Here is an excerpt from page one of the Dad Fitness System. Make sure to read the whole story and watch the video gym tour I made for you as well….

Hope you enjoy my personal story and I would love to hear yours in the comments below!

Thanks Dad

by Sean Barker, CPT

Wabush, Labrador, Canada. A small mining town nestled in the cold and desolate woodland of northern Canada. 7 months of the year this isolated town in the middle of nowhere is covered in a deep and cold blanket of snow. Darkness comes early and temperatures with the wind-chill can reach –70 degrees Celsius. But there is a place where I go where the temperature is a lot warmer.

Tucked away in the basement of the local recreation center is a little room I like to call The Dungeon. Some people call it “The Weight Room,” others call it a gym, but to me it’s a dungeon.

It was originally built back in the early 80’s by old veteran power lifters. One in particular went on to win a gold medal in international competition. Almost every piece of exercise equipment was made by hand in the nearby iron ore mines. Welded and made of cold steel, almost every piece of equipment you see in this “gym” was built from scratch.

Chalk filled barbells, dumbbells, squat racks and lifting platforms are what fill this gym. No chrome, no fancy machines, and one broken exercise bike tucked away in the corner. As for music, there is no surround sound system here playing Ryan Seacrest’s Top 40 Countdown, just an old stereo that mostly caters to heavy metal music… perfect.

Entering the Rec. Center, I reach the bottom of the stairs. As I enter through the old squeaky door, I drop down a little ramp onto the floor, which is concrete with rubber matting. Even the rubber matting covering the floor are old conveyor belts salvaged from the local mines. The low ceiling with condensation dripping from overhead pipes and bad lighting would give anyone the feeling of claustrophobia. The horrifying screams, the sound of cold steel, and the smell of sweat momentarily give me a chill like a cold winters day.

But at the same time a fire begins to burn inside that is making my blood boil in anticipation of wrapping my hands around hundreds of pounds of cold steel. Your heart immediately begins to race, knowing before you leave you will endure a physical torture familiar with any dungeon.

The homemade paint chipped dumbbells don’t all go up in 5lb increments. After your 60’s you have 67’s, 73’s, 80’s, 82’s, 97’s, and 100 pounders. Unfortunately, this is where the rack ends. But you have to be creative, and there are still plenty of plates to make any bar bend.

I have trained in gyms all over the world, and I wouldn’t trade this gym for a Gold’s in Venice. I practically grew up in this gym. I have been training there for over 15 years.

I was first introduced to lifting weights at 12 years old. My father who was in his late thirties at the time started training at our local weight-room. No it was not a “gym” it was a weight room in the basement of our small town’s recreation centre.

I started to train consistently at age 16. As time went by the veteran lifters at the local gym really noticed that I stood out above any one my age, not just for my physique but also for my sincere dedication and love for training.

I would get up bright and early while on summer vacation to be at the gym to train with my father (who had trained for over 20 years), and loved the challenge of pumping iron and the camaraderie that existed between the regular lifters at the gym. I loved learning from the old school lifters such as a former Mr. Barbados, and an international gold medal winner in powerlifting. It was like our own version of Pumping Iron, the bodybuilding documentary that made Arnold famous.

I will always cherish those memories of getting up early in the morning when all my friends were sleeping or at hockey practice, and spending that time in the gym with my father. As for all the guys I knew who grew up playing hockey and listening to their hockey dads scream at them for an hour, hardly any continue to play today.

The time together in the gym taught me life long lessons of work ethic, goal setting, failure, and many more. I only hope that I can instill the same values in my children and show them the vital importance that exercise plays in living a long and healthy life. I sincerely hope that Dad Fitness will inspire you to do the same…

Check out the video tour of The Dungeon and the stories behind the old equipment!

Where do YOU workout? Do your gym have a story behind it?

Let me know in the comments below…

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Last weekend my wife and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary by having our first weekend alone since Matea was born. It was a welcome break for us to get some R&R and spend time together just like it was when it was just the two of us.

My parents were glad to take her for the weekend so we hopped a quick flight to Sept Isles, Quebec to spend the weekend.

It certainly isn’t France but it’s pretty obvious that the French Canadians still have a heavy influence from what is known as the “French Paradox”.

The French Paradox refers to the observation that the French culture suffer a relatively low incidence of coronary heart disease, despite having a diet relatively rich in saturated fats. It’s common in French restaurants for them to give you butter to put on your pizza crust or mayo for your french fries!

Combined with the high rate of smokers and lack of structured exercise they are the envy of health nuts everywhere as they seem to be able to have their cake and eat it too…

I don’t remember seeing an overweight women the entire weekend!

So after many relaxing dinners and maybe too much wine it got me thinking that maybe HOW we eat is just as important as WHAT we eat?

Here is what I think the French are doing right for health and longevity when it looks like everything they are doing is wrong…

Red Wine and Resveratrol

The French like their wine, and not just after dinner. Morning, afternoon and night they sip on vino flooding their bodies with life extending resveratrol, heart healthy flavonoids and cancer fighting polyphenols. Plus, research continues to suggest that moderate drinkers are less likely to suffer heart attacks than non-drinker or heavy drinkers.

Chew your Chow

Despite the many fast food drive thru’s I seen around Sept Isles, I didn’t see many cars lined up to these windows during the day. That’s because the French don’t snack in between meals and when they do eat they take the time to chew their chow. They don’t do “dashboard dining”, they savour their food by the bite, not the mouthful.

Petite Portions

The key to the petite french are their petite portions. It’s not necessarily what you eat but how much you eat. You will still encounter larger than normal portions at the many “Americanized” restaurant chains but even then they don’t feel obligated to eat everything piled on their plate just because it’s there, they eat until they are satisfied not until their belt is busting.

Fresh First

Wether it’s farmer’s markets or fishing markets, the French knows fresh. We should all know where our food comes from and eat local whenever possible. This coastal town is known for their fresh seafood. A lot of the restaurants are located right on the water front where the catch of the day is only feet away. The lunch special was a Crab and Smoked Salmon Clubhouse Sandwich…Perfect.

Food and Family

It’s obvious just walking around the local supermarkets that the French prefer quality over quantity when it comes to what they put in their mouth. They aren’t filling their carts with TV dinners because they eat REAL food and don’t eat in front of the TV. They celebrate food by cooking and eating with family and friends. What a concept!

Walk don’t Wait

The French would rather walk, than wait for an elevator or the metro. They aren’t known to be gym rats but they do take the gym outdoors by walking and biking a lot. The first thing I noticed on our way to the hotel was the well designed recreational paths and running tracks all around the city that was paved, well painted and flooded with runners and bikers. We also took advantage of the many boardwalks and parkways and made an effort to hoof it, to see the city and burn off some of that good French cuisine.

So maybe the French Paradox is not such a secret after all…

Perhaps we can learn something from the healthy habits of the French culture by not focusing on single nutrients in our diet like proteins, carbs or fats but instead focusing on the COOKING, the EATING and the ENJOYING of fresh food with family and friends…

Now that’s speaking my language!

What do YOU think? Do you think this is French fact or fiction?

Let me know by leaving a comment below.

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What’s the best ways to prevent workout burnout?

No it’s not a Kit-Kat bar…

But the message behind their advertising slogan is one great way.

Gimme a Break!

1. Breakway from the Barbells

For us Gung-ho guys sometimes the hardest part of working out is NOT working out at all.  As hard as it may be when you feel you’re making progress with your workouts and the WEIGHTS are going up while your WAIST is going down, it’s always a good idea to have rest weeks designed into your training the same way you have sets and reps.

So that’s why after 12 weeks of hard and intense workouts, it’s time I take a break from the gym…and maybe you should too! Usually I try and take an entire week off from the gym every 8-10 weeks to give my body as well as my mind a rest so I can recharge my body’s batteries and be ready to start a new workout routine for another couple months.

2. Deload the Dumbbells.

Wether you are focusing on fat loss or getting stronger, when doing a longer training routine of 12-16 weeks it’s probably best to have a deload week every 4 weeks in your workouts. This is usually where you reduce the normal working weights and reps in your workout by 50%.  If you don’t have the mental muscle to stay away from the gym entirely, deload weeks are a great way to prevent burnout, get strong over time and avoid injury in the process while still remaining active.

3. Alternate don’t Adapt

Your body is made to adapt, otherwise you wouldn’t be here to read this… Research shows your body adapts to your workouts after 4-6 weeks. It adapts to your rep ranges first, then it catches on to your movement patterns. This is why it’s important to do different exercises from many different angles to stay one step ahead of that dreaded training plateau where your gains come to a screeching halt.

An example for chest would be to do barbell bench press for 4 sets of 6 reps on Monday, 2 sets of 12 of incline dumbbell presses on Wednesday and 3 sets of 8 of decline pushups on Friday…

I also like to cut myself some slack with my nutrition during my recovery week and not follow such a set eating schedule of eating 5-6 meals a day, every 3-4 hours.

Although I follow this structure 90% of the time as I believe in the benefits it gives me of higher energy and better health it’s good to go Primal every once and awhile and just eat when you’re hungry and even try intermittent fasting for 24 hours once a week.

I think the future of of food and healthy nutrition is in the past and that we should eat like our primal ancestors did most of the time sticking to wild meat, plants, nut and berries.

Eating this way and avoiding all the manufactured grains prevents our body’s fat storing hormone insulin from going on a constant roller coaster ride with our blood sugar. This way our body is burning fat for fuel, giving protein to our hungry muscles and we don’t have to worry if we go longer than 3 hours without stuffing our face.

So if you want to prevent workout burnout and be healthy and happy for the long term, sometimes it’s best to take 2 steps forward and one step back…

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Here is a great alternative to using ground beef in your meatloaf that is not only healthy but damn tasty!

Even though your mother may have made Meatloaf a weekly staple at your dinner table growing up, it’s doesn’t mean you have to follow her old fashion secret recipe.

(Pssst…she probably used the recipe off the back of onion soup mix;-)

A lot of people use onion soup mix in dips, burgers and meatloaf to enhance the flavor. It might give it flavor, but it’s ARTIFICIAL flavor, not too mention the terrible gas it will give you when all those dried onion bits and chemicals explode in your stomach…trust me on this one.

Just take a look at all the artificial ingredients in a pack of onion soup mix!

Ingredients:
Onions (deyhydrated), salt, cornstarch, onion powder, sugar, corn syrup, hydrolyzed soy protein, caramel color, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, monosodium glutamate, yeast extract, natural flavors, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate.

So follow recipes like this Tasty Turkey Meatloaf that uses natural ingredients for flavor to cover your health and hunger.

Meatloaf can definitely be a man made meal as it’s super simple to prepare and is great to make ahead of time for busy dads and when the whole family comes home starving and hits the kitchen like contestants voted off The Biggest Loser…

This recipe is full of big meaty flavor and is a deeply satisfying meal that is high in lean protein to build those biceps, not balloon your belly…

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 onions, peeled and sliced
• 2 tsp of bottled basil pesto
• 4 button mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
• 2 pounds of ground turkey
• 1/2 cup of skim milk
• 1/2 cup of instant oatmeal
• 2 omega 3 enriched eggs
• 1/2 cup of your favorite tomato sauce
• A few dashes Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

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With the Sun hanging in the sky a little longer it naturally gives you more energy to do some spring cleaning inside and outside the house.

Just opening up all the windows in your house after the long winter months will awaken your senses with fresh new energy…

So it’s time to spring ahead with your workouts as well and clean up some of the bad habits that you may have picked up during the winter.

1. Watch Your Watch

With summer just around the corner you are probably more concerned with getting light and lean than big and bulky so sitting around for 3-4 minutes chatting with the guys about last nights game in between sets isn’t going to do anything to awaken those abs. Rest no more than 2 minutes in between heavy squats or deadlifts and only 30-60 seconds for other lifts. Supersetting opposite muscles like chest and back or bicep and triceps without any rest is also a great way to build muscle AND burn fat.

2. Movements Not Muscles

Spending 20 minutes working a muscle the size of a baseball isn’t the best use of your time unless you have Mr. Olympia trophies on your mantle. But that’s just what most guys do to get arms like Arnold. Think movements, not muscles when you workout. To work your body and your biceps try combining exercises into one motion like a lunge, curl and press or a chin-up with a leg raise.

3. Complex Cardio

Despite what the name might say burning fat isn’t so complex when you use this form of cardio. Complexes are forms of high intensity cardio that continues to put those magazine reading sessions on the treadmill to shame when it comes to blow torching bodyfat. It only takes 5 minutes to add a complex to the end of your weight workout to convince you that this is the answer to maximum results in minimum time. Use just the empty barbell to perform a series of exercise circuits without rest such as a squat, clean, press, lunge and row. Pick yourself up off the floor and repeat 3-4 times.

4. Muscle Massage

Imagine how hard it must be on your car’s engine starting it over and over during those cold winter mornings. Well that’s just how you have been treating your body all winter. Wether it’s being rushed and skipping your workout warmup or jumping out of bed to shovel out your driveway so you can get to work, your muscles need time to wake up. Dynamic bodyweight movements are great to get the blood flowing but a little muscle massage will go a long way to break up those tight spots that build up over time with improper lifting and bad posture. Use a foam roller and tennis ball to roll out those tight trigger points like your mother rolled out dough. Doing this loosens up the tissue in and around your muscles to keep you strong and pain-free.

5. Goodbye Gym

Save a month’s worth of membership and take advantage of the extra daylight while getting some free vitamin D by bringing your workouts outside. Even if you love the atmosphere of training in a dark and dingy gym, the opportunities are endless for outdoor workouts. Take a set of dumbbells to the park or do a playground workout while the kids have their fun. Sprints, sports and strongman lifts are also better outdoors. There is just something primal about lifting heavy stuff off the ground under the mid day sun.

It’s unfortunate that some guys will spend more time washing their car this spring than taking care of their body!

Use these 5 Ways To Spring Clean Your Workout so you can take care of your body and the people who depend on it…

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