Guest Post By Garrett J. Braunreiter, CSCS, The Energy Coach

Studies have shown that carrying groceries, doing yardwork, and cleaning your house counts as physical activity. So, while you’re not exercising per se, you’re at least giving your body some physical benefits.

I'm Feeling Motivated WorkOut Girl

But still you know that this kind of activity isn’t going to guarantee a flatter stomach, greater strength, and a longevity boost. So how do find time and energy reach your fitness goals? Here are every-day tips for your exercise inspiration….
1. Take a picture of yourself and have it “morphed” at a photo shop. Wanna see how you look 10, 20, 30 pounds lighter? Have the picture people edit the picture in the image you like, then take home copies of it and hang them everywhere you can see it. Harness the power of visualization.

2. Keep a stack of your favorite magazines that you promise yourself you can read only at the gym. If the issues start piling up, you know it’s time to schedule a workout.

3. Did you know that NOT exercising AT ALL is equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes A DAY? (Fear is a good motivator for some.)

4. Your dog. If you want your pooch to enjoy a longer, healthier life, s/he needs to get moving, too. You’ll find as both of you get fit, s/he is more enthusiastic, and will give you a challenging workout. If not, YOU give him/her a challenging workout.

5. Work out with your spouse/life partner. Not only does it get both of you healthy and strong, but can also spice up your romantic life.

6. Erase YEARS off your body. Chronologically you may be 40, but with regular, vigorous exercise and healthy nutrition, people are going to do a double-take and think you’re in your mid-30′s. Imagine how awesome you’ll feel, when you not only feel younger, but to OTHER people you look younger. Act younger, too.

7. Begin an accomplishments journal. At the end of each day, write down what you’ve accomplished that day to move you closer toward your fitness and/or life goals. DO NOT WRITE DOWN WHAT YOU HAVEN’T ACCOMPLISHED. That doesn’t matter. What matters is what you ARE doing; we all need a long-overdue, well-deserved pat on the back on a regular basis.

8. Use the TV. Here’s the catch: work out only when your favorite show is on. Or, record your favorite show and work out during that (but don’t fast forward through commercials – unless you have consecutive episodes taped). Can help time to fly by faster.

9. Hire a personal trainer or coach. If you’re having extreme difficulty with motivation, hire a professional to get you to reorganize your life to make taking care of yourself a top priority (which it should be). A good coach or trainer will teach you how to help YOURSELF, without you having to hold someone else’s hand, and help you realize that YOU have the power and ability to do this on your own.

10. Split your workouts. Some recent studies are showing that a split workout can burn more calories than one full workout. So if time’s an issue (gee, there’s a thought) try getting up 30 minutes earlier in the morning for a short-burst 15 minute workout, then steal another 15-20 minutes at lunch or in the evening.

11. Use your daily planner. You have important commitments scheduled into your planner, right? Volunteer work, doctor appointments, children’s activities, etc. Where’s EXERCISE??? It’s as important a commitment (if not more) than your other activities. Quick tip: mark “EXERCISE” in your planner with a bright colored marker, so it stands out as a reminder to get your butt in gear.

12. Listen to audio books while you exercise. Self-improvement and motivation books are GREAT here. You’ll feel twice as productive, and highly energized, and the time will fly.

13. Reward yourself. It never ceases to amaze me how hard we are on ourselves when we don’t accomplish, and how hard we are on ourselves when we DO accomplish. Whenever you reach a milestone, have something in mind, like a trip to the day spa, new shoes or clothes (as long as it’s NON-EDIBLE).

14. Have kids? Look at their pictures to remind you that you want to be around to share life with them, with plenty of energy. You don’t want your 10-year old to be throwing you around the house, do you?

15. Want to keep fitting into your favorite jeans? You know, the ones that fit you nicely several years ago? Keep them. Keep trying them on to keep yourself in check to keep eating right and exercising.

16. Keep a journal of how you feel after exercise. Especially the great workouts. On the days you just don’t feel like exercising, look back on the good workout days for some inspiration.

17. See exercise as a stress-releaser. A simple shift in attitude can do wonders for your stress levels. If you’ve had a long, hard day at work, exercise is something to LOOK FORWARD TO to relieve your stress and revive yourself.

18. Check out the e-mail, chat, or discussion groups on the Internet that deal with fitness, weight loss, diet, exercise, etc.

19. Have young kids? Use the day care at the gym – so there’s no excuse about who’s going to watch the kids. Or, have a family member(s) or a friend watch them. So there REALLY is no excuse for not working out.

20. Look in the mirror. Sometimes that is all you need to trigger you into the lean, fit, and energized mode.

This article was reprinted with the permission of Global Health & Fitness.  Visit our partner site for advanced topics, health club listings, and unlimited member personal fitness consulting.

Mr. Bruce Lee  was the original Shape Shifter. I founded Shape Shifter Fitness back in 2005 for my love of movement and the martial arts. Shape Shifter Fitness is a complete system of fitness training, my unique training methodology loosely based on Bruce Lee  and his system of fighting called JKD or Jeet Kune Do. JKD translates into way of the intercepting fist or foot. Another words for someone to strike you, they must move towards you, and when they do they present their vulnerability, and give you an opportunity to strike with a counter attack.  

Bruce Lee The Original Shape Shifter

Bruce Lee’s style of JKD was and still is to this day very efficient. It is all about being aware of your surroundings and utilizing the methods of the martial arts that are efficient and getting rid of the boring useless repetition. A martial artist must be ready for anything. the highest style Bruce Lee would say is to have no style, to be like water.

How does this translate into Shape Shifter Fitness? Shape Shifter Fitness builds high levels of strength, endurance, flexibility, fluidity, grace, and poise. It takes all the component’s of fitness, like strength training, Pilate’s, Yoga, and yes even martial arts to help a practitioner build up these fitness attributes, and it gets rid of having them do the same old exercises over and over again. Does that make sense?

So in essence with Shape Shifter Fitness one must be big on functional training, be aware of their environment, and constantly change up the routine and continually challenge themselves. This is the similarity between JKD and Bruce Lee and Shape Shifter Fitness, and this is why I think Bruce Lee was the original Shape Shifter.

When I do personal training for client’s, many of them have the same fitness goals. To lose weight, increase muscle and improve their cardiovascular conditioning. I enjoy helping my client’s reach their fitness goals. Most of my client’s don’t want to be Bruce Lee, some of this is genetics, you know in the genes. The thing is you need a certain amount of physical conditioning before you can practice the martial arts. They even have certifications now like form the ISSA or international sports and sciences aassociation on pre martial arts conditioning. 

So here are a few training tips today to get in the spirit of Shape Shifter Fitness. Remember what you are really trying to develop is an active fitness lifestyle. This is what will get you through life fit and healthy.

1. Stop thinking you have to go to the gym or club to workout. Drop and give me twenty push ups. Build up to sets of how ever many you can do. I know a guy that does 300 push ups a day. He looks like he does 300 push ups a day LOL.

2. Learn to burn calories with your daily day to day activities. Go up the stairs do some arm circles, be in motion.

3. Understand the formula is calories in and calories out so try to match your caloric intake to your activity levels.

4. Diets are OK, but you will yo-yo lose the weight and gain it back, because you never learned steps 123 above and because you have not created a healthy lifestyle.

5. Know that most rapid weight loss is loss of muscle, this is not good how do you think Bruce Lee got to look like he did Jenny Craig, Sorry Jenny LOL

6. Understand the total component’s of a well rounded fitness regimen.

Look at this sample of a workout by Mr Bruce Lee. It is summed up in one word DEDICATION.

http://www.shapeshifterfitness.us/2010/06/bruce-lee-training-style-his-techniques-and-fitness-training-regimen/

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.