Getting in Shape – Busy Schedules Aren’t an Excuse

Most people have great intentions about working out, eating healthier and living a balanced life.

So where do they go wrong?

Mary is a married, working mom, with two kids. Her youngest daughter is 6 and her boy is nine. Both kids are involved with athletics, her husband travels and she works part time as a real estate agent.

Now that the kids are both in school, she has decided to get back in the gym, lose some weight and create some better habits in her life. She joined a local gym, hired a personal trainer and is excited about changing her ways.

Sound familiar?

Most of us lead busy lives, juggling work, family and other commitments. Unfortunately, its usually our health that takes a back seat to our other responsibilities, but that doesn’t need to be the case.

After 6 weeks, Mary was making some progress, but was still struggling with her eating, missing workouts and a little frustrated with her progress. Her work had slowed down, her kids started soccer and she was being stressed out and felt like there wasn’t enough time to get everything done. From the moment she woke up, until bed time, she was on the go, reacting to every phone call, email and text message that came her way.

How can she make time for the gym?

Maybe she should quit…..

Mary’s situation is nothing new. The difference between successful people and the average person is taking the time to plan effectively. Mary’s hectic schedule is just an excuse for missing the gym and living with the same unhealthy habits she’s always had. Instead of proactively planning her meals, her workouts, work schedule, meetings and kids’ activities, she is just reacting to them last minute.

After about 3 months, Mary was exhausted and needed to change her ways. The stress was affecting every aspect of her life and she was not the same person.

She decided to sit down and plan out her week more effectively.

1. Decided to shop for their food every Monday
2. Cooked several meals ahead of time, instead of reacting last minute, when she and the kids were hungry.
3. Scheduled workout time at the beginning of the day,
4. Scheduled work time everyday
5. She did phone calls in the car
6. Checked her email only 2 times per day at 10 am and 4pm.
7. She created a car pool plan with other parents, so she didn’t have to drive thee kids around everyday to practice.

Mary’s life was still busy, but sitting down and planning out her week helped her relax, be more productive, much more successful at work and in the gym.  Since changing her ways and navigating through her week, she is losing weight, eating healthier and her family is benefiting from it too!

Is there a better way to get in shape?

The old way…..in the box.

Big gyms, cardio machines, lots of resistance machines, 3 sets of 10, 5 min cardio warm ups, separate body parts on certain days during the week, long low intensity bouts of cardio, restrictive diets, lots of supplements, etc.

Over the past 50 years we have become lazy and spoiled.  Industry has developed expensive, pretty machines that fill most gyms.  These machines allow you to sit down, guide the weight and are easy to use.  Problem is, we spend our lives on our butts and need to stand up and be strong… Strength and real results don’t come from isolated machines and sitting on our rear ends.

Aren’t you bored and frustrated with the same old thing?

Let’s step away from lazy and get some emotion back in the gym.

There is a better way……

10 tips to accelerate your progress:

1. Write down your goals and look at them everyday.
2. Exercise is movement.  Its not a hundred isolated machines.  Get out of the box!
3. Dynamic warm ups prepare your body for strenuous exercise and help prevent injury.
4. Mental training is essential. Whats your little voice say to you all day? You are what you think!
5. Bursts of intense cardio are proven to burn more fat, increase performance and create less stress on the body.
6. Isolation is a way to address weakness in your kinetic chain. Isolate, then integrate into compound movements
7. If God made it, eat it.  Natural foods are fuel for your body, fend off disease and increase energy.
8. Rest.  Take some physical and mental time off.  It is the key to long term progress.
9. Get out of the rut.  Be creative, plan ahead, learn new stuff and try new things.
10. Breathe.  Take some time everyday to breathe.  It’s amazing how it helps you relax, focus and enjoy the day.

Get creative, work hard and you will be rewarded.  It’s time to get out of the box and start making progress no one ever thought possible.

Innovative Results

Can You Say TEAMWORK?

Motivation to Start, Accountability to Follow Thru and the Support, So You’re not Alone

Innovative Results provides more than just a workout… its motivating, encouraging support that helps you stay excited and you become part of a team of people that are moving toward their goals together.

Innovative Results

Grease the Path and Make Change Easier

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”

Getting in shape, losing weight, gaining muscle or increasing your athletic performance all requires change.  You will need to change your mindset, your nutrition, your workouts, your recovery and your environment.  Change isn’t always easy, but there are some tips that can help you make change easier.

Our team has recently been reading Switch, which is an amazing book about change.  One of the greatest tips I learned was called “greasing the path”.  Greasing the path is a concept that talks about planning ahead and implementing things that will make new habits easier.

For example, have you ever had trouble waking up for a workout?  An example of greasing the path would be to lay out your clothes, prepare food the night before, plan your workout ahead of time, etc.  Bottom line, if you have trouble waking up, try to make the new habit as simple as possible to implement.

I’m not a huge fan of waking up at 4am, but I make sure everything is done the night before.  Coffee is in the machine, clothes are laid out, food is ready to go, workouts are planned, to do list written out and whatever else I need.  I don’t wanna stress, forget something or be rushed out the door.

This is very different than hitting snooze, waking up late, making food, finding your clothes and rushing out the door… that’s no fun and you almost always forget something.

Greasing the path can be used for just about anything, but you get the idea.

It’s a simple tip, but powerful when you are trying to change your habits and improve your life.

Hope it helps!

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.”

-Aristotle