Matthew McConaughey knows how to workout, he is in great shape. I always see pictures of him working out everywhere. He is always doing functional training in his environment, like at the beach, in the park, or on a bike. I really never see Matthew in a gym working out. Maybe you never see Matthew McConaughey in a gym working out because he is such a big  movie star, but no that is not the real reason. Matthew understands functional training, which is a core component of Shape Shifter Fitness. Shape Shifter Fitness builds high levels of strength, endurance, flexibility, fluidity, grace and poise. I have been a personal trainer for many years, and Matthew I am sure with his movie star A list status has worked with some of the best of us. Just take a look at Matthew here doing Yoga. I have never met him, but I often see the techniques he implores when it come to his health and fitness and burning calories and I would recognize Shape Shifter Fitness anywhere.

We can all learn a thing or two from Matthew McConaughey’s super workout’s. This is what I try to instill in my personal training client’s. You need to take maximum advantage of your environment. Like so you are at the beach, go ahead and drop and do some push ups. You are in the park, you know go ahead and gets some squats in. Perhaps you might be a little embarrassed. Listen even though you and I are not movie stars let me just say that there is nothing wrong with exercising when you can and where you can and you dont have to be Matthew McConaughey to do it.

The main component’s of fitness are what? strength, cardio, flexibility right. So you need to implore all the tips and techniques you can like Matthew. Shape Shifter Fitness is rooted in martial arts. I founded this system of fitness training from my love of Mr Bruce Lee who founded Jeet Kune Do. Bruce always said be like water. He also said the highest style is to have no style. He used all the aspects of martial arts that was beneficial and got rid of all the dogma, hype and boring repetition. Fitness should be the same way. Do yoga, do some Pilate’s, try some Tai Chi, do some kickboxing, circuit training or free weight’s in the park, or plyometrics. Challenge yourself to be better, and you will be, it is all about creating an active fitness lifestyle. We don’t have to be a millionaire movie star to do that.     

Help me spread the concept of Shape Shifter Fitness to the masses. There really is to much disinformation and misconceptions about fitness and exercise in the marketplace. Unfortunately most of that is by companies wanting to exploit money from you. Remember there is no magic bullet or substitute for a great diet and a proper exercise routine, just take it from Matthew someone who definitely knows the art of fitness.

By Ashley Mateo, SELF magazine

 Angelina Jolie is back just the way we like her: kicking ass and taking names. In Salt, she plays a CIA agent accused of becoming a Russian spy. We talked to her stunt instructor to find out how she got in secret-agent shape.

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SELF: Angelina Jolie looks great in the Salt trailer, but first, we want to know, how did you teach her how to run in those stilettos without falling on her butt?!  Simon Crane: Women look great in stilettos, but they are totally impractical. We had to have several other shoes standing by, ranging from same-colored sneakers to slightly lower heels.

What kind of padding did she have on her body when jumping from that bridge on to a moving truck? Was there something suspending her in air or was she just free-falling? When she did the jump/fall, she was wearing a rucksack which we put a lot of soft padding in. She also wore elbow, hip and knee pads. The stunt was accomplished by a combination of real fall and wire work.

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Did she suffer any broken body parts? At the very least, did you count her bruises? Angie throws herself into everything fully, be it rehearsals or the actual shooting. We rehearse and test everything to the smallest detail with her stunt double, Eunice Huthart, before she ever tries anything. But saying that, as any athlete knows, there is no gain without pain!

We often used to joke about making her suffer, especially when wearing a harness. But she wouldn’t show me the bruises from that! There was a small incident on set, during her final fight with Liev [Schrieber]. She had to dive through an opening door firing a gun. The dive was great, but as she carried the sequence on, she rushed into a corner piece of a set and bumped her head, resulting in the scheduled fight sequence to be postponed and Angie taking a precautionary trip to the hospital (arguing against it all the way…she can be stubborn!).

How do you prepare an actress to handle a role like Salt? I have worked with Angie for several years and on several films. I know her strengths and how to capitalize on them. The most important thing with her is allowing rehearsal time where one can develop of change the action accordingly.

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For her fight training, we got her learning a combination of Muay Thai and Krav Magha very early on. We would then pick the moves she was best at and combine them into a sequence. The training, at the early stages, took up about three to four sessions a week, lasting approximately two hours each. When we started filming, we trained during lunch breaks or on the weekends.

One of the important issues was to bring her body and mind up to a level of fitness that would enable her to take on same of the physical pressures of Salt. I work with my usual team and her stunt double, Eunice, is also her trainer (which is lucky, really, since Angie does 99 percent of her own stuns, Eunice would otherwise be unemployed!).

How often do you practice the stunts before filming them? We practice every little thing so much that we are actually bored of it by the time we come to film it. Testing and practice helps minimize risk and enable you to push the boundaries and keep it safe. Also, it’s the testing process where you can come up with great new ideas without having the pressures of having to film them. I have a great team that works with me, led by Wade Eastwood and approximately six others.

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Is there a specific diet Angelina had to follow to maintain her body weight and/or physique for the film? Our strategy was (can you keep a secret?): she has to have 70% carbohydrates and 30% protein diet with an anaerobic training regime as opposed to aerobic, so she can put muscle on without losing weight. Sticking to four or five meals a day routine as much as possible. Then when she reaches a good body level that we like, we change it to 60%/40% favoring carbs. No junk food, no empty calories, and alcohol only on weekends (now that’s hard!).

Which was the hardest stunt to pull off and why? For one sequence, she had to fall through a helicopter door backwards whilst being handcuffed. We had rehearsed a lot with the team and Eunice, but we didn’t have much time to rehearse with Angie. Needless to say, she was great on the first take.

Watch Angelina Jolie take on the CIA in Salt, in theaters Friday, July 23!

Matthew McConaughey who is undoubtedly one of the sexiest men alive or so People Magazine said when they named him People magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive 2005″  issue. Matthew is the man with the plan when it come to fitness and exercise.You won’t find him anywhere near a gym. Matthew McConaughey maintains his Shape Shifter physique by performing various calisthenic workouts. This type of training methodology is very much the key to understanding how to get very fit and stay super fit. You learn to use functional training with your body weight and how to take advantage of your surroundings to perform various types of exercises. This is the cornerstone to understanding the philosophy behind Shashido and Shape Shifter Fitness. Matthew, the peck devil, shirtless star, is often seen doing pushups by the beach, doing pull-ups at the park, running, swimming, striking a pose, or even cycling with his buddy Lance Armstrong. These types of workouts are what allow Matthew McConaughey to keep his body lean and sculpted.

However, when Mr. McConaughey has to ditch his attractive lean and fit model body and get into action-figure shape for movie roles like his one playing leading-man “Dirk Pitt” in the action-adventure movie “Sahara”, he relies on supersets. Supersets are an excellent way to get in shape and bulk up your muscle mass in a short amount of time. I posted another workout that Matthew did with professional trainer Gunner Petterson with some superset action going on.

Basically, a superset is an advanced training method in which you engage your muscles by performing two exercises in a row with no resting time in between the sets. Supersets are advantageous to those who want to have a quick workout, increase the intensity of their workout, and prevent injuries by overloading your muscles without the heavy weights that require a spotter. Supersets allow your body to shed fat and build more muscle in less time by shocking your muscles into accelerated growth. This is when the weights and the gym come in handy.

There are many different types of supersets that you can perform. I use some of these various supersets with my Shape Shifter Fitness personal training client’s. Add some or all of these supersets to your training for a much more dynamic strength training routine and you will see a big increase your fitness result’s.

Some types of supersets include:

Pre-exhaustion – Using the same muscle group, do one isolating exercise and then one compound exercise. Ex: leg extensions followed by squats

Post-exhaustion – Same muscle group, do one compound exercise, and then one isolating exercise. Ex: squats followed by leg extension

Isolation – Two isolating exercises. Ex: dumbbell fly and cable crossover

Compound – Do two exercises that both workout multiple muscles groups. Ex: Squats and leg presses

Opposing muscle groups – Two exercises that focus on opposing muscle groups (biceps/triceps,back/chest, hamstrings/quadriceps). Ex: Bicep curls followed by triceps

Staggered supersets – Throwing in mini workouts in between sets. Ex: doing crunches in between chess press sets

Tri-Sets – Doing any of the other supersets, but doing three exercises instead of two.

As always “Shift Into Shape For Life”