I’ve had it with the whole New Year Resolutions thing. I’m done. I’m getting off the bandwagon and actively choosing to NOT participate. The whole concept is bogus nonsense anyway when you think about it. Continue reading
It’s often been said that if you want something done you should give it to a busy person. While this may be true of some busy people, namely the ones who are highly motivated, highly productive, and highly efficient, what about all the other busy people?
What about those who are busy through poor time management skills, or maybe those who are simply overwhelmed? How about them? Does the task they are given merely get thrown on top of a growing pile of “To-Do’s”, or even worse, shuffled to the bottom? What if the task they are given, or give themselves, is directly related to increasing their quality of life and most likely longevity as well? What if that task will help them be more productive at all their other tasks by reducing stress levels, increasing energy, and their overall sense of well being? What if that task would help them to reduce, remove, or otherwise prevent a host of daily aches, pains, and illnesses that are stoically (or sometimes not so) suffered as things that “just happen” as we grow older?
Here’s a list of 8 ways for these busy people to fit in their fitness and reclaim a healthy lifestyle:
Scheduling is the key to successful time management. Look at your weekly calendar and plan to exercise just as you would plan an important client meeting, a lunch with an old friend, or coaching your kid’s Little League team.
Joint mobility sessions can be done at your desk – see here.
Work in an office building? Take the stairs instead of the elevator. See how fast you can make it to your floor – beat those lazy suckers in the elevator to your floor!
Have a lunch break? Go outside and go for a walk. 10 minutes in the fresh air will do wonders for you. Eat at your desk while you work and then go for a walk. Want to make your walk more productive? Try inhaling for 5 steps, holding you breath on the inhale for 5 steps, exhaling for 5 steps, then holding the breath after the exhale for 5 steps. When you can comfortably do that for the entire duration of your walk, increase to 6, 8, 10 steps!
Get up earlier and workout **warning – this one requires effort and commitment!!**
Spend quality time with your kids. Exercise together – see Warrior Fitness for Kids.
Got a spare 15 minutes? Bring the intensity and lose the long, boring workouts. See the Warrior Fitness WOWs for some ideas.
These require very little time to be effective, need no equipment, and can be done literally anywhere.
Obviously, this list is neither exhaustive nor all inclusive, but I do hope it has helped you and sparked some ideas to help you fit in your fitness no matter how busy you are. What ideas do you have?
Do you know the enemy?
I do. It inhibits peak performance. It makes you lazy and keeps you unmotivated. It cajoles you into seeking comfort.
It distracts you from your goals and dulls your mind. The enemy sells you on an “easy” lifestyle and lulls you into a false sense of security.
It conspires to sabotage every move toward a healthier diet or consistent workout program. It will aim to destroy any action or activity that moves you towards bettering yourself, be it education, a new job venture, a move towards a more spiritual life, or writing the great American novel.
Ultimately, it weakens your spirit.
The enemy comes in many forms and assumes many guises. It may tell you that it’s alright to sit down on the sofa and watch Lifetime Television with your wife after dinner; you can get to that workout later. It may convince you that just one brownie bite is okay, after all, they’re just “bites”. You may feel tired from a busy day at the office, and rightly so – the enemy will whisper in your ear that you can begin your fitness regimen tomorrow and that will be good enough. What exactly is this enemy who kills our motivation and procrastinates our calling (sometimes indefinitely)? Steven Pressfield identifies the enemy as “Resistance” in his excellent book, The War of Art.
“Resistance will tell you anything to keep you from doing your work. It will perjure, fabricate, falsify; seduce, bully, cajole… If you take Resistance at its word, you deserve everything you get. Resistance is always lying and always full of shit.”
Sometimes the most insidious form the enemy can take is the form of knowledge. We fall into the trap of, I know what I need to do, I just need to do it. Knowledge comforts us. It allows us to rationalize that since we are in possession of it, we can carry out the action at any time. We don’t need to do it now. Tomorrow is fine. Next week is OK to start. So, why worry? One of my favorite quotes (just ask my daughter, she’s heard it often enough!) on this subject is:
“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.”
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
In his book, Awakening Spirits
Here’s a hint – conditions are never perfect.
There is no better time than right now.
How do you defeat this omnipresent enemy? By doing your work. By starting right now. Don’t delay. Don’t defer. Begin. Do the work(out). Trade the 3 o’clock junk food snack for an apple. Skip McDonald’s on the way home from work and prepare a healthy meal. Don’t allow yourself the luxury of excuses. Be firm. Be strong. Get it done. Be resolute and committed to your health and fitness goals.
1. Are the Warrior Fitness workouts applicable to beginners?
Absolutely! The workouts in the Warrior Fitness program are completely scalable based on your level of fitness. Each exercise is explained step-by-step.
2. Is nutrition covered in the book?
Nutrition is an important aspect of a complete, healthy lifestyle, but is not discussed in the Warrior Fitness book. My own personal ideas about nutrition can be summed up fairly simply though. Eat lean proteins, lots of fruit and vegetables, and some complex carbohydrates. Eliminate or reduce white sugar, white rice, and white flour from your diet. Drink plenty of clean water and green tea.
3. Does the Warrior Fitness program teach Amatsu medicine , a traditional system of Japanese Natural Medicine taught by Hatsumi Soke?
No. I have not been taught any Amatsu medicine within the context of my Bujinkan training.
4. Is this program just Junan Taiso (basic stretching exercises used as warm-ups for martial arts practice)?
No. The Warrior Fitness book provides a comprehensive program consisting of joint mobility, flexibility, strength, conditioning, breath work, and recovery. Much more than simply junan taiso exercises.
5. Do I have to workout every day?
You do not need to do a full workout, but I highly recommend doing some movement everyday! Joint mobility work, combined with breathing exercises can take as little as 15 to 20 minutes in the morning. It’s a great way to start your day!
6. How much time do the Warrior Fitness strength and conditioning workouts require?
The workouts contained in the Warrior Fitness book are designed to be fast and effective. You can achieve a quality workout in 15 minutes, if you are short on time. Longer workouts can also be programmed, depending on how much time is available.
7. Do I need a gym membership for this program to work?
Definitely not! Warrior Fitness workouts are designed to be done anywhere with little to no equipment necessary.
8. How do I fit in working out and the skill training for my martial art?
Excellent question. This is where scheduling and time management skills come in handy. Time will not simply appear out of thin air. You must make time. However, the most important advice I can give on this topic is that if you do not have time for both skill work (martial art training) and conditioning, skill work must take the priority! You are training to be a martial artist after all.
9. Is this book applicable only for those training in the martial arts?
No. This book is certainly not just for people in the martial arts. The exercises and ideas contained within are applicable to anyone of any range of fitness and ability. Pick up a copy today and see for yourself!
Please feel free to email me here with any additional thoughts or questions concerning the book.
Although Warrior Fitness has it’s origins in the martial arts, you do not need to be a martial artist to benefit from my program. Since it’s inception, I have continued to test and refine the Warrior Fitness methodology to work with and help almost any level of fitness from couch potato to high ranking martial artist, and everyone in between.
The only real requirement is the certainty that you have a greater capacity, greater capability, and greater purpose to your life than you are living right now. You must desire to improve yourself for the better and be willing to fight for it. I only work with those who are willing to take massive action!
Here are a few examples of how Warrior Fitness can help you to awaken your inner warrior….
My objective in sharing Warrior Fitness is to help you meet your goals. To transform your life and share my passion for training with you. I honestly enjoy teaching people and helping them to realize their health and fitness goals; I simply love to see people “get it”. Allow me to help you reclaim your fitness and awaken your inner warrior!
PS – Sick of being average? Ready for extraordinary? Let me know how I can help you… 
Welcome to Warrior Fitness in 2010. This year, like every year, is full of potential. It’s a new beginning, another opportunity to change, to reinvent yourself for the better. To make improvements by forging your body physically, challenging yourself mentally, and growing spiritually. There is a sense of excitement at all the possibilities that lay before us.
How will you change yourself this year? What goals have you set? What do you want to accomplish in your training and in your life? Whether the goal is to improve your fitness levels for martial arts training, to enhance your performance in those martial arts, to lose weight, to gain muscle, to improve mobility and increase flexibility, or just to be a healthier, more fit you, Warrior Fitness can help you achieve all these goals and more.
January is the busiest time of the year for gyms and health clubs, but guess what? In February, those places are ghost towns. How do all those well meaning goals become unsustainable for so many, so quickly? How can you assure yourself that your motivation won’t quit, that your will won’t weaken? One way to do this is to have someone else hold you accountable for your goal setting, progress, and accomplishment. Motivation is a funny thing. When we think no one is watching, it becomes much easier to slack off or make an excuse to ourselves as to why we can’t workout today, or why those cookies are better for us than that salad. When you must hold yourself accountable to a third party, it’s much harder to stray from the goals you have set.
Warrior Fitness offers personal training services, both in person and online, to help you hold yourself accountable. Together, we will set goals, create a step-by-step plan to meet them, and work toward achieving them. If you would like more information, or want to get started now, please email me here. and reinvent yourself this year!