7 Tips To Feeling Great and Building a Functional Body

What is a Functional Body?

Dr. Osborne here, In the past, I have talked in detail about the benefits of functional medicine. Functional exercise is another term that I want you to become familiar with. Functional exercise helps build body strength and increases your ability to be functional on a day to day basis. The emphasis is on real world application. The exercises are designed to help you get more out of day to day life without physical limitations to hold you back. It is also important to remember that having adequate muscle helps your immune system work properly by pumping lymph fluid throughout your body. Muscle also acts as a protein reserve for your body. To be a Gluten Free Warrior, you have to implement a meaningful exercise program. Today, I have invited strength coach and exercise expert, Tyler Bramlett, to talk about how you can build a muscle reserve with Functional Exercise…

The 7 Steps To Looking Great, Feeling Great And Physically Functioning Without Limitations By Tyler Bramlett

In this short article I want to share with you the 7 most powerful things you can do from diet to exercise and beyond that will not only build a body that looks good on the outside but to build a complete body that feels great and performs even better! Take a just a short sec right now to read over these 7 tips and then, in order to get the most out of this article pick 2 or 3 of the 7 tips and apply them today. Let’s get started… Tip #1 – Go 100% Gluten Free Ahhhhh, you knew that was coming 🙂 Going 100% gluten free can make a big difference in your body’s appearance, the way it feels and your overall attitude. Many people however can’t seem to gather the discipline to really put gluten free to the test. Here’s where most people go wrong…They focus on all of the things they can’t have. They focus on the feelings of deprivation rather then thinking about the abundance of awesome things they could be eating that taste great and make them feel amazing! The bottom line is that we as humans eat the same meals over and over again whether or not they are healthy. So… Instead of thinking about all of the things you have to eliminate, find your favorite gluten free recipes and enjoy them thoroughly, once you do… Gluten free will be a cinch for you! Tip #2 – Take 10 Minutes To Get Your Head Straight Everyday Taking a few minutes a day to shut down your brain and get your mind straight is critical to your overall health and productivity. We live in a go, go, go world where no one ever stops to smell the roses. So go against the grain and take some time to sniff the sweet aroma around you. Take 5 to 10 minutes each day to get out of your office, your cubicle or wherever you work and take a stroll around the block or sit somewhere in silence. Doctors are now admitting that meditation even when practiced for as few as 10 minutes per day can help you control stress, decrease anxiety, improve cardiovascular health, and achieve a greater capacity for relaxation. Tip #3 – Drink Up Hydration is an important step that most people miss. We forget how important proper hydration is to our body and how when dehydrated we don’t function properly. The good news is it’s easy to test and even easier to fix. Stick out your hand right now with straight fingers. Reach over and pinch the skin on the second knuckle of your index finger. Now let go and time how long it takes that skin to go back to where it was. If it’s less than 3 seconds, congratulations you are most likely hydrated. But if it takes 3 seconds or much longer, you may wanna chug a glass of water and retest in 20 minutes. Staying hydrated is easy to do and will make you look better, feel better and perform better real fast! Tip #4 – Cut Your Workouts In Half We live in a world where everyone want’s results here and NOW!! Don’t get me wrong I love results. But, what I don’t like are lies! I’ll come out and just say it… Many of the things you’ve been told in the fitness world simply aren’t true. Just as you once thought that whole grains were healthy and essential for your body. The fitness world wants you to believe that it takes 60 minutes a day 6 days a week to get fit and that’s not true at all. I’m here to tell you that 9 out of the 10 people I consult with are doing way too much! Here’s the truth… 20-45 minutes of high intensity exercise done 3 days a week is more then enough to make a significant change. The trick is staying consistent and using a smart program. Start by cutting your workouts down to 45 minutes or less and up the intensity so you can build muscle and burn fat at the same time. From there, use your extra time to walk outside, play with your kids and enjoy your life! Tip #5 – Focus On Building Strength Rather Then Doing Tons Of Cardio This is another fitness myth that I need to expose to you. We are told over and over again that cardio is they key to health and weight loss. But do we ever question why? Sure exercising your heart is a good thing, but do long, medium intensity exposures produce solid results? From my experience there is a much better way… Instead of doing miles of cardio every day, take some time to focus on building your strength up. You see, as you get older your strength, bone density, tendon and ligament strength and muscle mass start to disappear. When people treat this with nothing but cardio they can actually make the problem worse. So how do you build a body that looks great and performs even better? Work on your strength training and metabolic conditioning! Practice compound exercises, work on adding weight to the bar and ditch the Barbie dumbbells in favor of real, old-fashioned strength training. When you do, you will see a huge change in the way your body looks, your muscle tone, your posture PLUS you will feel so much better living in a strong capable body then you would by still feeling weak and deflated. Which brings me to my next point, What workouts should you do? Tip #6 – Try Doing R.E.A.L. Functional Training I coined the term R.E.A.L. functional training so as not to be confused with the goofy personal trainer telling you to stand on an inflatable disc while you pull on a band, rub your belly and pat your head. R.E.A.L. Functional Training will help you get the best results in the shortest period of time. Here’s what I mean when I say R.E.A.L. Functional Training. Realistic Exercises Executed With Perfect Form At A High Intensity Leaving You With A Body That Looks Good And Performs Even Better! By switching your workouts from a focus on isolated, single joint movements. To complex, multi joint movements that require strength, flexibility and coordination. You will see a HUGE boost in the way you look, feel and of course perform. Which brings me to my final tip… Tip #7 – Use Movement Progressions In Your Workouts Perhaps the #1 thing people miss in their workouts is a lack of progression. The simplest way to describe a movement progression is to think about the way a baby goes from being born to being able to walk. At first the baby spends most of it’s time in a reclined position, as they begin to gain control over their core muscles they are able to then roll over onto their stomachs and hold their head up, eventually this ‘tummy time” turns into pushing up and crawling followed by lifting the body in the air and holding a standing position with support. Once they are confident in holding a standing position with support they start their new journey of learning to move on 2 legs. Now… As simplified as this may seem, way to many people are stuck in the reclined position. They never focus on performing harder movements. Here’s a simple example of how you can apply this in a bodyweight workout. Take the kneeling pushup for example, an easy exercise that most people can master. After a few months of performing this easy exercise, don’t you think you should move on to something harder? Like full pushups? Then once you master the full pushup for a few sets of 10 reps, shouldn’t you again find a slightly more complicated exercise? By using a properly planned set of movement progressions just like a gymnast uses, you can go from seemingly easy exercises to complex and advanced exercises that will leave your body no choice but to look as great as it performs. These are the 7 secrets you can use starting today that will make the most impact on helping you look great, feel great and perform even better! ****************************** Tyler Bramlett is the creator of the R.E.A.L. Functional Training Movement and the PM-3 Method both designed to help people build functional, strong bodies that look great and perform even better. If you want a 100% foolproof system that will show you how to go from struggling with kneeling pushups to easily doing handstand pushups, one arm pushups, 20 pullups, one arm pullups and more check out my brand new Warrior Upper Body System. Click Here ==> To See How You Can Build An Upper Body That Looks Great And Performs Even Better