Why Christian Men Should Train Their Bodies
The body in scripture — more than an afterthought
Western Christianity has inherited a tendency to treat the body as either irrelevant to faith or actively opposed to it. This is not a biblical position. Genesis establishes that God declared the physical creation very good. The Incarnation — God taking on human flesh in Jesus Christ — is the most emphatic possible statement that physical embodiment matters. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 establishes that the body belongs to God and is to be honoured accordingly.
Physical training for the Christian man is not vanity. It is stewardship. It is the maintenance of the vehicle through which a man serves his family, leads his community and advances the Kingdom.
How physical discipline affects spiritual discipline
The connection between physical and spiritual discipline is not merely metaphorical. Men who establish consistent physical training habits consistently report that their other disciplines — scripture, prayer, fasting — become easier to sustain. Conversely, men who are physically undisciplined typically struggle with spiritual discipline as well. The willpower, consistency and self-denial required for one develop the same capacities in the other.
What the Forged in Faith body section includes
Army bodyweight training — no gym required
Press-ups, squats, planks, lunges, burpees, mountain climbers — the exercises that have built soldiers for centuries. Illustrated with clear diagrams. Structured in progressively harder sessions across 10 days. No gym, no equipment, no excuses.
16:8 intermittent fasting
Fast from 8pm to noon every day. Water, herbal tea and black coffee during the fasting window. Clean eating within the 8-hour window. This is one of the most evidence-based approaches to metabolic health and mental clarity available, and it has a long history as a Christian spiritual practice.
Nutrition principles for the Christian man
Organic food where possible. No processed food. No alcohol. No refined sugar. 2.5-3 litres of water per day. These are not preferences — they are standing orders for the man who takes the stewardship of his body seriously.
The spiritual dimension of physical training
When Tim Pearson began designing the Forged in Faith body section, he included the habit-breaking element deliberately. Each of the ten body days addresses one specific harmful habit — not with condemnation but with scripture, honest teaching and a specific daily action. Smoking. Alcohol. Pornography. Screen addiction. Sugar. These are the things that quietly erode a man’s capacity for God and for the people around him.
→ CTA: See the full Body section — forgedinfaith.org.uk/programme