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!

Click here to view the embedded video.

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

Let me know in the comments below…

It’s probably the only sport I never followed much growing up. Instead living in Northern Canada I spent many winter days yelling “car!” while playing street hockey in bone chilling temperatures.

But I am a fan of food who likes to stay fit, so I still like to celebrate Super Bowl Sunday and cook up some game day guy grub that’s tastes great but is also a little healthier than the traditional gut busting snacks.

Of course an all-time favorite that packs a nutritional punch is Chili. But Chili is usually on our weekly menu anyway so I wanted to use SuperBowl Sunday to try another tasty treat but with a Dad Fitness twist.

Can you say Super Bowl without thinking, WINGS!

So here are 3 Tips for Wicked Wings that cuts the fat and sugar from your normal pub grub wings that are usually battered, deep fried and drowned in sugar laden sauce that will send your pancreas into insulin overdrive.

1. Baked Is Better- Baking the wings in the oven or even grilling them removes a lot of the grease from the skin and avoids adding even more fat by frying them in oil.

2. Spice Not Sugar- Avoid drowning your wings in sugary bbq sauce and use fresh herbs and spices to bring them to life and create fiery flavors.

3. Ditch the Dressing- Stay away from the Ranch and Blue Cheese dressings for dips and opt for Fat-Free Sour Cream or even Plain Yogurt to cooldown your palette after going heavy on the hot sauce.

Baked Parmesan Garlic Chicken Wings

Just the name alone is enough to make you drool over your football jersey…

Serves 4

1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt (1/2 tsp table salt)
2 1/2 pounds chicken wings
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (or melted butter)
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt (like Lawry’s)
*Fat Free Sour Cream or Plan Yogurt for dipping

1. Preheat oven to 425F. In a small bowl, mix together the oregano, rosemary, cumin and salt. Lay the chicken wings on a baking sheet and season the chicken wings with this mixture.

2. Bake the chicken wings for 45 minutes. While the chicken is baking, mix together the oil, fresh basil, garlic, parmesan cheese and seasoning salt.

3. When the chicken is cooked through, toss the wings with the garlic, cheese and oil.

These wings maybe lower in calories but they make up for it in FLAVOR!

For more recipes like this get my Manly Meals In Minutes Dad Fitness Cookbook at http://www.DadFitness.com

Give these a try and let me know how you like them by posting a comment below…

Last week we had a boil order here in our small town due to some colliforms showing up in our towns water supply because of  high rainfall.

…and keep in mind I live in Northern Canada where the water is as good as it gets.

It was a hot and sunny day here in Labrador today…27 degrees is as good as we get it here in Northern Canada!

So I took advantage of the nice weather and decided to ditch my scheduled hot and stinky gym workout today and left the house at 9am and took my baby daughter in her cool BOB stroller and headed for a 2 hour hike up our nearest ski hill trails.

Then when we got home I cooked up an omelet outside on the propane burner on my BBQ. Matea loved the fresh watermelon and cantelope I served up for her.

We spent the rest of the afternoon playing outside and I even got the chance to mow the lawn before my wife got home from work, thanks to a visit by my parents.

I was lucky that my father discovered an unexpected visitor in our backyard as I would have never seen this and would have probably mowed right over it!

A mother Crown Sparrow has a nest with her eggs right on our backyard lawn next to our basement window.

Momma Sparrow sitting on her eggs

Just the eggs

Looks like I am starting to pay for going shirtless in all the sun as I am turning a nice red lobster color right about now. Ouch!

My wife and I are planning on renting a movie when the little one goes to sleep.

But one movie/documentary I am really looking forward to seeing is Food Inc.

If you eat food, you must see this film!

Your family’s health depends on it…

Sean Barker

www.DadFitness.com

…But first I want to hear about YOUR workouts.

Tell me how you get creative with Dad Fitness to stay fit this winter by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post.

Saturday was such a beautiful winter day here in Labrador, sunny and -10 degrees Celsius. Yeah, that is tropical for us up here in Northern Canada during winter.

So with the days slowly getting longer, my wife and I took our baby daughter out on the local cross-country ski trails. But we didn’t use skis, that would be too easy!

…We rented snowshoes for ourselves and this cool Baby Glider sled that you strap around your waist so you can tow your little one behind you. Pretty cool!

We did the 6 km trail around Dumbbell Lake, (that really is the name!)

It took us almost 2 hours over the groomed trails and picturesque winter scenery but we enjoyed every minute of it, and baby Matea was so cozy she fell asleep for the last 3 km.

After all that we were starving and we were luckily invited to the in-laws for a hearty and healthy meal of homemade beef stew with lots of fresh vegetables and tender cuts of meat. A great way to end a picture perfect day…

Dune trailer So make your weekends or days off between your Dad Fitness Workouts time for trying different fun activities with your family no matter what season it is.

There is nothing like getting out in the fresh air, spending time with your family and getting fit, all at once… That’s what Dad Fitness is all about!

The Dad Fitness Snowshoe Workout Video

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

Ya gotta love living in northern Canada. To find us on the map of Canada, look up, WAYYY up to northeastern Canada.

But being the trooper that I am and being used to these winters I headed out to the gym.

Today was a designated light day with all sets in the 20 rep range. Again I am focusing on TOTAL reps. Today the goal was 25 reps, and it only took me two sets to get there. It was short and sweet and I got a great pump!

High Pulls
Léon video Incline DB Press
Front Squats
Hammer Curls

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

Last night went well with our little honey bee as we took her around trick or treating to mostly family and close friends. I think we hit about 10 houses and the back seat was full of goodies for Matea. Mostly baby items like baby food, books, bibs and teethers as she is not old enough to eat any real treats.

I headed out to the gym this morning to burn off a few extra treats in a balmy -15 deg Celsius with 50kmh winds!

Gotta love Northern Canada, eh?

We have actually been lucky this fall as usually we are covered in snow by Halloween.

Chest, Shoulders, Triceps

Flat BB Bench, 3 sets of 4-6 reps
Incline DB Bench, 2 sets of 4-6 reps
Chest Dips, 1 sets of 4-6 reps
Seated BB Shoulder Press, 2 sets of 4-6 reps
Side Lateral Raise, 2 sets of 4-6 reps
Lying Tricep Ext, 2 sets of 4-6 reps
Cable Pushdowns, 2 sets of 4-6 reps

Here is a great Shoulder superset to build wider shoulders.

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

Ahh… I remember those fun Halloween nights when I was younger wearing my costume over my snowsuit, trekking from house to house with my pillow case through a foot of snow while that cheap elastic band from my mask kept snapping off from the cold!

Yeah that was a typical Halloween night for me growing up in Northern Canada.

But this year we are excited to bring our 5 month old daughter Matea around for her first Halloween. She is sure to clean up with that cute BEE suit!

Matea resting her wings

Check her out with all her baby friends at our Halloween party that we had yesterday for all the new moms in our area.

Twelve babies under age one under one roof, now that’s SCARY!

Anyway, if you still have your kids at home I have a great Halloween tip to do with them before they head out trick or treating this evening.

…Actually I think even us parents could use this tip so we don’t double dip into our kids Halloween treats.

If you have young kids and are taking them out this evening for Halloween, treat them to a spooky Halloween dinner before they head out.

Put a twist on some dinner time favorites.

Halloween Recipe:

Witch’s fingers & Monster Brains covered in blood – thin chicken strips with shake & bake (add some minced spinach, parsley and oregano to the mix for a green color) bake in the oven until well-browned and curl up on top of a bed of whole wheat noodles, tossed in a little olive oil and mixed with cooked peas and sweetcorn niblets. Drizzle a little tomato sauce on top for the blood effect.

Treating your kids to a spooky Halloween dinner will make them less likely to eat the candy they collect before you have a chance to check it for them.

As for YOUR sweet tooth….

If you are living the Dad Fitness Lifestyle you can enjoy a little treat this Halloween because Dad Fitness allows you to live your life while getting the body you want.

Wishing You A Healthy Halloween!

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 is the drawback to living in Northern Canada were fall comes faster than most areas.

I had a large cup of green tea with my morning oatmeal to warm me up and I took a little longer to warm up in the gym.

I haven’t started my new training routine yet as I have just been getting back to the gym these last few days. I will start a new Dad Fitness Workout Plan this weekend.

This morning it was just some basic squats, lunges, and deadlifts.

It was another healthy hot meal after my workout of tasty home cooked chili.

I am getting back in the groove and I hope you are too now that the kids are back in school and the days are getting shorter.

Be the fittest dad on the block this fall and start living the Dad Fitness Lifestyle.

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

Oops, so far so good!

This is a rare occurrence up here in Northern Canada where I live as we are lucky to have a high quality tap water and municipal filtration system. People who visit are blown away by the clean, refreshing taste of our tap water.

Only 2 weeks ago our local paper released their water quality report and achieved a 100% quality rating, which was even better than the popular bottled water they tested.

After seeing the Boil Order Advisory our major concern is for our baby daughter as she is drinking formula. But we always boil and sterilize her water and bottles anyway.

The first thing you busy dads should do when trying to improve your health and lifestyle is start drinking more WATER. Just make sure you are drinking a clean source even from a tap filter like Brita or high quality spring bottled water.

Always have water by your side during the day and drink lots water of during your Dad Fitness workouts.

Today is a day off from the gym but like I mentioned I hit the treadmill this morning for 25 minutes of incline walking at my treadmill max incline of 10. I was huffing and puffing and soaked by the end.

I like to mix up my fat burning workouts by rotating interval sprints and steep incline walking. My legs and lower back are a bit sore from yesterdays deadlift workout so I opted for the incline walking today.

Here was my healthy breakfast to start the day:

3 egg Omega3 omelet with veggies, peppers, ham, onions and cheese

Fresh Cantaloupe on the side

So I guess I am off to buy a couple cases of bottled water, which I hardly ever drink.

I feel weird even paying for water.

Hope this gets resolved soon!

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