Hey, Chad here. I have a very simple, but VERY up front messege for you today.
If this is you...
...then I want you to take a few minutes and watch the video below I made specifically for you. Things might seem totally out of control and you might be in a place in life where you just don't see yourself or anything around you getting any better. If this is you, then please watch the video. There is a very important message that I need you to hear.
Really, you CAN make that simple decision to TAKE ACTION and start making that change you really do want.
As I said, I will do whatever I can to guide you in the right direction and push you as needed if you are willing to TAKE ACTION now or sometime in the future. I am always here for you. And it all start with a face to face meeting between the two of us. I will gladly give you a FREE consultation, with no obligation whatsoever to purchase any of my programs or products. Just Click here --> --> to TAKE ACTION NOW!
You may have seen or heard the phrase “functional exercise” in the media lately. It’s certainly a hot topic right now. Celebrities like Oprah Winfrey are leading the way by telling the public of its many benefits. In reality functional exercise is not new….far from it. It’s actually just exercise that works your entire body in multiple planes of motion. The difference is today we are using stability balls, bands, medicine balls, foam rollers, and other fancy gadgets to replace what we used to do with our own bodies. The new equipment and training techniques are great and they’ve certainly created a “buzz” but it’s what they do that is really important. Somewhere along the line exercise changed from being something that worked the entire body to today being isolation movements on fixed, stationary equipment. The health club movement that started in the late 1970’s had a lot to do with our current perception of exercise. Let me explain…
But first, be sure to watch the video at the very bottom of this article to see the best functional exercise there is…for this time of year…it’s VERY FUNNY!
When it comes to exercise most people don’t have a clue regarding the type and duration needed to meet their individual goals. Unfortunately, the one place you think would be helping the most has actually created most of the confusion. Walk into any gym or health club in your community and you’ll see most people doing the same things…going from machine to machine, moving slowly, and only working one muscle group at a time. Whoever told them this was the best way to exercise? Probably nobody…but when there is a lack of education people will naturally just follow what they see someone else doing. The health club industry has done a poor job educating its members on how to reach their goals. The free personal training session or initial consultation is usually a joke. It’s typically conducted by someone at the front desk that has little or no professional experience. After you’ve been shown where the dumbbells are at, you’re turned loose to do it all on your own. Confused and embarrassed most people will just start watching and mimicking someone else. The end result is people getting frustrated. They’ll spend all this time working out without ever seeing results then one day they’ll quit. Such a shame….nobody ever shared with them the TRUTH.
The traditional gym or health club today is packed with exercise equipment to work every single muscle group in isolation. How we ever got to this point is really beyond me. I’m sure it has something to do with fitness equipment manufacturers looking to sell more equipment. I mean we have equipment for most every single movement imaginable. The problem with this is your body doesn’t work in isolation, it works with integration. Let’s look at four different movements you might do in everyday life and then break each one down in relation to functional and traditional exercise. After that you be the judge.
1) Picking up a small child from the floor.
2) Pull starting a lawn mower.
3) Lifting a heavy box from the floor
4) Pushing open a heavy door.
1) When you pick up a small child or most anything from the floor we do so in an asymmetrical form. In other words, you’re going to bend down with one leg in front of the other. When you bend over you’re going to use your low back, abdominals, and major leg muscles to get back up. This movement is going to use a lot of muscles in an integrated fashion. An exercise like a leg extension designed to isolate the quadriceps is of little use during this movement. But that’s exactly what you’d see most people doing to exercise their legs. A better alternative would be a functional exercise like a medicine ball reach which more closely resembles the actual activity. This exercise also improves balance, core strength, and motor skills. All things that are important with actual everyday activities.
2) Anyone who has ever pull started a lawn mower understands the demands this movement puts on the back, arms, and shoulders. The primary muscle group involved in any “pulling” movement is the latisimus dorsi of the back. Most machines designed to work the latisimus dorsi have you sitting down and pulling from overhead. Why? How often will that happen today? Chances are if you have to pull something you’ll do it standing up. You’ll also be using rotation from your hips to complete the movement. Two things you won’t find in standard exercise equipment. A better exercise to give you pulling with rotation would be a low-high chop with a resistance band or cable.
3) You won’t find many pieces of exercise equipment that will actually help you pick up something heavy from the floor. The reason is this is such a compound movement requiring the integration of the low back, abdominals, and legs. Low back problems rank number one for causes of lost work days in the US. Why? One reason has to do with the way we exercise. Traditional isolation equipment does little to prevent low back injuries that are commonly caused by muscle imbalances, usually due to a weak core. A good exercise to develop the muscles used when picking something up is called a “pull through.” This exercise really works the posterior chain, as you can see by the strain on my face!
4) Pushing exercises are some of my favorite examples. Typically when you push something you’ll do it standing up. Think about when you might push something today sitting down. I can’t think of too many instances. But let’s look at the number one exercise for most guys…the bench press. Now, I’m not knocking this exercise because it does have its purpose….but you need to look at the exercise objective in relation to your goals. The bench press is a great way to build hypertrophy or size for the chest. It’s probably the best way to add muscle mass if that’s your goal. But let’s look at the other 95% of the population that simply wants to look good, stay in shape, and improve their overall quality of life. There are some alternatives to the bench press that can work the core and the chest at the same time. Try a push up off a stability ball. I think you’ll be surprised!
Functional exercise is really nothing more than exercising the way you move in everyday life. Traditional isolation equipment does a poor job of simulating these everyday activities. Now before you go out and throw away your home gym…wait there’s more. I believe that people can benefit from traditional equipment if they combine it with functional movements. This concept is called “Three Tier Integration” and is the foundation for the workout routines we design and teach at Shaping Concepts. Combining functional exercise with different forms of resistance and cardiovascular exercise gives you the best total body workout. You’ll also be pleased to know that you’ll be able to complete your workouts in half the time.
Ever wonder who made the one-hour rule for workouts anyway? I’d like to know if you find out. I believe this unspoken rule has been handed down over time by new exercisers simply watching bodybuilders. But here’s the real problem….bodybuilders and the general population have drastically different goals. Individuals educated in exercise prescription know that hypertrophy periodizations (those designed primarily for muscle mass increase) require a minimum of one minute rest between sets. There is a physiological reason why the bodybuilder will take more rest between sets and thus more time with their workout. But that doesn’t mean their workout is best suited for an individual looking primarily to lose weight and get in shape.
Training routines and programs should always be individual specific according to a person’s wants, needs, and physical limitations. For most people, excluding athletes and bodybuilders, you can achieve your goals with 30 minute durations of exercise.
Most people don’t realize that the body starts breaking down after about 30 minutes of intense exercise. There’s little reason for the typical individual to exceed 30 minutes in a single session if they’re exercising properly. An hour in the gym can easily be replaced with 30 minutes of exercise done most anywhere….once you learn how. Years ago, people had a better idea on what exercise was really all about. Long before health clubs became nothing more than an endless sea of equipment and spandex. Back when a gym was actually a place where people went to break a sweat.
Old time fitness guru’s like Farmer Burns and Karl Gotch practiced bodyweight calisthenics and other exercises that focused on working the entire body. It was their teachings that made up the foundation for physical education classes in the public schools. Forty years ago you would’ve been taught that exercise included things like jumping jacks, push-up’s, torso twists, and knee bends. All examples of what today we call “functional exercise.”
I watched a documentary recently regarding physical education classes in our schools that just blew me away. At the time of filming, Illinois was the only state that had mandatory physical education classes in public schools. We’ve removed gym classes in order to spend more time on equivalency tests that determine government funding. Can you believe it? We’ve sacrificed our children’s health in order for better test results and government money. The one school they did show with physical education classes had 8-10 year old children working out on traditional weight equipment. When did this start? Not only is this impractical, it’s contributing to the misleading view our children have with exercise. When we do teach them PE, we teach them how to sit down and exercise! Whatever happened to dodge ball and relay races? Such a shame…the end result is a population that has never been taught the importance of real exercise. In fact, by removing it we’ve taught them it’s really not important at all. It should be no surprise that childhood obesity is at epidemic levels.
It’s time to get back to the basics! Time to get back to real exercise….the kind that actually helps improve your quality of life! The typical weight training routine everyone imitates focuses on aesthetic improvements instead of developments in motor skills, balance, flexibility, and overall strength. Remember, you want a body that you can use….not one that just looks good.
As we age, we’ll all lose things like balance, flexibility, motor skills, and strength. Now we can’t stop the aging process but we can change our quality of life. Whether you still want to be able to play 18 holes of golf or simply put on a pair of socks without sitting down…..functional exercise is for you.
Functional exercise should not be a new catch phrase in the fitness industry. Somewhere exercise became something we did without sweating and while sitting down! Give me a break! Bottom line is exercise should resemble how you move your body. It should contain in some way a form of pushing, pulling, reaching, squatting, and rotating. These are the pillars of human movement….for everyone from a pro athlete to a senior citizen. The movements don’t change…the way in which they are being used changes. That’s the reason we need different training programs. All in all, the exercises either population group should use will be very similar with only the intensity, progression and duration being different.
One of the great things about functional exercises is that they can be completed with very little equipment and space required. That’s why they’re great for home exercise routines. If you have an 8x10 open area you’re ready to exercise with functional exercise equipment.
At Shaping Concepts we’ve devised a workout series devoted exclusively to getting functional fitness in your own home. The “Trial” series can teach you the exercises needed to be done at home and are great for people of any age and fitness level. These workouts contain some of the very same exercises our clients perform in their private one-on-one workouts in our studios. You can purchase this program at any Shaping Concepts.
If you would like personal instruction on functional fitness please contact the studio at 843-757-8626 to schedule an appointment. We provide a totally FREE trial of our services and offer a complete 100% money back guarantee! If you want to get your very own FREE trialCLICK HERE NOW!
Now make sure to watch this video to see the BEST FUNCTIONAL EXERCISE there is…for this time of year…it’s VERY FUNNY!
(This is not a real hurricane. It was only a dramatization)
Let me start off by saying this...I know you may be embarrassed or feel ashamed when you enter a gym or fitness center. We have all been there. Yes, even me. Let me be very honest with you. I opened up Shaping Concepts, a small, quaint fitness studio, for people that feel embarrassed, that don't feel totally accepted or part of the crowd when they enter a gym. I wanted to take that feeling totally away. I can honestly say that I have done that at Shaping Concepts.
In the video below, Jeff, who trains at the Shaping Concepts in Charleston, explain how he became a client at Shaping Concepts after trying the "gym scene", and all the results he has had and worked hard for in just over one months time.
Make sure you watch this entire video...
One of the main criteria I make for myself and my trainers is that we make everyone feel at home, and part of the Shaping Concepts family. Remember the old TV show Cheers? You know...where everybody knows your name. Well, when you walk through the Shaping Concepts doors, someone, if not everyone there will yell out your name. It's just something we do. It makes you feel comfortable.
You may have been able to relate with Jeff on some things he talked about in this video. Going to the gym and trying to workout on your own, not having accountability and structure, struggling to find the time with a busy schedule, etc.
The reality is a lot of people struggle with the same things. Creating the diet and exercise habits for a successful body transformation is not that complicated but it can be difficult when you’re going about it all alone, especially in the beginning.
The benefits of having a coach to hold you accountable and show you the way…
The hardest part of making lifestyle changes is sticking with your new routines until they become a habit. This is where a coach can pay huge dividends. We all know it’s easy to make excuses to ourselves and drift even with the best of intentions. But when you have someone vested in your success it can make all the difference.
I can’t over-emphasize the importance of accountability when starting out on a fitness and nutrition regiment to lose weight and transform your health. When you have someone waiting on you to workout you’ll be much more likely to show up, even more so when you’ve invested in that coaching.
When you don’t show up to workout at the gym on your own does anybody notice?
The littlest of details make the biggest differences with changing your shape. Having someone teach you the most effective way to workout to see results, reminding you daily of how important you said your goals were to you, following up on whether or not you did your cardio, etc.
The most successful people in any sport or business all have a coach or a mentor to help them achieve their best. They learned, often times through the school of hard knocks, that plowing through on their own without direction proved difficult and time consuming.
They understood that the quickest way to get where they wanted to go was to learn from someone who could help them. The same thing rings true for someone who wants to cut off the painful learning curve with losing weight and getting in shape.
Personal training and fitness coaching as an investment to get you where you want to go faster and without the painful learning curve…
When going to the gym or working out a home doesn’t produce the results you’re looking for, consider getting a fitness coach to show you the way. While personal training has the reputation of being expensive, you should look at it as an investment.
The investment you make in yourself in the beginning can more than pay for itself over time when you factor in all the wasted time, failed attempts, cost of programs that didn’t work, gym memberships you didn’t use, etc.
Not to mention the value you place on truly looking and feeling your best. How do you put on a price tag on your happiness, health, self-confidence, and quality of life? I don’t know that you really can. But then again it’s all up to individual and what’s really important to them on how they want to live their life.
Personal training and coaching for a couple of months can go a long way towards helping you see the results you want. The good thing about coaching is you tailor it according to your needs.
In the beginning you’ll want to work with a coach several times a week while you build habits and learn how to do the most effective exercises on your own. Once you’re ready to go do routines on your own you can meet with your coach only as needed.
We have numerous clients now working out at home or in the gym that follow up with their coach just when they want some additional routines to follow or help in a particular area.
The best fitness coaches will always look to teach you exercises and routines you can do on your own so you’re truly becoming empowered to make exercise a life-long habit.
Is it time for you to take action and stop living life accepting something less than the best for yourself?
If you’ve been putting off starting a fitness and diet routine I’d encourage you to draw that hard line in the sand and say now is the time. Enough is enough and it’s time to get serious. The first step is simply making a decision to take action.
You may have doubts on whether or not you could see results like Jeff achieved in his program. I completely understand if you feel that way. Most all of our clients had some uncertainty when they started due to past attempts with changing their shape that didn’t’ pan out.
I’m here to tell you that YES you can do it and I have no doubts you can transform your body and your life once you put your mind to it. Helping people make this change happen is what we do everyday here at Shaping Concepts. It’s the reason I get up every morning and work with so much passion on helping others.
We’ll sit down and discuss what you’d like to achieve and I’ll provide you with my recommendations on the best course of action to take. If I can help you with further coaching, great, but if not at least you’ll leave with a better understanding of how to reach your fitness and weight loss goals.
You could be the next person I spotlight in a video when you join the “Over 20lb Club” at Shaping Concepts.
“Hello everyone, this is Stephanie, some of you may know me as the bookkeeper here at Shaping Concepts and others know me as the crazy workoutaholic. For those of you who don’t know me at all, I am actually both, but I hadn’t always been. Now, I am a very private person and prefer to keep my private life just that, but daily I see so many people walking around where I used to be, not sure of where or how to start working out and then those riddled with excuses, so I asked Chad for this opportunity to personally invite and encourage those of you out there tired of where you are physically and those who are ready to make a change for good to jump in and take the first step and give us a call and schedule a consultation and enjoy a free session – trust me you will not regret it. I can say this because I personally have lost over 50lbs working out at Shaping Concepts and I cannot say there has been one day that I have not learned something new whether it’s about nutrition, injury prevention, or just an insight about myself.
I am currently doing one-on-one sessions with a sprinkling of boot camps and I will tell you I love them both. As I said earlier, I have not always been a crazy workoutaholic. I was a runner in school, but then entered the military, married, gained a little weight, gave birth three times, gained some more, divorced and gained even more weight (total gained approx. 80+). The weight crept on ever so slowly that between working in scrubs and wearing sweats all the time at home I really didn’t notice or didn’t want to accept it. Anyway, as long as my pants could stretch to fit, I thought I was ok; that is, until several of my patients started inquiring how far along my pregnancy was. I laughed it off a couple of times, but it really started to bother me that I had let it get this far. I started to notice that I was tired all the time which, at first, I related really to working nights and raising three kids on my own, but I also noticed that I couldn’t even climb the stairs to my room without getting winded. That is when I reached out to Shaping Concepts because I wanted a place that was small and non-intimidating unlike a gym. Face it, I didn’t know the first thing about working out in a gym and I was fat and did not want people watching me. With that said, I will tell you that it still took me a good six months to actually come in and meet Chad. Why so long? Again, I was embarrassed, I felt I needed to get in shape and maybe lose some weight first which; of course, did not happen on my own so my journey to weight loss and lifestyle changes began with Shaping Concepts. Now I don’t know where you are in your journey, but I will tell you that if it wasn’t for Chad chasing me down on days I overslept from working the night before or pushing me when I said “I can’t” I probably wouldn’t be where I am now which is comfortable in size 8 skinny jeans and training for marathons and triathlons. Thanks Chad! I can also tell you that if you want a kick-butt workout with a personal touch then Shaping Concepts delivers. Between Chad, and the other trainers at Shaping Concepts you will not miss a beat or a pushup – trust me. As you progress in your fitness they grow with you and continue to encourage you through, even when you don’t think you can. If you want camaraderie then try our boot camps, which really boils down to a bunch of friends having fun working out together. It is a great way to start or end any day. However, if you prefer to exercise alone or have specific defined goals and a clear-cut deadline then you might appreciate a more individualized program like one-on-one’s. Either choice you make will not disappoint you, I promise. Lastly, I will say that I am in the best physical and probably the best emotional condition I have been in since my divorce and if you decide to embark on your own journey do so with a journal of pictures and a timeline of your accomplishments, if for no one else but yourself, it will mean a lot later when you look back on where you were. Life is short – don’t put off till tomorrow what you should be doing today! Call me at the studio at 843-757-8626. I would love to help you.”
-Stephanie Griffin
Alright, so as I said in the video, I have a “Trial Offer” for you…
ACCOUNTABILITY...The key factor when it comes to losing weight, toning up, slimming down, leaning out, getting ripped, pumping up, trimming down, or whatever else you want to call it.
How many times have you tried to start a workout reamin only to quit before you ever got started? That's because there was no ACCOUNTABILITY!
The person in the video, Doreen, really thought she would be able to continue on her regular fitness routine. After years of training at Shaping Concepts, and even one other place before Shaping Concepts, Doreen thought she had enough knowledge to do it on her own. Fact is...she does have the knowledge! At this point she could probably train many of you out there. What she didn't understand was that she received something else at Shaping Concepts that she didn't even know she was getting...
Fact: You don't have anyone to keep track of you at a local gym!
you don't have anyone checking your weight and body fat regularly
you don't have anyone checking your nutrition log regularly
you don't have anyone saying " I want you to get in at least 45 minutes of cardio in intervals before I see you again."
you don't have a set appointment to see anyone
you don't have anyone calling you to see why you were late or why you didn't show up
you don't have anyone making you do 23 more repetitions after you want to stop at 10 just because 10 sounds like a good number
you don't have anyone giving you daily tips on fitness and nutrition to help you get even better results
you don't have anyone there to encourage you along the journey, especially during those hard times which we all have
Face it, even Luke Skywalker had to be accountable to someone...Yoda, the ultimate accountability Jedi!!
Why do you think there are so many private fitness studios now? Real fitness pro's that want to really healp people make a change and get them RESULTS don't work at the local gyms anymore!
That's why I got out...There was simply no accountability in the local gym scene. The people working there are personal trainers. The people that open up and work in private studios are fitness professionals! This IS what YOU want if you want to get
You can go on doing the same old routine you've been doing. But think about how you will feel and look one year from now if you keep doing that. What about two years from now? What five or ten years from now? How will you look and feel at that point if you keep doing what you are currently doing?
Now what if you get someone to hold you accountable, say a fitness professional, at a privately owned fitness studio to help you reach those goals that you have right now?
A place this this...
If you went to a place like this and got some good coaching by a real fitness pro, how do you think you would look and feel just one year from now? Two years from now? What about five or even ten years from now?
My bet is that you would look and feel great!!
So what is the lesson in this? Just like Doreen said in the video, ACCOUNTABILITY was the key factor she did not have when she tried to do it on her own. What should you do now?
Here's a little hint...
Trust me when I say that sometimes this is how you want to feel after a workout. Not all the time, but sometimes. Do you train as hard as she did?
Just because you have read this post and have now embeded the accountability thing into your brain, I'm going to offer you a "Get Started Trial". Your not going to buy a car unless you test drive it first, correct? So I'm giving you a "Test Drive" with No Obligation and No Pressure to buy. Just come in to see if this is something that you need to get you headed toward your goals.
These people all took the Test Drive and found out that it was a good fit for them… Rochelle C. lost another of 5 pounds this month. She also lost 5.5 inches. That's a total of 10 pounds in less than two months at Shaping Concepts and with the help of the AdvoCare 24 Day Challenge. Great job Rochelle. Keep it up!
Amanda H. lost of 5 pounds this month. Amanda is making great progress! Keep up the great work.
Bob C. dropped 7 pounds, 4.5 inches, and went from 25.2% body fat to 23.5, and 27.7 BMI to 26.6 on the AdvoCare 24 Day Challenge.
Peggy A. lost 4 more pounds this month. That makes a total of 27 pounds now! Great job Peggy! Whoo Hoo!!!
Liz H. for losing another 4 pounds this month. That's 12 pounds total lost Liz! Way to go!
Joni G. did it again! Way over 100 pounds lost now Joni! You have transformed your life! I totally look up to you for all the hard work you've put in!!!!!
