Do you want to know the biggest mistake I continue to see guys doing in the gym?

They train like bodybuilders…when they should be training like athletes.

The majority of guys in the gym are “regular Joe’s” with busy jobs and families where they are not required to get up on stage in a speedo sporting the bodyfat levels of a jack rabbit.

Bodybuilding workouts are geared towards building extreme levels of symmetrical muscle mass in all individual muscles. This requires high volume workouts hitting the muscles from many angles with a wide range of isolation exercises. Which in most sets you bring all the muscles to and beyond muscular failure; causing a high stress to the muscle and intense soreness that at times can be debilitating and lasts for several days.

Having legs too sore to play some soccer with your kids or not being able to hammer in a nail because of yesterday’s bicep blast is not how us busy dads want to live our life.

As busy family men there are more important things than the peak on your biceps or the sweep on your quads.

As you are probably aware, working out like a bodybuilder takes a high level of dedication inside and outside the gym. You basically have to live the sport 24 hours around the clock with plastic tubberwares of chicken breasts in tow.

So why in the world would most guys with only a few hours a week to workout, continue to pound their body’s into the ground while following the lasted greatest workouts hyped up in the bodybuilding magazines.

Not to mention that these pro bodybuilders are on so much drugs that their legs grow when they get up from the toilet!

It’s know wonder so many of us have sore shoulders and bad backs and can only get through a workout by being wrapped up like mummies in the gym with straps, wraps and belts.

So even though you don’t have a multi-million dollar contract it’s time you start training like an athlete and stop working out like a bodybuilder.

Today’s athletes are ripped like gymnasts, strong like olympic lifters, fast like sprinters, and simply more visually appealing to most men and women.

They train to be functional and can’t afford to be too sore from the gym to play the next game.

Much to many people’s surprise the personal trainers who are responsible for training the pros don’t have them spending hours on fancy machines working muscles the size of a baseball.

They have to design programs to enhance and improve the athlete’s performance first and sporting lean strong muscle without the fat is just the byproduct of training the body the way it is meant to move.

Most of the top strength coaches have small hardcore style gyms just full of barbells, dumbbells, lifting platforms, chains and bands…not huge fitness centers with more TV’s than Best Buy.

So ditch the latest Muscle and Fiction magazine and let’s start getting real results in less time and build some muscle that has more go than show.

1. Banish the Barbells

Ditch barbell bench presses and choose pushup variations from the floor or on suspended straps to work your chest, core and upper back, or at least do dumbbell chest presses that can also be done one arm at a time.

2. Save Your Shoulders

Stop the shoulder raises for the small front, side, rear and everything in between muscles and do standing overhead presses with a barbell or dumbbells. We sit down too much during the rest of the day, don’t do it at the gym too.

3. Perfect the Pullup

Pullup, not down, when trying to work the many muscles of the back. Can’t get your chin to the bar? That’s because you don’t do them. Work on pulling your bodyweight in the vertical plane and you will eventually have less weight to pull. Don’t forget to also do different rows in the horizontal plane to balance out your opposing chest work and maintain shoulder health.

4. Move Away From the Machines

When it comes to training the lower body, any squat variation or stepping movement like lunges, jumps and step ups works your legs in a more natural range of motion. This builds functional strength and mobility that you can use in real life and not on the leg press.

5. Cutdown on Curls

Get a grip, and think thicker bars for thicker biceps. Build your arms by holding on to heavy, thick barbells and dumbbells which work 50% of your arms muscle mass, the forearm flexors and extensors. Close grip chinups are also great for bigger guns and making the chinup bar thicker with a towel will also give you a killer handshake.

6. Always Think Abs

Cross off the crunches and work your abs the way they were meant to be used, for stability and support. Planks, stability and medicine balls, ab rollouts and any bodyweight movements give your abs all the strength and stimulus they need and you don’t even have to lie down on the dirty gym floor to get it.

7. Cardio Confusion

The new rules of cardio are all about intensity, not duration. Which simply means by working a little harder, you burn more fat in less time. The ideas for interval training are endless. From strongman lifts to sprints or bodyweight circuits. You will quickly figure out that burning fat is easy once you realize how hard you have to work.

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2 chicken breasts
grapeseed oil to coat both pans
6 caribou sausages, cut up in pieces ( or you can use turkey sausage)
1 large onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
a dash of oregano, sea salt and black pepper
half a box reduced-sodium organic chicken broth
1/2 c. water
1 can of crushed tomatoes
1 orange bell peppers, cut into very thin bite-size strips
1 c. frozen corn
1 potato cubed
1 bag of instant brown rice

In a large skillet brown chicken pieces, in other pan brown sausage.

In a 5 quart crock pot place chicken pieces, sausage, and onion. Sprinkle with spices Pour broth and water over all. Add the tomatoes, sweet peppers, corn and potatoe

Cover; cook on low-heat setting for 7 to 8 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 1/2 to 4 hours. , Serve over the hot rice.

Makes 6 servings*

Another great meal made at home that can keep you and your family full while living a fit and healthy lifestyle.

Sean Barker, CPT

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

I went to the gym this afternoon and had a good workout of:

The Midnight Meat Train full movie

Seated One Arm Cable Rows
Standing One Arm DB Shoulder Press
Bulgarian Split Squat
Standing One Arm Tricep Extensions

10 reps each and 4 sets to reach a goals of 40 reps for each exercise. Took 75 secs rest in between sets.

If that wasn’t enough after I got home the whole family went for a winter walk with baby daughter Matea in her winterized BOB Stroller.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Then we were all so hungry we headed to the in-laws for dinner consisting of pork roast, bbq chicken breasts, garden salad and some Mexican rice. I finished it off with a banana muffin for dessert and a hot cup of green tea.

When you keep active all year round you can eat good wholesome foods without the guilt!

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

Then people say, “I don’t have time to eat and cook 4-6 times a day!” Well, with the right amount of planning, you won’t have to.

Aim for 3 regular meals plus 2-3 snacks.

For your protein needs have your freezer well stocked with chicken breasts, lean cuts of beef, pork, and fish. Have lots of skim milk, and lean deli cuts of turkey, chicken, and roast beef in your refrigerator for additional protein. Combine this with a protein shake or meal replacement smoothie, and your protein needs should get met.

As for sources of carbohydrates. Keep your kitchen well stocked with oatmeal, whole wheat breads, (100% multigrain if possible), brown rice and sweet potatoes, as well as fruit for snacking or that post workout insulin spike to top of your energy supplies. Don’t forget to have lots of fresh and frozen veggies on hand for most of your daily carb intake.

With a well-stocked kitchen, even if you’re rushed, you can make a quick and tasty meal in no time. Try different recipe combination’s by taking one of the above protein sources, frying it up in a skillet or on a grill, throwing in some frozen stir-fry vegetables (they come in many flavors), and add a complex carb source on the side.

Make large amounts so you have leftovers and have healthy meals that you can take to work or when you are rushed for a quick bite.

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

That’s Toronto by the way…the biggest city in Canada.

I am staying smack in the middle of downtown in the Hilton Hotel with a cool view overlooking city hall with the big Christmas tree and all the Christmas lights .

I wish my wife and daughter were here to share this with me but she is having a fun trip visiting her sister in New Brunswick. I will connecting with them on the trip home on Wednesday in Quebec City. Can’t wait to see them!

Yesterday I had an awesome day attending Day 1 of business meetings with all the top guys in the fitness industry like

Craig Ballantyne of Men’s Health & Tuburlence Training

Brad Pilon of Eat Stop Eat

Vince Delmonte of Your Six Pack Quest

Along with 6 other fitness professionals we all headed out to a nice dinner at Red’s Steakhouse. I would highly recommend it if you are ever in Toronto.

…and NO we didn’t all eat salads and chicken breasts!

We had a couple beers, appetizers, AWESOME steak and even a little dessert.

The SECRET to fat loss and getting the body you want while enjoying the foods you like to eat is this:

Do short intense workouts just 3 times a week, eat real healthy natural foods most of the time and when you feel like treating yourself go ahead and enjoy it!

…BUT the key is to get back to your healthy foods and Dad Fitness workouts the very next day.

For those of you who didn’t get to read this article in last month’s newsletter check it out in the second installment of my Dad Fitness monthly column on TheFatherLife.com

Click Here==>3 Simple Steps To Awesome Abs

Gotta go get started on Day 2 of our meetings!

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

You got questions? Well I got answers!

Here are The Top 8 Fat Loss questions I get asked by busy dads.

1. What is the biggest mistake men make when trying to get 6 pack abs?

Not following a set plan. “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail!”

If getting 6 packs abs is a goal, then do what needs to be done to reach that goal.

This involves following a plan of consistent workouts that rev up your metabolism and burn calories and following a structured meal plan 90% of each week. You don’t have to be perfect, but 90% will get you results and allow you a little wiggle room. For example, 6 meals a day for 7 days is 42 meals. To make sure your getting 90% compliance, this allows you to mess up 4 of these 42 meal or snacks during the week.

Keep track of each workout and each meal. If your not keeping track of these things you are just spinning your wheels.

Would you just go out and spend money everyday and not look at your bank account?

2. Do I have to give up alcohol to get rid of that “beer gut”?

Just remember that it all boils down to calories in vs calories out. Booze is just extra empty calories. If your gut is truly a “beer” gut then staying away from beer will eliminate all those excess calories. Just 6 beers add up to a whopping 900 calories! That’s almost half of your total daily calories requirements.

Plus drinking also stimulates your appetite and lowers your inhibitions so you are more likely to chow down on those chicken wings or pizza after a couple beers.

That’s why the first thing they ask you at a restaurant is “do you want a drink?” because people will eat more when they drink.

If maximum fat loss is goal just cut out alcohol for the short term until you reach your goal. If you can’t do that, you have another problem that you should deal with first.

3. What are your top 10 foods to lose fat fast?

1. Fish
2. Chicken Breasts
3. Lean Beef
4. Eggs
5. Spinach
6. Bell Peppers
7. Broccoli
8. Oatmeal
9. Mixed Nuts
10. Fruit

4. Do you need to do cardio to burn body fat? If so, what kind of cardio is the most effective?

You don’t have to do cardio in the traditional form of what most people think to burn fat. People were burning fat long before treadmills and stationary bikes.

You just need to do high intensity exercise that revs up your metabolism each and every workout. Basically if it’s hard, it burns lots of calories! This is the most efficient way to burn calories as bodyfat. You could run, sprint, swim, lift weights, do supersets with weights. Keeping track and shortening your rest periods between exercises is an awesome away to burn calories and increase your conditioning.

Remember you don’t really burn much fat when you are actually exercising, except for a small amount of fatty acids that are in your bloodstream.

It’s the calories your body burns during the other 23 hours of the day that count. With exercise and a clean diet you will put your body in a caloric deficit which is still the ONLY proven way to melt off that unwanted fat.

5. Is it necessary to do endless crunches to build your abs?

Absolutely not!

Would you do 100 reps of bicep curls do develop your arms?

No, you would you use a weight that is challenging.

Performing compound free weight exercises like squats and deadlifts will work your abs better than lying on your back doing endless crunches.

For direct ab exercises, stability exercises like planks and side planks are great to increase core strength. To increase the difficulty perform these on a stability ball or remove one of your bodies pillars ( one leg or arm off the ground).

To develop those 6 pack muscles also do weighted exercises like the cable rope crunch, (I know its called a crunch…) and seated bench leg lifts with a dumbbell between your feet. Keep the reps between 8-10.

6. What is the best exercise to lose belly fat?

The best exercise to lose belly fat is…

The one you are going to do to consistently and intensely!

No matter how good the exercise is at burning calories or building muscle, if you don’t do it you won’t achieve the benefits.

But to answer the question, any movement that involves the most muscles and gives you “the best bang for your fat burning buck”

If I had to choose I would probably choose the barbell deadlift, as it pretty much uses every muscle in your body to perform correctly. You can do it with heavy weights for lows reps to build muscle which in turn burns fat or you can do it with a lighter weight and do higher reps which will challenge your cardiovascular system.

7. Can busy dads lose those unwanted pounds in just 3 hours a week?

Providing the workouts are structured to provide maximum afterburn to burn calories and a structured diet is followed that is less than their caloric maintenance level, then yes it is possible.

My Dad Fitness workouts provide these two key components in only 3 hours a week because of the combination of high intensity weight training and supersets and high intensity cardio interval training.

30 minutes of resistance exercise followed by 16 minutes of intervals gives you maximum muscle building and fat loss in only 3 hours a week.

Combined with a healthy diet of 3 meals and 2 snacks a day, busy dads are losing those unwanted pounds in the shortest amount of time so they can get on with their life and spend time with their family.

8. What is the SECRET about getting six pack abs?

I am sure you heard the famous quote “Knowledge Is Power” right?

Well, guess what, I believe that’s a bunch of crap!

If that were true most people walking around these days would be in
awesome shape with lean hard 6 pack abs.

But we all know that’s not the case.

Even though most people already know you have to eat healthy and
exercise to get in shape.

So they have the KNOWLEDGE, but do they have the POWER?

Only if they take ACTION

That’s because “Applied Knowledge Is Power!”, see the difference?

So if that is the secret, I am letting it out know. Take action.

You have the knowledge.

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

I only did a couple sets of squats, lunges and deadlifts, but I guess after a couple weeks off that’s what I get.

This morning I did Back and Biceps and kept it very light and conservative. Just want to introduce my muscles to moving again.

Wide-Grip Pulldowns, 3 sets of 8 reps
Bent DB Rows, 2 sets of 10 reps
DB Shrugs, 2 sets of 10 reps
DB Curls, 2 sets of 8 reps
Reverse Curls, 2 sets of 6 reps
Standing Calf Raises, 2 sets of 8 reps

As for my post-workout meal I made my own version of all the snacks wraps you see from all the fast-foods chains these days.

It’s a hell of a lot healthier and just as tasty!

I used a new Shake & Bake flavor called Ranch Crusted. It gives the flavor of Ranch dressing without the calories.

I used 2 chicken breasts sliced up and coated with Shake & Bake.

Baked it for 30 mins at 400 deg.

Rolled 2 strips in a whole wheat tortilla with spinach, spring mix, sprinkle of cheese and spoonful of salsa.

“It’s way better than fast food, it’s the Dad Fitness Snack Wrap”

and just to show you it’s never too early to start your kids off with exercise.

Here is my 4 month old daughter Matea in her exercise gym.

I love the track suit!

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

This morning I trained legs and abs. Here is what I did.

Squats,, 3 sets, 4-6 reps
DB Stepsups, 2 sets, 6-8 reps
Stiff Leg Deadlifts, 1 set, 12 reps
Cable Crunches, 2 sets, 8-10 reps
Lying Leg Lifts with DB from bench, 2 sets, 8-10 reps

I also wanted to share an awesome recipe I made this weekend that is a healthy alternative to those artery clogging chicken wings you get at your local pub.

These tasted amazing! I just used what I had on hand and modified a recipe up as I went along or you could say I just “winged it”, lol.

Dad Fitness Boneless Wings

2 chicken breasts
1 pk of Fish Crisp coating (anything like shake and bake will do,even whole wheat breadcrumbs)
2 1/2 lbs boneless chicken breasts or tenderloins
2 cups Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
1/2 cup butter
grape seed oil (coat bottom of skillet)
1 egg
1/2 cup milk

Step 1. I use chicken tenderloins for this recipe because they come about the perfect size. If using boneless breasts cut into thirds. No matter what you’re using, make sure the chicken is well thawed.

Step 2. Crack the egg into a bowl and mix them to an even consistency. Soak the chicken pieces in the egg and milk for about ten minutes.

Step 3. Put the coating and into a 1 gallon zip lock bag and mix them together, then put all the chicken into the bag. Close the bag blowing as much air into the bag as possible. Shake the bag until all the chicken is coated in thecoating mixture and pour into a bowl.

Step 4. Pour about a half inch of oil into a frying pan letting it sit until it’s nice and hot. I usually turn the element on med/high and it takes about 5 minutes to get up to temperature.

Step 5. With tongs, place four or five pieces of chicken into the oil at a time, browning each side. It usually takes about four minutes per piece, per side.

After each piece is finished frying, set aside on some napkins to cool and the excess oil can be absorbed.

Step 6. In a medium sized saucepan, melt the butter. When the butter is melted, pour in the Frank’s Red Hot Sauce. This recipe is for a medium spice but you can change that by adjusting the amount of Hot Sauce.

Step 7. Toss cooked chicken in bowl with sauce mixture

My wife added an Avacado salad on the side replacing unhealthy sides like fries.

I always take my vitamin stack of C, E, Multivitamin, Glucosamine/Chondroitin and Fish oil with breakfast and dinner.

I am hungry just thinking about how good this was!

High protein, good healthy fats, and low in processed carbs.

Another healthy and tasty Dad Fitness meal to help you lose fat and enjoy life!

Get meals like this when you get the Dad Fitness System

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

Heck, I even use my BBQ year around up here in northern Canada!

I just keep the snow cleared from deck with my snowblower and it’s grillin and chillin time.

Nothing beats food on the grill, its tasty and if you use lean cuts of meat, chicken or fish, you will give your body the muscle building fuel to get lean and mean for summer.

Here are some tips to becoming the king of the grill:

1. Crank up the heat. Make sure you let your grill reach its maximum temperature. Light it up, close the lid and wait until the thermometer hits its max, usually around 500 degrees.

2. Grease your grill. To prevent sticking, oil your grill with some oil dabbed on a paper towel or spray your grill with pam before you light up. You don’t want a mushroom cloud of flames coming from your backyard!

3. To grill the perfect steak to medium rare and get those awesome grill marks. Place steak on hot oiled grill pointing in 2 o’clock direction for 2 mins, then lift and turn to opposite angle of 10 o clock for another 2 mins. Then flip the steak and repeat the same, 2 mins, rotate, 2 more mins.

4. Don’t cut into the steak to see if its done, this will let out the juices and dry out the meat. Follow these steps and your steak will cook perfectly every time.

5. Remove steak from the grill and let sit for 5 mins to allow the meat to absorb its own juices.

*Take advantage of the large cooking surface and fill it up with chicken breasts, kabobs and lean burgers so you have awesome meals for the next couple days!

Here is the BBQ I have and love it. It has burner plates which prevent flare-ups instead of charcoal or bricks. It’s a Broil King, they make high quality grills.

Now get grilling!

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 http://www.dadfitness.com