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Losing weight? If not, Read below! Functional Training is the way to go!

By Chad Cannon

Have you ever gone to a gym and watched someone workout? Do you ever see anyone really workout? I mean really workout where there is sweat dripping down their back and they are barely able to breath? Probably not too often.

Here is the honest to god truth about fitness:

You are not working hard enough if you are not losing weight! We as a population have been taught to sit down on a machine and push and pull, where the machines are doing the movements for us. To me that is not making common everyday functional movements better.

It's time for us to take charge of our own bodies and move, move and move some more! You can get stronger from pushing and pulling, but you'll never be fit if you don't get off your derrière and move around.

It's just fact that being fit means moving around. Twisting, turning, rotating, bending, stretching, curling, extending. Forget sitting on a machine where the movement is done for you. Instead stand up on your own two feet, or just one foot, and move using cables, and bands, medicine balls, or even your own body weight.

Try this just one time:

The next time you go to the gym try not talking at all for just 30 minutes. The only reason to open your mouth is to catch your breath and to drink water. And take no more than 30 seconds between exercises.

Don't tell me you have to wait on a machine. Don't use those machines. Grab a band and do some chopping movements. Grab a medicine ball and slam it onto the floor as hard as you can 50 times. Lunge across the floor while twisting your upper body. Do a push up then bring your legs in, stand up and jump up as high as you can over and over again until you drop. Put your hands on a bench and jump over it moving side to side.

All this is called functional training. This is how to get fit. This is how to lose weight. This is real exercise!

I'm just telling it as I see it. I've worked in gyms as a personal trainer for over 15 years, and people just don't work as hard as they should. Learn to push yourself. There's nothing like it! Honestly, you will feel exhilarated after doing this stuff. You'll feel like you've accomplished something. That alone, is a reason to do functional training!

Try it! There's nothing like it!

About the Author:

Chad Cannon is a certified personal trainer, weight loss expert, author, speaker, and director of Shaing Concepts in Hilton Head, South Carolina. His website is www.shapingconcepts.com