life.
So go for it. Don't have another excuse. Just walk out your door after hearing this and
do something. Maybe pick up a book and do curls with a book. Maybe get down on your
knees and do knee pushups, but start getting active and you'll get energy levels, your
intelligence will increase, you'll oxygenate your brain, you're going to feel great.