Latest / Faithful Fitness With Coach Alex VanHouten / Embodiment vs. Simulation: Fitness in the Age of AI

Transcript

Embodiment vs. Simulation: Fitness in the Age of AI · Faithful Fitness With Coach Alex VanHouten

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Faithful Fitness Podcast. For my Dad, Coach
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Alex Van Houghten helps you get stronger in mind, body,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: and spirit. He believes that your body is a temple,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: so taking good care of it is an actual worship.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: I should know. I live with him. Every week. He
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: brings truth from the Bible, tool from science, and stories
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: that will set your heart on fire. May God bless
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: you to become everything He made you to be, just
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: one percent better every single day.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: What if I told you that, in the age of
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: artificial intelligence, disembodied experiences, and endless simulations, that one of
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: the most countercultural things you could do is sweat, breathe hard,
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: and lift heavy. Hey there, and welcome to the Faithful
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: Fitness Podcast. My name is Coach Alex Van Houghten, and
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: my mission is to help you make the most out
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: of the body God's given you. And right now, in
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: our age of technological advances and unprecedented things like artificial intelligence,
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: fitness is not just about health anymore. Fitness is about
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: remembering that you are alive, embodied, and created in the
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: image of God. In this episode, we're going to talk
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: about the seven reasons why fitness matters In an age
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: of simulation, and by the end of this episode, I
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: hope you'll double down on your faithful fitness journey with
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: myself and our community at Faithful Fitness. Before we dive in,
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: I'm going to invite you to go to faithfulfitnessdevo dot
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: com and pick up your copy of the Faithful Fitness
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: Devotional for support in your fitness journey with regard to
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: your faith. So let's get into these seven reasons. First,
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: from a cultural perspective, we are living in disembodied times.
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: What do I mean by that, Well, we're surrounded by
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: substitutes for lived experiences. Think about it. How many friends
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: do you have on Facebook or how many followers do
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: you have on social media. We live in a world
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: where we can have a conversation with a computer. We
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: can have virtual friendships and have algorithms fee us unlimited
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: visual feeds might be how you found this podcast actually,
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: and in that virtual space, our culture is losing the
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: experience of being embodied. John Chapter one, verse fourteen says,
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: and the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: your fitness practice teaches you that you do have a body,
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: that it's real and good in part of your lived
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: experience every day, and that brings us to number two.
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: Fitness is so important to this age of simulation because
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: it's resistance against cultural drift. When I say resistance, I'm
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: not just talking about the weights. I'm talking about the
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: way culture will pull you unless you make a stand
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: and fight for what matters in your life. And fitness
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: disciplines like fasting, weight training, and cardiovascular exercise embody that
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: resistance to fight for the things that matter. The apostle
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: Paul says in One Corinthians nine twenty seven, I discipline
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: my body. I keep it under control. After preaching to others,
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: I myself am disqualified. Paul saw that training his body
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: was integral to discipleship. Your fitness practice resists disembodiment. It
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: says to you and the whole world, I'm more than
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: just a brain in a jar, scrolling endlessly on a screen.
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: The third reason fitness matters in an age of simulation
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: is that fitness practice is always real. Have you been
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: on social media lately? Almost everything you read, almost everything
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: you watch, you have to ask the question, is this real?
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: Or did somebody generate this with an AI prompt? Well,
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: guess what it turns out you can't fake running a mile.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: You can't fake a push up or deadlifts. Those are real,
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: no questions asked in this age of disembodiment. Fitness teaches
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: us cause and effect. That's truth without shortcuts, reality, unmediated,
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: and unquestionable. I've always said to my clients things get
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: really real when you're running up a hill and there's
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: no way out but to keep going. Galatians six seven
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: teaches us do not be deceived. God is not mocked
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: whatsoever a man sows, so shall he also reap. Your
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: fitness practice embodies that. So in reap quality of the
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: world that God made. It turns out that the way
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: He made things work produces growth, but neglect produces weakness,
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: Which brings me to another truth of the way God
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: made our bodies, and that's number four. We are wired
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: for connection and adaptation through the body. When you undergo exercise,
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: you create an adaptive stressor in the body that sends
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: a message, not an AI chat, but a real chemical
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: message that teaches your body how to come back stronger,
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: more endurable, better at using fat as a fuel source,
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: more resilient, more vivacious. And those actual signals are mitigated
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: by the body. There's no way you can think your
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: way into those adaptations. Similarly, when we pursue our fitness
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: experience with other individuals, there's a whole cascade of mind
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: body processes that help us to feel connected as well,
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: things like an increase of oxytocin when you get to
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: walk side by side with your walking partner, or the
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: activation of mirror neurons when somebody you're working out with
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: does a move you don't quite know and you have
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: to learn it by watching. Turns out, mirror neurons don't
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: activate when you're looking at a screen in the same
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: way that when you're looking at a person who's really
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: there with you. And if you have to do something
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: difficult with another person like run a five k or
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: complete an obstacle course race, or ride a bike for
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: a really long way, that shared experience forges a connection
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: because of the embodied nature of the activity that can't
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: be replicated online. First, Thessalonians five eleven says, therefore, let
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: us encourage one another and build one another up. Training
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: not only builds your muscles and the strength of your heart,
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: but in community, it reminds us that we were created
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: for embodied encouragement. The fifth reason why fitness is so
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: important in this disembodied age is the biblical responsibility of stewardship.
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: Stewardship is a very powerful idea echoed throughout scripture, and
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: the idea is this that God gives us things and
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: he expects us to take responsibility for those things and
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: to take good care of them. God gave me this body.
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: God gave me my body, and he gave you yours.
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: And even in this age of simulation, we have a
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: responsibility to care for our bodies. Well, that's stewardship. But
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: because I have a body and you have a body,
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: we also have a bigger responsibility, and that is to
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: steward embodiment. Well, this embodiment is a privilege and a gift,
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: as lived out by Jesus who took on flesh himself.
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: I don't know how many robot movies you've seen, but
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: it's a recurring theme that being embodied is a privilege.
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: And even the most super intelligent artificial intelligences look at
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: the human body and go wow, it'd be really cool
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: not to just simulate feelings, but to feel them. And
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: we have that gift and responsibility, right, now so, in
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: this age of simulation, our fitness practice is so important
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: for stewarding our own body and stewarding this privilege of embodiment.
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: We've been given a gift. Let's make the most of it.
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: One Corinthians sixteen nine through twenty says this, do you
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: not know that your body is a temple of the
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: Holy Spirit. You are not your own. You were bought
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: with a price. Therefore, honor God with your body. It
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: turns out that embodiment is not optional in faith. It's
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: central to your discipleship and God's presence in you. Okay, coach,
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: I'm almost convinced. Awesome, but I'm not done with you yet.
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: Reason number six has us looking at the future. With
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: technology going the way it's going, Imagine with me how
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: things could turn out. What happens to a civilization that's
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: not comfortable in its own skin, that's so plugged into
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: simulations that there's no wind on the face, no rain
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: on your hands. You forget what it's like to push
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: yourself to feel alive in the realist sense and to
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: be healthy in your own body. Our fitness practice might
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: truly be the last bastion of unmediated reality. Preparing us
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: to stay human in an age that's rapidly advancing in
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: simulations and virtual reality. I'm not saying it's all terrible.
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: I believe a lot of great things can come out
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: of it as long as we stay connected to our
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: own bodies. In One Timothy four seven and eight, it says,
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: this train yourself to be godly. Physical training is of
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: some value, but Godliness has value for all things, holding
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: promises for the present life and the life to come.
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: Paul acknowledges that physical training is valuable, not ultimate, but
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: essential for our present resilience and eternal orientation. Your fitness
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: will help you keep your humanity in a future where
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: it's questionable whether or not that'll be easy to do.
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: And the seventh reason that your fitness practice matters so
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: much in an age of simulation is that it's just
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: not that hard. We as people and we as humanity
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: have a lot of difficult decisions to make in the
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: future as technology ramps up so quickly and so many
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: changes are on the horizon. But when it comes to
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: your fitness journey, that's an easy choice. Is it better
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: to be embodied, connected, healthy, and human? Regardless of what
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: choices we make in the future. The answer is yes.
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: And while I know there's a lot of fitness information
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: in the world that makes fitness sound very complicated, it's
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: really not. In fact, if you're not already practicing your
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: fitness two hours a week, you can make a huge
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: difference with the proper exercise, nutrition, and mindset understanding. If
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: you don't currently have those, I invite you to check
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: out our Faith and Fitness Foundation series the links in
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: the show notes. There's never been a better time to
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: prioritize your fitness journey than right now, and with our
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: work here at Faithful Fitness, you don't have to pursue
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: it with vanity. Faith and fitness are powerfully connected, and
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: we'll show you how. Regardless, though, don't outsource your humanity.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: Make sure you take one step every day to remind
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: yourself that your body's real and that's worth taking care of. Lift, walk, stretch, run, play,
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: and better yet, invite somebody to be a part of
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: those things with you, because in an age of simulations,
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: your body, like it or not, is one of the
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: last bastions of truth and reality. Steward it, honor God
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: with it, and let it tether you to the truth
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalms one, p.
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: Thirty nine fourteen says this, I praise you because I
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, and
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: I know that full will. In the Old Testament, in
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: the Book of Joshua, one of the original spies named
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: Caleb comes back to Joshua in his later years in life.
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: In their conversation, he reaches down and picks up his
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: sword and says, here, in my old age, I still
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: have the same strength in my hand that I had
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: in our youth when we took this land hashtag goals right.
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: And it's in that same spirit that I hope after
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: this show you'll double down on your fitness journey in
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: this age of simulation. My commitment to you as your
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: coach is that no matter how fake things get, and
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: no matter how technologically advanced things get, I'm committed to
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: stewarding my body well and keeping my humanity. This has
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: been coach Alex van Houten on The Faithful Fitness Podcast.
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: Until next time, guys, train hard, but pray harder.
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: Hey, if this episode helped you, jare it with someone
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: who needs to hear it and don't forget to subscribe
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: and move us a raving review so more people can
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: find faithful fitness. Oh and my dad's new devotional is
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: almost out now. You can grab a copy for you
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: and then join our free community at Better Daily by
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: clicking on the links in the show notes below. We
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: all have a cross to carry, but it's lighter when
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: we do it together, so check out both links and
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: the show notes. Don't be a big well bob, just
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: do it until next time. Don't forget. Train hard and
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: pray even harder.