For many Christians, sports play a huge role in their lives, consuming vast quantities of their time. Sports are a wonderful gift from God and a wonderful means of sanctification, and each game presents the athlete with an opportunity to grow in Christ-likeness. Unfortunately, it sports seem to be a somewhat neglected topic, with very little written on the subject. My desire was simply to help people think biblically about the topic of sports.

Are you an athlete? Tell us a little bit about your experience with athletes and/or athletics in general.

I’m a limited athlete. I love watching and playing sports and played organized baseball from age 9 to 19. I also play pickup basketball on a regular basis and have played in several church athletic leagues, although that hardly counts as being an athlete. So I guess you could call me an athlete in the same way you could call Taco Bell Mexican food. I try.

Could you give us an example of a situation when participating in sports where one could be tempted to sin and how to respond biblically?

Yikes. I could give you hundreds of examples from my own life. I’m often tempted to be sinfully proud about my athletic abilities, and I want others to recognize my abilities and praise me for them. The biblical response however, would be for me to recognize that all of my abilities are a gift from God and to thank him for giving me some measure of talent. When I play well my first response should be to transfer all glory to God.

How would this advice differ for someone who might not play sports, but loves to watch sports?

Watching sports is an opportunity for us to worship God. When I see LeBron James make an incredible play, I’m seeing a faint reflection of the glory of God. Excellence on the playing field gives us a faint glimpse of the excellence of God. When I witness an athlete do something incredible, I can seize that moment to praise God for his glory.

Could you whet the appetite of our readers a little bit? What are some of the specific issues you sought to address in your book?

Sure. Just a few questions that I seek to answer are:

- How do we live life for the glory of God?
- How do we use our athletic abilities to glorify God?
- What’s the connection between God and the joy we experience while playing and watching sports?
- What are God’s priorities for us on the playing field?
- How do we win and lose for the glory of God?
- What is the role of parents in helping their children play sports for the glory of God?

How has application of the principles outlined in your book served you in your own life?

This book was partially written out of my own struggles, and I’m still trying to apply the principles in the book to my own life. For example, before I play pickup basketball I often take a few moments to pray. I ask God to help me play for his glory, to play humbly, and to encourage others. When I’m done playing sports I seek to thank God for the gift of sports and the gift of my healthy body. But I’m definitely a work in progress.

What are some other resources you might recommend for those desiring further study of this topic?

C.J. Mahaney did an excellent blog post entitled “Fathers, Sons, and March Madness”, which actually appears as an appendix to my book. You can also view the post online at the following link: http://blog.t4g.org/2006/03/let_the_madness.html

I saw that you have self-published a book about your father, Mark Altrogge. How has your relationship with him shaped your views on athletes, fans, and wannabes?

My dad has been the single most influential person in my life when it comes to my spiritual life. He taught me to be dependent on God before each baseball game by praying, to respect and honor my coaches, and to set an example for my teammates. And he taught me to see the glory of God everywhere, including the arena of sports. I’m the better athlete however!

Besides being a published author, you are also a gifted songwriter and musician. Do you have any new albums or songs coming out soon?

Sovereign Grace Ministries is releasing an album this August that’s based on the Psalms. I have two songs on the album.

Most of my readers are athletes, sports enthusiasts, or simply people who desire to take care of their health. With that in mind, I always must ask at the end of my interviews something about exercise. What is your current exercise regimen?

Regimen might be too strong of a word. I play basketball as much as I can, go for walks with my wife, and generally try to stay in decent shape.

Thank you so much, Stephen, for taking time to share about your upcoming book, Game Day for the Glory of God: A Guide for Athletes, Fans, and Wannabes.You may preorder Stephen’s book from Good News & Crossway by clicking here.

More about the author:

Stephen Altrogge  works as a pastoral intern at Sovereign Grace Church of Indiana, PA, where his main duties include leading worship, working with college students, and shining his dad’s shoes. He also has written several worship songs that have been included on Sovereign Grace Music albums. Stephen is the author of the book Game Day For the Glory of God: A Guide For Athletes, Fans, and Wannabes, which will be published by Crossway Books in September 2008.  Stephen, along with his father Mark, are the writers at The Blazing Center Blog. When not shining his dad’s shoes, you can find Stephen drinking coffee or playing video games. You can contact Stephen by clicking here. 

There are several causes of dehydration including diarrhea and vomiting, bacterial infections, and the one we are going to focus on excessive sweating without out hydration. If you have been running, exercising in the heat or if you are exercising in a room without much air, make sure to stay hydrated taking breaks for a little sip of water. If you are training for an endurance race or exercise try to drink plenty of fluids two hours prior to the event.  Once you have completed your exercise make sure to drink plenty of fluids to restore what has been lost.  The goal is to be well hydrated before you exercise so that you won’t be dehydrated after. Think of it like a family loading up in a car to go on a long drive for vacation. Most of us fill up our cars in preparation for a trip. We also need to fuel up (or fill up ) to prevent depleting what is stored in our bodies.

One way to test dehydration is to check to make sure your urine is clear and also monitor the amount of times you urinate. If your urine is clear and you go to the restroom often (more than once or twice in an eight hour period) then you may be safe.

If you are unsure if you are experience dyhydration the Mayo Clinic has a great list of symptoms (see below)

Mild to moderate dehydration is likely to cause:

• Dry, sticky mouth
• Sleepiness or tiredness - children are likely to be less active than usual
• Thirst
• Decreased urine output - fewer than six wet diapers a day for infants and eight hours or more without urination for older children and teens
• Few or no tears when crying
• Muscle weakness
• Headache
• Dizziness or lightheadedness

Severe dehydration, a medical emergency, can cause:

• Extreme thirst
• Extreme fussiness or sleepiness in infants and children; irritability and confusion in adults
• Very dry mouth, skin and mucous membranes
• Lack of sweating
• Little or no urination - any urine that is produced will be dark yellow or amber
• Sunken eyes
• Shriveled and dry skin that lacks elasticity and doesn’t “bounce back” when pinched into a fold
• In infants, sunken fontanels - the soft spots on the top of a baby’s head
• Low blood pressure
• Rapid heartbeat
• Fever
• In the most serious cases, delirium or unconsciousness

I hope you enjoy your summer and take the precautions needed to avoid dehydration. Drink plenty of fluids and take necessary breaks to keep your body temperature low.

For more information about dehydration you can visit the Mayo Clinic by clicking here.

 Lately the site has been experiencing some difficulties loading and I haven’t been able to access the blog. Please forgive me for this little interruption to my series of blogs. My site administrator has been looking into the problems and we will hopefully begin seeing some improvements.

Updates

I have had the opportunity to interact with several individuals about health, fitness and the Lord. I am so humbled and thankful for the people who read this little blog. Please continue to email me with questions, comments or ideas. Remember the best way to reach me is trillfitness@gmail.com.

This past month I went to the Hope Resource Center to speak with a wonderful group of pregnant and postnatal moms about fitness and nutrition during pregnancy. We then did a series of exercises that anyone can do and that are safe for pregnancy. This month I will have the joy of teaching innercity children about exercise and fitness at SOAR Youth Ministries summer camp. I look forward to being with the children. My son will also be with me so this should be quite an adventure.

Thank you for visiting and keep coming back!

Here’s a taste:

After much study, and collecting data from the over 250,000 runners I’ve worked with, I’ve found that in marathons, runners tend to slow down 30 seconds a mile for every 5 degrees above 60F. On long runs, it is best to slow down at least this much to avoid heat stress, and speed up your recovery… Continue reading.

1. Could you tell us a little about yourself, where you work, and what you do?

I have been in the fitness and sport performance world since I was a teenager. I’ve been working as a professional in the field for the last 9 years. Currently, I am the Associate Director for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Fitness Center. I’m responsible for helping to lay out direction for the center, training the staff, overseeing departments, ensuring that our members receive the best services we have to offer. On a daily basis this looks like teaching classes or personal training, developing the staff through training, boring desk work, etc. Also, in my spare time I am working on getting my sport performance company up and running again as that was what I was doing prior to this job.  

On a personal note, I have been married to my wonderful bride, Kelley, for two and a half years. We have a 13-month little girl, Keara, and another due sometime in September. We are also members of Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

2. How did you get involved with sports performance training?

Sports were always apart of my life growing up, so much so that I wanted to be a professional athlete when I ‘grew up.’ Needless to say being in shape was always a priority. As the Lord opened my eyes, I realized that I couldn’t be a professional athlete and be a committed member of a local church. So I went to school to learn how to train athletes/individuals to meet their goals. I graduated with a degree in Kinesiology, which is basically movement within the human body. Toward the end of my degree I took an internship with a renowned Strength & Conditioning Coach and spent 5 years with him soaking up all the knowledge he could throw at me. I went from intern to trainer to assistant to his director. Through my degree and God’s favor I’ve had the privilege to work with a wide variety of individuals and jobs

3. How would you define sports performance training?

Simply, it is any aspect of training that improves your ability to perform. For example, that could mean acceleration and running technique for sprinters, Olympic weight lifting for hockey players, or mental and kicking technique’s for NFL placekickers. It varies based on the individual, sport, and what the need for improvement is. 

4. What is a typical workout you might have assigned for- say a tennis player?

That largely would depend on the skill level, time commitment, area’s that need improvement. I used to direct the strength & conditioning for a tennis academy, so I will base my answer on what we used to do there.

Typically, we would start with conditioning drills related to on-court performance. Two to three exercises for footwork, three to four agility drills, four to five kinds of plyometrics(jumping drills), and then finish with eight to twelve intermediate sprints. After a cool down, we’d head into the gym for weight training. That would include three to five lifts each for the upper and lower-body and then core work. Because tennis players have a tendency to overdevelop their dominant side (racquet hand), dumbbells are used to correct any imbalances. Standard lifts would be a bench press, dumbbell row, lateral shoulder raise, bicep and tricep work, lunges, balance board squats, leg extensions, and leg curls. Finish it all of with at least 500 to 700 reps of ab work. The reason for so large a number is because the tennis players core strength is essential for success on the court. 

5. You had mentioned training youth and adults. How different is the training?

Because adults are fully developed, the only restrictions you have to training is how fast they can learn the exercises and if there are any physical limitations (injuries) they have. This means you can train them for maximum strength gains, increase training sessions, etc. On the flip side, because a youth has not fully developed the emphasis is building a solid foundation of technique and habit. You want youths to train hard as long as they don’t approach maximal effort. By placing a body that has not fully developed under such effort you can cause long-term injury. By building that foundation they will be much further ahead once their body reaches a place to train at maximal effort. That being said, I’m a firm believer in training hard whatever the age or ability as long as it’s within safe boundaries.

6. Do you have any words of advice or encouragement for my Let’s Training Together participants?

Train hard and have fun! Get your miles in, but mix up how you do it. Vary the type of cardio you do, use weight lifting exercises that train movements not just body parts, train with a partner or group. Running long distance can be very difficult, push through it and you will be glad you did so. And one more thing, listen to Trillia! 

7. I can’t end an interview without asking, what is your current exercise regimen?

What I plan to do or what I actually do? J I do cardio 4-5 days a week for 30-60 minutes. That’s either cycling, running, elliptical work, or some combination. Additionally, I weight lift 5-6 days per week. I lift Chest/Shoulder/Tri’s; Back/Bi’s; and Leg’s each twice a week. I vary the sets and reps depending on what training cycle I’m in. Now I’m able to do all of this because I work at a gym. If I didn’t work at one then it would only be 2-3 times per week!  

Thanks so much Josh. I know at the time we conducted the interview it was a busy time so I am grateful you would take time out to help educate us on sports performance training. It’s always encouraging to me to meet other Christians in the fitness industry. I hope to hear more from you in the near future.

Blessings,

Trillia

I don’t take supplements or pills much so I wasn’t really sure what it was, but when I looked it up and spoke with a pharmacist it sounded like it could be beneficial. Just last night I started taking Osteo Bi-Flex. I don’t know much about this product and I haven’t spoken with my doctor about it so I can’t recommend it but from what it looks like it’s just a supplement to help rebuild cartilage and protect joints. I’ll keep you updated as I learn more. I hope to feature a doctor on here soon to answer some questions about joint pain and foot problems.

 One more thing, I’m not even sure if it’s my cartilage or if it’s a ligament problem! I like to self diagnose. I’m kidding. I will say that today when I was teaching Body Pump (a weight lifting class utilizing a barbell) my knee did great. Please pray for me if you think of it.

Until next time….

 I hope you enjoy this topic! 

Marisa Lykins has invited me on her talk show “Chick Chat” on one of our listener supported Christian radio stations Love 89.1. I will be on there tomorrow, Thursday March 13, at 8:10 am. I have met with Marissa before and look forward to “chatting”. Please tune in if you have a chance. You can also listen online here.

In His Strength

It’s on sale right now for 50% off! Please take advantage of this sale by clicking here.

It’s been so good to go through this drill, if you will. I am learning so much about my limitations. I think this is a great place to be in. As my son continues to be more active I am needing to scale back on things like running. Most of my workouts are done while I’m teaching, which if you are an instructor you know aren’t as intense as it would be if I were doing it on my own.

 Thanks for reading. Many blessings to you!