Save the Genuflect and the 6th CatholicFIT Principle: Learning & Sharing

CCC #364: The Unity Principle basically states that we live as man and soul, expressing both our human and spiritual gifts together as one. This is essentially the challenge and journey of every Catholic Christian.

(This is an older post from when their was a Self Expression and Discipline principle, though most of these ideas still apply.)

The 6th principle is Learning & Sharing.

I’d like to think God wants us to be healthy and happy, and therefore has blessed us with two things: the ability and means to express ourselves, and the laws and boundaries to discipline ourselves.

From a fitness and exercise standpoint, our goal is to fully express our bodies through the way we move in work, play, sport and service to others. In addition, we create rules to help us discipline our dietary and exercise habits.

From a faith perspective, and during our Christian faith journey, we are challenged in a similar way. Here is a brief overview.

Learning & Sharing

The Unity Principle (CCC #364) (pictured upper right) states that “man, though made of body and soul, is a unity.” In other words, we strive to express both our physical and spiritual gifts as one, hoping that this will lead us to recognizing and receiving God’s grace. The Unity Principle implies that we are not whole unless we are expressing our body and our soul.

As we read in Isaiah, an essential part of receiving God’s grace is through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The seven gifts, including: wisdom, understanding, counsel, spirit and fear of the Lord, allow us to express our soul. While I remember celebrating my Confirmation where I technically received these gifts, I continually pray for the understanding for how to fully utilize them.

In my years of health coaching, I often find that people who do not seem to express their physical or human gifts also struggle to successfully manage their personal health. Discovering your gifts, and allowing your children and students to discover and express their gifts of music, speaking, sport, art, humor, creativity, etc is key to fully expressing their mental and emotional health.

The 6th Pillar of Catholic Fitness states that when we become aware of and learn to express both our spiritual gifts and physical gifts together, our greatest potential for health and happiness emerges.

Save the Genuflect

“No one genuflects any more.”

Practicing your genuflect, with a twist (pictured here and in the video below) or not, is a great way to improve your balance and strength at any age.

I heard this recently after a CatholicFIT Workshop, and I thought of two things:

1. first, I agreed, too many (older) people are getting up from the floor incorrectly. Instead of essentially doing a genuflect type move, they are performing a wobbly, lopsided squat while searching for something sturdy to hold on to as they stand up. In doing so, they are risking injuring their knees and lower backs. Lunging, that is, genuflecting, is an important strength move for getting up from the floor, and people just are not doing it any more. When you lose the ability to genuflect without assistance, the “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” clip-on button is in your near future,
2. secondly, and what I think most of these people were actually referring to is, people are not genuflecting in church any more. I imagine the reason for this is twofold – people are not taught the significance of the gesture, and it just plain hurts to genuflect as we age.

So this week, let’s SAVE THE GENUFLECT!

Genuflecting is important for two physical reasons:

1. it is one of our ten human fundamental moves – to kneel down and stand back up. Thousands of years ago, this lunging pattern was one of our natural abilities required for survival. Other “abilities” as outlined throughout the CatholicFIT Program include squatting, bowing, pushing, pulling, walking/running, stepping, carrying and twisting.
2. secondly, it is an excellent assessment tool and predictor for potential injury as it can be used to measure strength, balance and most importantly, left-right strength equality. Try genuflecting 3 times with each leg going back. How do they compare? How much easier is one side than the other? This is a test we use for clients when we meet them as it may indicate potential for future injury.

For more, check out these videos below for instruction, stretches and variations on this great exercise.

Strength Move of the Week – Genuflect (Lunging Pattern)

Stretch – Half Kneeling Stretches

I did this video in my office in response to someone’s question. I think it is good enough to post here to show you a few great stretches to stretch out your hips and improve the bottom position of your genuflect.

Bonus Strength #1 – Genuflect (Reverse Lunge) with Twist

After mastering the regular reverse lunge, working on this move for an added stretch and balance challenge. This will improve your running and jogging mechanics as well.

Bonus Strength #2 – Javelin Press + Reverse Lunge Combination

Here is a combination exercise set incorporating the Reverse Lunge. This is a great move for total body strength, agility and power. “Hockey” is referenced here because this is Scott Mayfield of the New York Islanders back when he was training with me in college.

First Build Your Strength, Then Build The Church

If you would like to check out an overview diagram of the Pillars and Principles of Catholic Fitness, Click Here to open a PDF. This shows ow the first five pillars complement and support the second five pillars, and vice versa.

CCC #2288 Life and physical health are precious gifts entrusted to us by God. We must take reasonable care of them, taking into account the needs of others and the common good.

Therefore, if you have been following along, having built a foundation of health with the first five pillars, we can now explore ways to serve the needs of others through education, stewardship (our time, talent and treasure) and vocation.