As a big time sports fan into baseball, basketball and of course as a Canadian, hockey, it amazed me how these athletes could perform at such a high level during the season and train hard in the gym at the same time!

I would read articles or even see TV clips of theses pro athletes training hard in the gym to stay in shape for their sport and wonder how they can go out and plan 9 innings or 3 periods of intense NHL hockey after throwing around hundreds of pounds in the gym the day before.

Meanwhile, I would train my ass off in the gym to the point of exhaustion and would be limping around for a week with sore legs or have trouble putting my shirt on because my chest was so sore from “chest” day at the gym. Even being active in my own recreational sports was difficult because of the debilitating soreness from my weight training workouts.

I was always led to believe building muscle in the gym would make me stronger and faster…

I wanted to find out how these guys did it. I know genetics, talent and performance enhancing drugs play a roll in pro sports to enhance recovery and performance, but I knew there had to be more.

It was actually the media frenzy of drugs in sports with the baseball scandals and the Olympics that help lift the curtain on how athletes actually trained and how it was different from bodybuilders and regular gym goers.

More and more TV clips, books and videos on how  athletes workout started appearing and I realized these guys weren’t doing bicep curls and spending an hour on the treadmill to stay in shape for their sport.

More specifically their workouts weren’t split up into high volume bodypart workouts like chest, back, and legs or the isolation exercises that came along with this old school bodybuilding method.

1. Frequency not Failure

As I started reading more about the strength coaches of pro athletes I seen they were using FULL-BODY workouts based around natural compound movements that not only built show muscle, but more importantly, (with millions of dollars on the line), it build GO muscle that was functional and improved performance in their chosen sport.

Basically, instead of pulverizing one specific muscle with many exercises all in one workout once a week (like bodybuilding workouts do) they work all their large muscle groups with just 1 or 2 multi-joint exercises each and every workout 3-4 times a week.

Some still do some basic lifts like the squat, bench press and deadlift but with variations more specific to their sport and focusing more on lifting fast and explosive with light weights than grinding out slow heavy reps to muscular failure.

This is how they recover faster and prevent extreme muscle soreness from their workouts that allows them to get stronger and faster (not necessarily bigger) in and out of the gym because they are stimulating their muscles, not annihilating them.

2. Conditioning not Cardio

The second difference in their training that became obvious was their “cardio” workouts. They didn’t spend hours each week slaving on a treadmill Slowly watching the calorie counter tick away.

They did metabolic conditioning workouts that were based on high intensity interval training. Even with all the high tech trainers and equipment available to these pro athletes they were flipping heavy tractor tires, pulling weighted sleds, sprinting up hill and swinging heavy sledge hammers around to stay lean and increase endurance.

3. Core not Crunches

Not only were these athletes ditching single joint isolation exercises for biceps and triceps like seen in many gyms but they were also avoiding isolating their abs as well with endless crunches, despite sporting some of the best 6 packs seen away from a bodybuilding stage.

With the combination of full-body weight training workouts to build muscle, heart pounding bodyweight interval training to incinerate body fat and specific core focused training to develop strong abs these guys train their core the way it was meant to be used, for spinal stability and support.

By focusing on training the core which includes all 360 degrees of your torso such as the main rectus abdominals, the surrounding internal and external obliques, and the lower lumbar muscles of your back with stability and rotation exercises you work your core in multiple ranges of motion naturally and avoid the back breaking spinal flexion that crunches and sit-ups force you to do.

So there you go, the 3 secrets of athletes workouts and building a body like a pro athlete, not a pro bodybuilder, so you can look better, feel great and perform at the top of your game…

I started a new muscle building Dad Fitness workout routine yesterday.

Heck, I am a fitness writer myself and after 15 years of studying health and fitness inside and outside the gym as well as earning lots of advanced certifications I am confident that the advice I give works and is also safe and helpful for a healthy person.

Unfortunately with the age of the internet everyone thinks that they are suddenly qualified in exercise science and advanced program design.

That’s why mechanics don’t do brain surgery and why your dentist don’t fix your plumbing, (although some of their tools do looks the same).

It’s because they SPECIALIZE in their field and when we want expert results we go to an expert.

But you still have to be careful who you consider an expert despite some fancy letters after their name.

After seeing a workout routine that was left in the gym the other day I am almost ASHAMED to be called a Personal Trainer in the same breath as the “personal trainer” who designed this exercise program below!

This has got to be the WORST weight training program I have EVER seen!

…and trust me I have seen it all and this even goes way beyond any of the over hyped bodybuilder routines found in the magazines.

I am sure my 2 year old daughter would come up with a better routine, as her squat technique is impeccable.

It’s no wonder guys at the gym are walking around with torn up shoulders and bad backs.  I would rather they stay home and did nothing, than follow stuff like this and breakdown their muscles and mobility with the overuse and redundant exercises found below.

95% of these exercises are not only a waste of anyone’s time for building muscle but the unnatural angles recommended for some of these movements make them go from bad to down right DANGEROUS!

So I hope the “trainer” who blindly slapped this workout routine together goes back to eating their Cracker Jacks and the personal trainer certification that came with it…

WARNING: Displaying this workout is for novelty purposes only and may cause a choking hazard if anyone with a brain reads it while eating or drinking.

The Worst Workout Routine EVER

3 sets of 10 for everything.
(wow, that’s creative)

Day 1

Wide Grip Bench Press
Wide Grip Incline Bench Press
Pullover
Decline DB Press
Bench Dip
Cable Flys
Cable Crossover
Pushup

Day 2

Lying Bicep Curl
Preacher Curl
EZ bar Concentration curl
Cable Bicep curl
Tricep Overhead DB Press
Skull Crusher
One arm Cable pushdown
Dip

Day 3

Pullup
Cable One Arm Pulldown
Lat Pulldown
Seated Cable Row
T Bar Row
Bent Over Db row
Reverse Fly
Back Ext.

As for lower body exercises I didn’t see any but was too disgusted to turn the page and waste my time reading any more of this garbage.

If you are a busy dad and is looking for professionally designed workout routines done for busy dads by a busy dad, check out www.DadFitness.com for safe and effective workouts and nutrition plans that give you maximum results in minimum time.

Stay tuned for this in the coming months…

In the meantime, here is a quick Q & A I did with one of the top strength and conditioning coaches in the world, Jason Feruggia of Renegade Gym in New Jersey. Jason is also the head training adviser for Men’s Fitness magazine if he sounds familiar.

As an “old school lifter” myself who thinks basics are best when it comes to working out I relate to Jason’s no B.S. approach to getting maximum results in minimum time.

Interview with Jason Feruggia:

[Sean] Most guys are being told to follow bodybuilding splits, train multiple times a day, and other non-sense training tactics that don’t work. What tips do you have for people looking to build muscle as fast as possible?

[Jason] The key to making consistent size gains is making consistent strength gains (in a hypertrophy rep range) while eating enough food and allowing enough time for recovery. You need to constantly be doing more weight or more reps. The body will respond to any given stimulus one time and one time only. If you place the same demands on it a second time (like pressing the same weight for the same reps) nothing will happen. You must always be forcing it to adapt and thus you must always ask it do something it isn’t used to.

The easiest way to do this is add more weight or do more reps with the same weight.

Aside from making consistent strength gains the next most important thing to consider is training frequency. To improve anything in life you need to do it frequently. Building muscle is no different. So you want to train a muscle as frequently as possible, while it is in a fresh and recovered state. This means that you should be training each body part once every 2-5 days, and not once a week like a lot of the muscle mags recommend. That’s too little frequency. The more times you can stimulate growth throughout the year the better. Obviously 104 growth stimulating workouts per year for each body part would be a lot better than 52.

[Sean] I have seen the phrase “stimulate, don’t annihilate” on your blog in reference to training. Can you explain what you mean by this and the relation to training volume?

[Jason] To elicit a training response you need to present the body with a stimulus that it isn’t used to. This stress will cause the body to adapt. The body adapts by building itself up bigger and stronger.

Where people go wrong is that they think they need to annihilate the muscle in order to elicit any type of response. This is completely counterproductive.

When you annihilate the muscle with tons of sets and reps and intensity techniques like drop sets you drastically increase your recovery time. And as I mentioned previously, frequency is very important. So when you increase your recovery time you have to decrease your training time. You’re shooting yourself in the foot.

The key is to do just enough to stimulate size and strength gains but not annihilate yourself so that it takes forever to recover, or worse- that you put yourself in a state of overtraining.

[Sean] Triple Threat Muscle is your new program. What separates this program from all the others and can you tell our readers why you created it?

[Jason] My Muscle Gaining Secrets program is specifically geared toward skinny guys, hardgainers and beginners. This is more of an intermediate/advanced program that is more athletically based. So while the main focus is still on building muscle there is also a shift toward a bit more speed work, mobility and conditioning in Triple Threat Muscle.
The new program was created for the typical weekend warrior or Average Joe who wants to look and train like an athlete but doesn’t actually have the time or recovery ability to spend more than a few hours per week in the gym.

I spent the last two years experimenting on a wide group of individuals to come up with the most effective and fastest way to do this. Triple Threat Muscle is the result of two years of hard work and is based on all of my findings.

[Sean] And finally, what general tips can you give to busy dads who want to transform their bodies?

1. Strength train 3-4 days per week.

2. Lift heavy and keep most of your sets in the range of 3-10 reps.

3. Don’t go to failure.

4. Train each body part 2-3 times per week.

5. Don’t do more than 12-16 total sets per workout.

6. Always strive to get stronger.

7. Eat natural, organic foods and avoid anything processed.

8. Sleep 8-10 hours per day.

9. Minimize stress.

10. Get out in the fresh air and sun more often.

FACT:

A lot of gym rats might be able to load up the bar with hundreds of pounds for endless sets of the bench press but can’t even do 10 correct push ups…

I don’t think you have any business bench pressing if you can’t properly perform 20 perfect pushups.

If you can’t handle your own bodyweight, how functional is it to lie down on a bench and press additional weight?

Don’t get me wrong, the basic barbell bench press is a great upper body exercise for building muscle, but it’s depended on WAY too much to build a strong chest and shoulders.

Most people consider Pushups and Bench Presses both chest dominant exercises. But there is a big difference between the two…

The bench press is an open chain exercise and the pushup is a closed chain exercise.

The “chain” just refers to the kinetic chain of your body, which simply means that all of your body’s muscles are inter-connected in a “chain” and therefore the movements you make are also part of a that kinetic chain.

Open chain exercises allow your feet or hands to move freely like in a bench press, dumbbell curl or leg curl.

Closed chain exercises keep your feet or hands in a fixed position like on the ground during pushups or squats and even chinups.

Closed chain exercises are safer and more effective for real world functional strength because they allow your bodyweight to move through space in a full range of motion while distributing muscular stress through many muscles instead of isolating and stressing single muscles.

A big reason why so many bench press addicts develop shoulder problems is because of not the shoulders directly but due to the lack of movement in your upper back when pinned to a bench during bench presses.

The muscles in your upper back surrounding your shoulders blades and scapula play a crucial role in stabilizing and allowing movement of your shoulder girdle during pressing movements.

Pushups eliminates this problem by allowing your upper back to contract in a full range of motion when you lower yourself to the ground.

Plus for busy dads bodyweight exercises are great because they can be done anywhere without any equipment!

(here is my favorite pressing exercise)

So if you want to incorporate a simple but intense pushup workout into your workout routine give the 100 rep pushup workout a try.

Once or twice a week at the end of your regular workout aim for performing 100 pushups and time yourself to see how long it takes you.

Do as many reps as you can and do however many sets it takes you to reach 100.

For example if you can do 20 pushups at one time before failure start with 20 but as you fatigue you will probably drop down to sets of 10. You will obviously need more rest between sets as you get closer to 100.

Take as much rest as you need to get at least 10 reps for each set until you reach the 100 rep mark.

Most guys in pretty good shape will be able to complete 100 reps anywhere between 5-10 minutes.

Don’t worry how long it takes you. Just record your time and push hard to beat it the next time around.

Before you know it you will join the pushup century club and have the perfect pecs to prove it!

Perfect Pushups Tips

*Keep your abs braced tight and your hips in line with your body.

*Tuck your chin in like a “double chin” and look straight down at the floor to form a straight line from your head to your toes.

*Push your elbows and upper arms back in a 45 degree direction opposed to straight out to your sides.

PS. Be sure to check out my training article in the April/May issue of Inside Fitness magazine!

“What do YOUR workout routine look like?

Well ever since I created The Dad Fitness System I would just point them to www.DadFitness.com where they can get their own copy of The Ultimate Fitness Plan For Busy Dads downloaded instantly to their computer.

It works for me and it’s working for other busy dads all around the world.

But this year I have been improving the Dad Fitness workouts to better fit MY busy lifestyle and for all of YOU living the Dad Fitness lifestyle as well.

You see, being a busy dad and husband working a full-time job and running a business on the side doesn’t allow me to spend 5-6 days a week working out at the gym to stay fit.

I will be honest though, I LOVE working out at the gym, especially our little dungeon of a gym here in town. No lineups, no machines, just torn up benches with some rusty barbells and dumbbells. I guess you can call me “old school”.

But as much as I would like to I can’t always get there as often as I wish as I spend most of my days off from working shift work staying home with my 19 month old daughter while my wife is at work.

Some weeks I find it hard to get to the gym even 3 days a week so I had to adapt and tweak the Dad Fitness workouts.

So I designed a workout routine that focuses on 2 gym workouts a week and one bodyweight workout a week, totaling 3 short but intense workouts a week. …Which is all most of us really need to get in great shape anyway.

I have been loving this routine as I can get in 2 intense gym workouts a week and have no problem getting in the 3rd bodyweight workout as it can be done at home with minimal equipment, at the gym or even at my local playground when the weather permits.

Now that’s the way workouts should be, they should fit around YOUR lifestyle, not the other way around like most programs you might find in the magazines.

I am building muscle, gaining strength and staying lean like never before and it’s all because of the intricate design of these workouts.

Every exercise, Every rep and Every set is specifically selected and has a scientific reason for being in the program.

This gives you the complete “Training Triangle” to build muscle, gain strength and burn fat all in minimum time and in one simple 3 day a week workout routine.

So here is the breakdown of what I like to call Dad Fitness 2.0

• 3 workouts a week consisting of 2 gym workouts and 1 bodyweight workout.

• The workouts rotate on a 2 week cycle meaning there is a Week 1 of workouts and a Week 2, before you repeat the same workouts.
• Each routine is followed for 8 weeks allowing each weekly workout to be completed 4 times.

This keeps my motivation high and prevents the dreaded training plateau by rotating exercises every 2 weeks instead of every week like most programs.

So here is an example of just of ONE of the weekly workout routines in the upcoming yet to be released Dad Fitness 2.0 Fitness Plan.

Day 1, Week 1, Gym

Chest, Shoulders and Triceps

Decline Barbell Bench Press, 2 sets of 4-6 reps.

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press, 2 sets of 6-8 reps

Standing Barbell Shoulder Press, 2 sets of 4-6 reps

Standing Triple Threat Dumbbell Lateral Raise Superset, (side, front and rear) 2 sets of 6-8 reps each

Lying Flat Ez Bar Tricep Extensions, 2 sets of 4-6 reps

Tricep Cable Pushdowns, 2 sets of 6-8 reps

Cable Crunch, 2 sets of 8-10 reps

Day 2, Week 1, Gym

Legs, Back and Biceps

Barbell Squats, 2 sets of 4-6 reps

Dumbbell Lunges, 2 sets of 6-8 reps

Weighted Pullups, 2 sets of 4-6 reps

Bent Over Barbell Rows, 2 sets of 6-8 reps

Standing Barbell Curls, 2 sets of 4-6 reps

Standing Dumbbell Curls, 2 sets of 6-8 reps

Standing Calf Raise, 2 set of 8-10 reps

Day 3, Week 1, Bodyweight

One Leg Squats, 3 sets of max reps

Medicine Ball Pushups, 3 sets of max reps

Inverted Pullups, 3 sets of max reps

Dips, 3 sets of max reps

Parallel Grip Pullups, 3 sets of max reps

Front Plank, 2 set of 60 secs

Side Plank, 2 sets of 45 secs

I don’t have an exact date yet for the release of Dad Fitness 2.0 but I am working hard to get it complete so it can be YOUR favorite workout of 2010!

and let me know your favorite workout of 2009 by posting a comment below…

Friday night we had to take our 13 month old daughter Matea to the emergency room after a gust of wind blew the front door of our house that was open, unfortunately hitting her in the front of the head.

Sporting her bruise like a champ!

She started to get a huge bump right away so we played it safe and took her to the ER just in case. Thankfully the swelling went down rather fast after we applied an ice pack and it was only a minor boo-boo and she hardly cried afterward, she’s a trooper!

Then Saturday night my wife and I had date night and we went out for some fine dining. I had the wild mushrooms to start and then ordered the herb crusted rack of lamb that was fall-off-the-bone delicious.

That's some good eatin'...

Sunday brought on more fun, food and family with a BBQ at the in-laws house. I enjoyed a burger, more ribs, and a couple Cuban beers that Kathy’s parents brought back from their vacation awhile ago!

Almost as good as our Canadian beers!

If you want to know how I eat what I want on the weekends and still stay in great shape year round as a busy dad.

Click Here To See My 24 Hour Diet.

==>http://www.Seans24HourDiet.com

If you want to see how I workout on the weekends when I have a busy week and can’t get to the gym, READ ON…

The Weekend Workout.

Is a 2 day workout plan that only requires 2 back to back workouts on Saturday and Sunday. This program also requires that you are willing to dedicate time on your weekends to 2 intense workouts.

Yes…I did say intense because what you miss in QUANTITY, you will make up for in QUALITY.  These workouts will not be your 10 minute fluff workouts using soup cans.

These 2 workouts will take at least an hour each and require some real-man hard work and intensity, so don’t complain or make excuses, after all, you have all week long to get over it!

I also recommend that you workout in the morning if at all possible for mainly two reasons.

#1 . You won’t have any chance of blowing off these workouts if things come up during the rest of the day. These are your only scheduled workouts for the week so you have to make them count.

#2. You want to take advantage of maximizing your metabolism early in the day so your body will be primed for burning fat and building muscle all weekend long. So if you are going to be a weekend warrior, you have to save your energy for your weekend workouts, so staying out late at the bar with the guys from work when you finish up on Friday isn’t going to put you onto the path to being the fittest dad on the playground .

A man’s gotta do, what a man’s gotta do. So it’s time to step up to the plate and knock out the excuses with the Weekend Workout…

Out of all the different workout routines I have done over the years there is one that I keep coming back to, the one that never fails me don’t matter how many curve balls life throws my way.

My Big Fat Independent Movie dvd

It’s called the AB Split.

It’s simple and effective and best of all it is easy to work into any busy dads schedule.

You just have two different workouts where you train half of your body one day and the other half the next.

Now the beauty of The Weekend Workout is that you can workout on back to back days, in this case, Saturday and Sunday because you are not annihilating and isolating specific muscle groups.

You will be using the classic compound exercises that work many of your body’s largest muscle groups revving up your metabolism to burn fat and increasing Testosterone to build strong dad muscle.

Saturday: Workout A

The Barbell Squat, 5 sets of 5 reps

Flat Dumbbell Bench Press, 3 sets of 8 reps

Bent Over Barbell Row, 3 sets of 8 reps

Close Grip Bench Press, 3 sets of 6 reps

Front Abdominal Plank, Hold for 30-60 secs

High Intensity Interval Cardio:

Use a treadmill and perform intervals for 6 rounds of 30 secs sprint, 60 secs walk

Sunday: Workout B

The Barbell Deadlift, 5 sets of 5 reps

Chin-Ups, 3 sets of 8 reps

Standing Barbell Shoulder Press, 3 sets of 8 reps

Standing Barbell Bicep Curl, 3 sets of 6 reps

Standing Calf Raise, 3 sets of 10 reps

High Intensity Interval Cardio:

Use a stationary bike and perform intervals for 6 rounds of 60 secs fast, 90 secs easy

*The Mid Week Bodyweight Booster Workout

Yeah I know this is supposed to be a TWO DAY a week workout plan. You CAN make progress on this plan if you only have 2 hours a week to dedicate to some serious lifting.

BUT, if you can find another 15 minutes sometime during the week, do this Mid Week Metabolism Booster Workout with just your own bodyweight to boost that metabolism and get the blood flowing to your recovering muscles that you trashed on the weekend. I would recommend you do this short workout on Wednesday preferably to allow for maximim recovery from your weekend workouts.  This bodyweight workout can be done anytime anywhere so it’s hard to find a reason to not squeeze in this little workout that can make a big difference in burning off that gut and buidling some strong lean muscle despite your busy schedule.

Prisoner Squats
T-Pushups
Lunges
Cross Body Mountain Climbers
Burpees

Do 10 reps of each exercise without rest. Then rest for 1 minute and repeat the circuit 3 times.

I would love to hear about YOUR weekend workouts!

Leave a comment below and tell me about your weekend workouts…

Thanks to my wife, I got to workout at the gym today.

Firefight movie download

She came home from work for lunch and watched Matea while I was at the gym. She even cooked me a tasty postworkout meal of an omelette and potatoes, shes awesome! ( I just booked an Aqua massage for her for Valentines Day)

The rest of the day I am playing Mr.Mom and staying home with Matea.

I had an awesome Dad Fitness workout, one of the best in a long time!

Here is the rundown:

Flat BB Bench Press,1 max set of 3-5 reps

Flat DB Bench Press, 4 sets of 6-8 reps

Bent Over DB Row, 4 sets of 10-12 reps

Rope Face Pulls, 3 sets of 15 reps

BB Russian Twist, 3 sets of 8 reps

For times that you can’t make it to the gym here is

How To Build A Home Gym
by Sean Barker,CPT

You don’t need to buy an expensive gym membership so you can use all those complicated machines to get in shape. People were building muscle and burning fat long before any of those strange looking machines were invented.

Also a treadmill or stationary bike would be a bonus for cardio exercise but not necessary as you can still do cardio exercise with your body weight, some light dumbbells or outdoors.

As long as you have enough space to fully extend your body vertically and horizontally you can setup a small home gym. You can get a set of adjustable dumbbells up to 40lbs which would be enough for most people at your local Walmart or sporting goods store for around $40. Stability balls are also inexpensive at around $20 as well as a mat for $10. An adjustable exercise bench will run over hundred bucks but most sporting goods store have previous used ones for half price. So for convenient exercise on a budget you can setup your own home gym for under $100 bucks and if your are really determined but tight for cash, you can get a great workout with just your body weight.

buy Stranger Than Fiction

Here is a great body weight workout that can be done anywhere at anytime. Plus it won’t cost you a penny! Do tens reps each with no rest, then repeat the circuit 3 times.

Bodyweight Squats

Pushups

Forward Lunges

Abdominal Planks (hold for 30-60 sec).

Sean Barker, CPT

Learn the “The Truth On Fat Loss, How To Finally Lose That Beer Belly” in this FREE report from Sean Barker at www.dadfitness.com

Range of Motion is Critical For Building Muscle

By Sean Barker, CPT.

If your not sure what I mean by ROM, its Range of Motion. This is the complete range of movement that you perform every exercise from start to finish.

But how many people get carried away with increasing the weight they lift only to sacrifice the proper exercise execution in which the exercise should be performed. A good many, and I admit I have done it in the past as well.

Sean Barker, CPT

Learn the “The Truth On Fat Loss, How To Finally Lose That Beer Belly” in this FREE report from Sean Barker at www.dadfitness.com

The process of building muscle is pretty simple. It’s so simple actually; that people have a hard time believing how they can train less and grow more.

Find out the secret to building maximum muscle in minimum time.

I like to refer to the whole process of building muscle as the Training Triangle. It is basically the 24 hour a day process that your body will be undergoing when you begin weight training. It has three components, Training, Nutrition, and Recovery, each one no more important than the other. If one of these is not given 100%, the Training Triangle begins to crumble.

Weight Training is about stimulating muscle growth, plain and simple. It only provides the stimulus for your muscles to grow. Muscles DO NOT grow when you are in the gym. The other two corners of the Training Triangle take care of that. Weight Training exercise provides overload to the muscles, breaking down the muscle tissue on a microscopic level. It responds when subjected to levels of exercise beyond what it is accustomed to in order for an adaptation process to occur. The human body then attempts to adapt to this stimulus by getting stronger and growing more muscle tissue. This is where the next corner of the Triangle takes over.

Nutrition is the next vital step in the Training Triangle. Through eating the proper foods you supply your body with the nutrients it needs for energy replenishment, cell growth and repair, as well as the basic metabolic functions your body undergoes on a daily basis. Back in 400 B.C., Hippocrates said, “Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food.” Today, good nutrition is more important than ever. At least four of the 10 leading causes of death in the U.S.–heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes–are directly related to way we eat. Focus on eating lean proteins such as chicken, beef, pork and fish. Get lots of of fiber and antioxidants through fruits, veggies and 100% whole grains. Consume healthy omega 3 fats daily such as olive oil, flaxseed oil and fish oil. The key components to good nutrition and living a healthy lifestyle are balance, variety and moderation.

Recovery is probably the most neglected step in the Training Triangle. It is a fantastic feeling to be motivated and have a gung-ho attitude when beginning a weight training program, but some control and moderation must be included with that eagerness in order to see results. Remember the story of the tortuous and the hare? The lesson was that slow and steady, wins the race. Society has conditioned us to think more is better. But, in terms of weight training and building muscle, training too often can bring any gains to a screeching halt, as well as increase chance of injury and adrenal burnout. Rest and recovery is essential for maximum muscle growth. During recovery we build muscle in response to the stimulus we created while training. If you fail to take adequate recovery time into consideration, you will be greatly limiting your results.

The Training Triangle is the foundation of any successful weight-training program. Understanding each element and its importance, will directly dictate the results you will achieve.

…As for me, it looks like I am finally kicking this cold to the curb and had a great workout today.

Today I continued with my buddy Nate Green’s Built For Show workouts.

I am rotating through upper body and lower body workouts found in his “Fall Season” workouts.

Workout A- Upper Body
Workout B- Lower Body

I felt strong and focused today in the gym as I pumped out rows, db bench presses, chinups, shoulder presses and some abs work.

Sean Barker, CPT

Learn the “The Truth On Fat Loss, How To Finally Lose That Beer Belly” in this FREE report from Sean Barker at www.dadfitness.com