All posts by Mike Shannon

Watch a documentary about people who lift weights and you’ll likely be watching some of the world’s elite body builders hone their physique to abnormal largeness. Take a peek into your local gym and you’ll see something quite different. Sure, there may be a handful of body builders there, but they’re lifting right next to an accountant, a store clerk, and a retiree. That’s because all these people realize one thing: lifting weights is for everyone.

But is weight lifting really for you? Here are nine reasons the answer is ‘Yes!’

#1: You Get Happy

Yes, exercise of any kind gets the happy chemicals running through your body, but lifting weights seems to have an advantage on your happy level. Why? Lots of reasons that are listed below.

#2: You’re More Useful

You were born with a great affinity to do something. You may be gifted to argue cases in court, cook an amazing meal, or keep cool while caring for a dozen 5-year-olds. Lifting weights helps you do each of them better. On top of that, it gives you the capacity to lend a helping hand when someone is struggling to lift a heavy box or open a stuck door.

Suddenly, you’re not stuck waiting for help when a demanding task is put in front of you. Instead, you bend at the knees and get to work.

#3: You Get Focused

If you’ve ever struggled with trying to figure out what to do at the gym, I’m here to help. That includes lifting weights. As your strength and the amount of weight you lift increase, intense focus is required to avoid injury. This focus in the gym—if you let it—will carry over into your non-gym activities.

#4: Your Body

Lifting weights does so much for your physique. Push yourself hard enough and your body will amaze you constantly. But your physique isn’t the only beneficiary of weight lifting. It also helps your body fend off illnesses and injury by helping you shed unwanted pounds, lowering your blood pressure, improving your heart function, and more.

#5: You Do the Impossible

When you start lifting weights, you can’t imagine lifting any more than you do in your first session. Three weeks later, you’ve already passed the impossible mark. By doing this over and over, you pick up a mental toughness and confidence that will aid you in all areas of life.

#6: You Eat Better

Have you been struggling to keep your daily calorie count down? Nothing helps you stay in line better than working out. Your regular weight-lifting routine makes you more aware of what you put in your body, making it easier to say “No” to those temptations that are always around the corner.

#7: Your Bones Get Stronger

While the first thing you may notice after lifting weights is stronger muscles, your bones are also secretly gaining strength at the same time. Since the risk of osteoporosis and broken bones only increases as you age, guarding against them with weight lifting only makes sense!

#8: Your Balance Improves

Staying on your feet may not be an issue today, but as you age, it will become one of your top priorities. This is especially true considering how often elderly people lose their balance and wind up with life-altering broken bones. Lifting weights at any age will give you a balance boost that will last throughout your life.

#9: Your Brain Function Increases

Research has proven that lifting weights actually has the power to improve your brain’s ability to do its job.

Reach your fitness potential faster by coupling your good diet with a challenging exercise program. I’m here to motivate, instruct and encourage you to reach your goal.

Call or email today to get started on a fitness program that will truly improve your quality of life.

7 Things Fit People Do

You’ve heard that being fit is all about the lifestyle, and not the quick fix, so today I’d like to give you a glimpse into the habits that fit people have. These following seven habits are held by successfully fit people…wonder if you could apply a few to your own life.

1. They See Each Day with Perspective
Fail to meet your fitness goals today? Move on. Tomorrow is another day to make smarter decisions. When you wake up, rededicate yourself to your fitness goals without beating yourself up about whatever mistakes you made in the past. After all, you can’t change what you did yesterday. All you can control is right now. So get to it!

2. They Know Their Bodies
When you finish a workout, you should feel good. If you don’t, then something needs to change. Either your diet or routine is throwing you off. Fit people know how everything they do affects their body, and they take steps to avoid those things that make them not feel and perform their best. Learn how your body responds and take care of it accordingly.

3. They Find Ways around the Reasons
If you’ve ever wondered why you can’t quite get fit, or get to the next level of

fitness, it may be your proclivity for caving to pressure. And that pressure may be self-induced. Fit people do not give into excuses for why they shouldn’t exercise. Quite the contrary. They are continually finding reasons why they should hit the gym and find pockets of time to do it—even if the trip to the gym is shorter than usual.

4. They Eat and Sleep Well
Study after study has shown the benefit of eating whole, unprocessed foods. It provides energy and strength, helps you feel full throughout the day, and makes your time in the gym as fruitful as possible. Getting good sleep is equally as important, as it keeps all your bodily systems in rhythm. Put these two fit activities together, and you’re well on your way to optimal fitness.

5. They Track Progress
For some, keeping tabs on health progress is about as exciting as watching paint dry. Once you get into the routine, however, you will become a believer in the power of tracking your progress. Tracking serves to both reward and motivate you, as you see that the hours in the gym and smart food choices lead to a healthier weight and greater strength—a.k.a. better overall fitness and health.

6. They Think during Exercise
It can be easy to mindlessly run on a treadmill at the gym if you’re not careful. Just remember that fit people don’t do such a thing. They’re very intentional about everything they do at the gym. This means if you want to be fit, you should put some brainpower into what you include in your workout and how you perform each repetition. This allows you to get maximum benefit from your gym time and reduces the risk of injury.

7. They Lean on a Trainer
The final thing fit people do is rely on someone with lots of knowhow in the realm of fitness. This is why my clients have such a high success rate in achieving their goals – because I make sure that they stick with it! I have a sincere interest in your overall health and well-being and know how to help you reach the goals that can seem so far away when you’re trying to achieve it on your own.

Are you struggling with self motivation? Having a hard time getting yourself to your regularly scheduled workouts? Finding more and more reasons to cheat on your healthy diet? 
You’re not alone and today I’ve got just the 4 Self-Motivating Mind Tricks that you need to lock onto your goals…

A healthy dose of motivation coupled with determination will get you almost anything in life. So how do you know if you’re genuinely motivated?

• Motivation will tell you to get out of bed for an early workout.
• Motivation will nag you to put down the doughnut.
• Motivation makes passing on fries a reflex.
• Motivation makes a sweat drenched workout exciting.
• Motivation constantly reminds you why you do what you do.

Self-Motivating Mind Trick #1: Pinpoint Your Motivator.

Motivation stems from having a goal. What is your goal? Why do you want to get into great shape?

Once you uncover your personal motivator you’ll find that motivation flows quickly your way.

Take a minute to really uncover the reason that you want to lose the weight. Don’t say something vague like you want to ‘Be thinner‘ or ‘Look more attractive.‘ Dig deeper – there is a very specific motivator in your life, you simply need to uncover it.

Here are some possible motivators…

• I want to have more energy to keep up with the kids.
• I want to improve my health through weight loss to extend and improve my life.
• I want to lose 15 pounds before my vacation.
• I want to restore my confidence to wear sleeveless shirts.
• I want to regain my figure to impress and attract my significant other.

Self-Motivating Mind Trick #2: Make It Official.

When you write something down it suddenly feels official, doesn’t it? Write down your motivator for getting into great shape, and post it where you will see it often—next to your alarm clock, on the bathroom mirror, or in your car.

Each time you see your written motivator take a moment to visualize yourself accomplishing your goal. Try to make the scene as clear in your mind as possible. This is a powerful tool for maintaining your focus and direction.

Self-Motivating Mind Trick #3: Be Practical.

It’s game plan time. You know what you want, and now you need to map out exactly how you’ll achieve it. It is important to be practical in your planning, rather than throwing out ideas that you know you won’t stick with.

With any weight loss goal it is important to 1) maintain a healthy low-calorie diet, and 2) participate in a consistent and challenging exercise program.

Plan a routine that will fit into your schedule and you’ll be more likely to stick with it. Also choose an exercise you enjoy—don’t force yourself to jog everyday if you hate jogging.

Self-Motivating Mind Trick #4: Call for Backup.

Enlist the support of your friends, family and co-workers. Tell someone about your goal to lose weight and get fit, you’ll be surprised how supportive most people will be. By being open about your goals you’ll likely be an encouragement to others to make healthy changes in their own lives.

The most effective way to ensure that you meet your goal is to enlist my support. I can also work with you to identify what really motivates you. We can make changes to your workout routine (or design a new one if you’re just starting out) that fits into your schedule and into your life. And together we will see it through until your goal is met. Call or email me today to get started on the program that will transform your life.