Xmas = No time for exercise

I really hope your weekend was a great one and
you survived 'BLACK FRIDAY'.

I decided to skip out on 'black friday' thinking
that Saturday would be a little saner for me. Boy,
was I wrong.

It was NUTS!

But if you were one of those people who woke up
bright and early (i guess dark and early) and got
most, if not all of your Xmas shopping done, then
I applaude you.

If you are interested in seeing a few pictures of
my Thanksgiving adventure in Berkley Springs, WV
you can see them below on a previous post.

As we all probably saw this past weekend, this is
the time of the year when things get really crazy
and time is extremely valuable.

So what happens is exercising takes the back seat,
until we realized what we've done to ourselves and
get back after it around the first week of January.

Here's a way to avoid that whole mishap and all you
need is 4 minutes a day.

I'll spare you the research and just tell you that
when you do exercises in circuit manner using the
Tabata protocol (Tabata is the guy who researched and
came out with the findings), you can increase your
EPOC.

I've explained EPOC before and all you have to know
right now is that it's pretty much how high your
metabolism is after your workout. The more intense
the workout, the higher the EPOC and that's a good
thing for fat loss.

So what you're going to do is this. I'm going to give
you a list of exercises in a second. You can pick
8 of them, 4 of them, 2 of them if you want and use
them like this...

You're going to do an exercise for 20 seconds and then
rest for 10 seconds. Then you're going to do a
different exercise for 20 seconds and rest for 10...
rinse and repeat until you've done 8 circuits which
equals to 4 minutes.

If you only have time for a 4 minute workout, then
just do 4 minutes, but if you can then do the circuit
2-3 times. At max you'll only be doing 12 minutes of
exercise.

Make sense?

Here's a list of exercises (all bodyweight):

pushup variations, squat variations, lunge variations,
jumping jacks, burpees, plank, mountain climbers,
step ups, running, squat jumps, split squat jumps,
bear crawls, run on the spot, side plank, supermans.
Alright, those are a start to get you going.

There's literally dozens of different pushups variations
so don't just do a regular pushup all the time.

These exercises should be fairly easy to find
explanations for if you don't recognize them. If you
want, just email me any questions and I'll do my best
to answer them for you.

So now that you have a new strategy to keep you from
getting out of shape this holiday season you don't
have to stress so much about your weight.

Have a great day and remember that 4 minutes can
make a big difference.

Dan Grant
http://bodytransformationcoach.com

PS - If you are in the 'Choose To Move' Contest then you have
to email me this week to update me on your progress. Talk to you
very soon.

My Thanksgiving at Berkley Spings

Well, we (Marleen and I) just got back from Thanksgiving Dinner in Berkley Springs, West Virginia...which looks like it's built on a mountain. We got there had a GREAT dinner, after each of us promised to start on a diet the next day, of course :)...I couldn't help myself, I had to have a second serving.

Because we just moved to Winchester we were offered dinner with one of Marleen's friend's family. It was a fantastic time and I thank everyone from welcoming us and treating us so well.

After dinner, Marleen's friend Sarah took us out for a little tour of the small town, which was actually very neat. Here's us at this amazing view below.







We then went to see a castle...yep, a castle, that was built in 1885. It was incredible. Here's a couple pics of it below.








We then went to get Berkley Springs water. This water is 74.3 degrees farenheit and comes directly from various hot springs...that's what I remember anyways. It's also where George Washington himself used to go for a hot bath spa type treatment. Really cool stuff.

Here's me trying not to get wet.



We then went back for desert...I wasn't a very good example...let's just leave it at that. Listen, I hope you did the same, though. I mean, why not on Thanksgiving, with good friends and family.

One comment that was familiar to me made at the dinner table was, "I guess I'll be doing extra cardio tomorrow."

Don't do it if you were planning on it, please. Why make yourself suffer. It won't help you that much and it'll seem like you're punishing yourself for enjoying a rare family event and great meal.

If you're working out do your regular workout and some interval training. Way more effective, won't take as long, and you'll feel friggin' AWESOME when you're done.

Alright, well if you celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday I hope you had a great time and if you didn't I hope you had a great day too. And I hope everybody has a great weekend.

Dan Grant

PS - November 30 is rapidly approaching. For you in the Choose to Move contest, remember to keep me informed on how things are going and give me your results. Just sent me a line at dan@dangrantfitness.com

Happy Thanksgiving!

I was born and raised in Canada (who celebrated
Thanksgiving about a month and a half ago), but
currently I live in Virginia so I will be
celebrating American Thanksgiving at one of
Marleen's friend and her family in West Virginia.

Now, I will honestly tell you that I am most
likely going to go full force into it and have a
'good size' serving :).

So in all respect I can't really tell you to go
out and not eat what you want. In my opinion, if
you enjoy the food then enjoy yourself.

This can be your cheat day, even though I'm not
really a huge fan of cheat days. I mean, you eat
right for 6 days and just go nuts on day 7. To me
it doesn't make too much sense at all.

I do teach cheat meals, however. I find it to be
more effective if you're doing 2-3 cheat meals
during the week instead of one big empty calorie
day.

I will tell you one thing I will do to stop me
from over doing it too much. Im going to eat a
little snack and drink at least one glass of water
about and hour before the meal. Honestly, I'll
look forward to the snack because it tastes so
friggin' good.

If I wanted I could probably eat a whole box of the
damn things in one day. The snack I'm talking
about is Prograde Cravers. I love the Spirulina
Cravers and I heard from the Nutritionist at Prograde
last week that the Peanut Butter Cravers were the
most popular.

Anyways, so if you want to keep your portions at a
lower level today (whether you're celebrating
Thanksgiving or not) is to have a small healthy
snack and a glass of water about an hour before
your meal.

Alright, enough spending time on the 'net. Go
enjoy the holidays with your family.

Dan Grant
Prograde Cravers

PS - It is the holidays and there are some very special
holiday announcements that will be happening at
Dan Grant Fitness Coaching within the next 2 weeks. So
if you have a special person (or yourself) that wants
some truly amazing fat loss information for a gift then
be sure to keep your eyes open. It will be worth it,
trust me.

Got Water?

I was emailed this from a fellow fitness
professional last week and I thought I'd share
it with you.

You might have heard or read this before, but
even if you have it's a great refresher to
keep a glass of water in your hands at all times
(if you can, of course :) ).

And if you're a big Coke fan you might want to
reconsider drinking too much of it.

Enjoy.

WATER

1. 75% of the UK population are chronically dehydrated.
(Likely applies to half world population.)

2. In 37% of all the UK population, the thirst
mechanism is so weak that it is often mistaken for
hunger.

3. Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism
as much as 3%.

4. One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger
pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a
University of Washington study.

5. Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.
6. Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses
of water a day could significantly ease back and joint
pain for up to 80% of sufferers.

7. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy
short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and
difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a
printed page.

8. Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the
risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the
risk of breast cancer by 79%, and one is 50%less likely
to develop bladder cancer. Are you drinking the amount
of water you should every day?

COKE

1. In many states (in the USA) the highway patrol
carries two gallons of Coke in the trunk to remove
blood from the highway after a car accident.

2. You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of coke and it
will be gone in two days.

3. To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the
toilet bowl and let the "real thing" sit for one hour,
then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes stains
from vitreous china.

4. To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub
the bumper with a rumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap
aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.

5. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour
a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away
the corrosion.

6. To loosen a rusted bolt: Applying a cloth soaked
in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.

7. To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into
the baking pan, wrap the ham in aluminum foil, and bake.
Thirty minutes before the ham is finished, remove the
foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coke for
a sumptuous brown gravy.

8. To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of coke
into a load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run
through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen
grease stains. It will also clean road haze from your
windshield.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION:

1. The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid.
Its pH is 2.8. It will dissolve a nail in about four
days. Phosphoric acid also leaches calcium from bones
and is a major contributor to the rising increase in
osteoporosis.

2. To carry Coca-Cola syrup (the concentrate) the
commercial truck must use the Hazardous Material place
cards reserved for highly corrosive materials.

3. The distributors of coke have been using it to clean
the engines of their trucks for about 20 years!

Still want a coke?

Dan Grant

PS - About a month ago I mentioned to you that I was
going to be an expert contributor for a membership site
completely dedicated to getting you six pack abs. Well
that site launched last week and is doing very well.
Feel free to check in out here: Beyond Six Pack Abs.

It's my birthday, heres a gift from me

Well, I had a great time in Reston, Virginia at
the NSCA clinic and learned some great information
that will help both me and you.

Mike Martino even gave me a NSCA carry bag as
present for my birthday.

Mike's a really cool guy who did a presentation
called Rope Battling. It's a whole workout
using a variety of sized ropes from 12 feet all
the way up to 100 feet. It's one of the most
intense workouts I've ever done. It was nuts.

I thought it was so great that I'm going to
incorporate rope training into my program for
the high school baseball team I'll be training
this winter.

But anyways. Since today is my birthday and
I've gotten a lot of great gifts and well wishes
already, I wanted to give you a gift from me.

I know I've been talking to you a lot about
making choices and motivation lately so I went out
and found the perfect gift to help you out with
those choices.

Personally, I love using quotes when I need a
little extra drive or when I'm about to do something
that's challenging and unwanted thing called 'doubt'
tries to creep in my brain.

Daniel Munday is a fitness trainer in Australia
and he was gracious enough to let me give you his
ebook called, GET MOTIVATED!

It's loaded with sayings and quotes that will
get you moving in no time. I use it and I know you
will be able to use it too.

There's no training advice or anything like that
in this book. Just 52 quotes that will light a
fire under you...if you need one :).

You can go grab it here. (Don't worry, you won't
have to fill in your email address or anything like
that. All you have to is download it).

I really hope you can get some good use out of
it. I have.

Well, I'm off to enjoy the rest of my birthday...I
think I'll have a piece of the apple pie Marleen (my
girlfriend) made to celebrate. Just one piece
though...maybe...

Have a great week,

Dan Grant

PS - go grab your copy of GET MOTIVATED! by going to
www.dangrantfitness.com/bday

Learning brings results

I wasn't going to write you until next week,
but I just had too.

I'm at the NSCA Southeast Regional Conference
in Reston, VA and day 1 just finished and it
was awesome.

Just a lot of great information that I can
now start to use with my clients.

I was looking forward to Gray Cook's Functional
Movement Screening presentation for weeks (I
know, I'm kind of a dork I guess) and it did
not disappoint.

BUT, that's not why I write you tonight.
I'm writing to explain why learning about
fat loss is almost as important as the
training itself.

Understanding the 'why' in what you're doing
will help you make better decisions by yourself
and help you to make adjustments where you
feel necessary.

The most successful clients I've ever had were
the ones who took the time to learn what the
training was going to do to their body, what
certain foods would do, what proper rest would
do, etc.

Remember the whole low carb craze? I know its
still going a little bit, but not like it was.

People got so caught up in it that they just
did it without even knowing what the hell the
diet was actually going to do to their body.

Pretty much everybody I know that tried it is
now either back to or heavier then when they
started.

It was a 'quick-fix' kind of deal. It didn't
help people change their behavior's on how to
eat better and take better care of themselves.

Don't just jump on a craze, learn about why you
should consider it and how it could help or not
help.

When I just got into the world of training that
was me.

A young kid (still young in a lot of people's
eyes) looking for ways to get my clients the best
results and stand apart from everybody else.

So once the BOSU ball made it's mark in the fitness
world I was right there saying that it was a
great 'functional' piece of equipment that activates
your core while you perform exercises on it.

I didn't look into it, I just jumped right on
board. As I aged and talked to some of the top
people in the industry I learned to be a critical
thinker and decide what will ACTUALLY work best,
not just the philosophy behind an exercise.

I hate the BOSU ball now. I'll use it with
athletes a little bit, but for my fat loss
clients I never use it.

The 'theory' is understandable about using it, but
I can get way better results lifting a heavier
weight to stimulate the muscles and get a greater
number of motor units involved.

So the 'theory' might be right but it sucks.

The 'theory' behind long slow cardio may be right,
but as you know, I just don't feel it's the
optimal way to burn fat. Interval training is
far more effective.

I've had people come to me just for me to make
them a program because they've heard of my results.

When I asked them if they'd like to know why the
results happen and learn the process involved, they
say, "no, I just want a program."

Most of them fail because they don't learn the
process and why certain exercises may be better
and why you are actually supposed to lift at a
higher intensity because of the reaction it will
have on your EPOC (your metabolism after your
workout).

Once people understand why they are doing it and
understand how their body will react to the methods,
they start seeing amazing AND lasting results.

So I'm here learning from some top people and
really looking forward to another day at it
tomorrow.

Then I'll drive back home, try to take it all in,
and figure out how I might apply the information
to help you out.

Sorry if this email was a little 'scattered'.

I had this 'thought' actually on the drive up here
at like 6:30am and I've been waiting all day to
have the opportunity to write it.

Enjoy your weekend,

Dan Grant

PS - UPDATE on my new product. I've been getting
emails about when it will launch. I was planning
on launching it on my birthday which is next
Monday, but it might have to wait another week.
Sorry if I haven't replied to all of your emails
this week, it's been busy.

Beer and Fat Loss

So I'm in the change room at the gym yesterday and the TV in there is on CNN. Lucky for me they had a 'special report' on a study from Britain i think about how beer is better then water after workouts.

I'll be honest when I say that a study was a giant waste of time to figure that out, but most studies these days seem to be a waste of time.

It has carbs. Carbs help replenish the glycogen in your muscles.

Water does nothing to help your muscles recoop, it just hydrates you.

That's why you should be talking an actual post workout shake after your workouts. Hear that, an actual post workout shake...not beer. Sorry.

This is the one I use right here. Prograde Workout. Men's Fitness magazine has endorsed it and it's by far the best I've ever used.

Check it out at Prograde Nutrition.

Dan Grant

PS - off to Reston, VA tomorrow for a conference. Just a heads up as it will be tough to get a hold of me. Have a great weekend.