Hope you’re having a great week!

With spring around the corner, and summer not far off, so many guys are focusing on fat loss for a spring break vacation down south.

I get people asking me diet and workout questions almost everyday.

The easiest diet tip for fat loss I always give them that they can use TODAY is to have a PROTEIN and PRODUCE dinner.

This one small switch without changing anything else in your diet makes a huge difference. Plus, this easiest diet tip for fat loss is easy to do and the tasty meal varieties are endless but the results are almost instant!

By eating REAL FOOD such as lean proteins like chicken, turkey, beef, pork, or fish with some vegetables and staying away from starchy carbs like pasta, potatoes, rice, bread and even beans in your evening dinner you avoid that large spike in insulin (the fat storage hormone).

Most of our activity levels are low in the evening anyway so our bodies don’t need all this excess energy rich calories (carbohydrates).

With this easiest diet tip for fat loss You will get LEANER but also feel a lot better without the drowsiness, bloating and gas that high carb foods cause…

Even if you workout in the evening, lean meats and veggies will provide you with all the nutrients you need to build muscle and burn fat.

Give this easiest diet tip for fat loss a try, enjoy the foods you do eat and more importantly enjoy the results!

Get 7-8 hours of sleep a night and de-stress during the day with short naps or meditation. Sleep one hour for every 2 hours you’re awake.

By following these 7 Habits of Highly Fit Dads 90% of the time and focusing on progress and not perfection you can have some freedom and still be a fit father.

With summer just around the corner, it’s not too late to get started now!

If you want a simple program that tells you what to eat, and how to workout to get maximum results in minimum time – get over
to Dad Fitness, The Ultimate Workout and Nutrition Plan For Busy Dads

It’s especially important if you live in a colder climate like me where it’s currently -50 degrees Celsius with the windchill!  Yeah you read that right…minus 50 degrees Celsius.  So I make sure to add a couple extra minutes to my workout warmup when the temperatures drop to these insane levels…

If you started your workout off right with a dynamic warm-up, now its time to call it a day with a proper cool down. This is when you should be doing some old school static stretching, which basically consists of stretching a muscle as far as your flexibility will allow and then holding that position for 10-15 seconds.

Static stretching is of value primarily for preventing or correcting excessive muscle tension and establishing proper muscle length at the joints, both of which will improve movement efficiency.

This type of stretching is best performed post-workout or several hours after the exercise session. Always easy into a stretch while gradually increasing the range of motion as your flexibility improves.

Here is my stretching routine that I make sure I do after EVERY workout…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Let me know some of YOUR favorite stretches by posting a comment below!

Coincidentally it seems the same people who neglect this important part of their workout are the same people complaining about shoulder pain or back pain and wrap themselves up like a mummy before their workout with wrist wraps, elbow wraps, knee wraps and the infamous weight lifting belt for EVERY exercise so they can manage to get through their workout.

Even though I don’t recommend the “old school” warmups of walking on a treadmill for 5 minutes and then static stretching before your workout, (which I will explain in a future post) it is still a lot better than doing nothing at all!

What I do recommend is a Dynamic Warm-Up before you workout, so here is my current warmup I do before EVERY Dad Fitness workout to enhance muscular activation and increase joint mobility.

Give this one a try or let me know what you do for your workout warmup by leaving a comment below…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Hiking up around a mountain in a couples inches of snow with my 32lb 16 month old daughter on my back!

Yep, that’s what us crazy Canadians do for a workout this time of year.

So try not to let the cooler days keep you from getting out and staying active with your family.

The seasons may change but your healthy habits should stay the same…

To keep you on track with your workouts I am giving you one of the famous Dad Fitness workouts straight from The Dad Fitness System

Enjoy!

Bodyweight Warm-up (this should take you no more than 5 minutes)

• Prisoner-Squat – 12 reps
• Arm Circles – 8 reps per side
• Pushups – 8 reps
• Walking Lunge – 8 reps per side

Dad Fitness Strength Workout

1) DB Step-Up (10-12 reps) 2 sets: Rest 90sec between each set
2A) Flat DB Bench Press (10-12 reps) 2 sets: no rest – go directly to:
2B) Standing Hammer Curl (10-12 reps) 2 sets: Rest 90sec between each set
3A) One Arm Elbow In DB Row (10-12 reps) 2 sets: no rest – go directly to:
3B) One Arm DB Shoulder Press (10-12 reps) 2 sets: 90sec between each set.
4) Lying Reverse Crunch (10-12 reps) 2 sets: 90sec between each set

Who needs bottled water?

Fat Burning Interval Cardio

Interval consisting of 14 minutes on stationary bike or regular bike,
Low intensity pedaling for 2 min, high intensity pedaling for 1 min until 12 min, then low intensity pedaling for remaining 2 min

Cooldown Stretches

Do you have a “crazy” workout? Let me know by posting a comment below!

You won’t believe what I am going to do tomorrow…

Well, your old high school gym teacher might have been right after all…

The Burpee, despite it’s amusing name is probably the most efficient and effective bodyweight exercise you can do to build lean muscle and burn off that beer belly.

Not to be confused with the Burp which actually makes room for drinking more beer.

If you are not emotionally scarred from the heart searing burpee workouts that your gym teacher had you do in highschool you might remember how easy AND how hard this exercise is.

In a standing position, jump down and get on all fours before pushing your feet back behind you putting you in the top position of a pushup.

With your body braced in a straight line perform a regular pushup, then jump your feet back closer to your hands so you are in the “all fours” position once again.

With explosive force jump straight up from a squatting position as high as you can while reaching your arms straight overhead.

That’s ONE rep..yeah that’s right, one rep.

Congratulations! You just completed the world’s most efficient exercise.

By performing two of the most natural upper and lower body movements in an explosive manner, the pushup and the squat, you are building functional muscle that in-turn also burns fat.

You worked your chest,shoulders,arms,back and abs with the pushup. You then challenged your legs with the jump squat.

Repeat for the desired number of reps and wipe your self off the floor.

So now you have no more excuses for getting a big workout in little time…

Click here to view the embedded video.

With these hot and humid days we’ve been having, I got in and out of the gym this morning fast and furious.

Was finished my workout by 10am and here is what I did.

Barbell Squats

DB Lunges

Chinups

Chest Supported Barbell Rows

Barbell Curls

Cable Curls

Standing Calf Raise

2 sets each, 4-8 reps

If you are like a lot of busy dads you are probably wondering why you can’t stick with eating healthy this summer with all those tempting backyard bbq’s, weddings, and vacations.

• Death Wish hd

Well my friend and fellow fitness expert Tom Venuto send this along just in time for the weekend.

8 Reasons Why You Keep Falling Off The Diet Wagon

Clearly, we have an obesity problem in America and many other countries across our planet. Yet, I propose that we do not have a weight loss problem today. In case you’re confused at this apparent contradiction, consider these statistics:

According to a study from Oxford University published in the International Journal of Obesity, within 3 to 5 years, about 80 percent of all ‘weight losers’ have regained the lost weight, and often gained back a little extra.

According to research by the National Weight Control Registry, that relapse rate may be as high as 95 percent.

For comparison, relapse rates for drug, alcohol and tobacco dependency have been reported in the range of 50-90%.

This means that lots and lots of people have “successfully” lost weight. But not many have kept it off. Therefore, we don’t have a weight loss problem, we have a weight-relapse problem; we have a “not sticking with it” problem. Wouldn’t you agree?

In fact, the fall and subsequent weight-regain usually doesn’t take years. Many people have abandoned their new year’s resolutions within weeks. By the time the Super Bowl party rolls around, their diet is history!

If this is true, then shouldn’t we put more of our attention onto figuring out why you haven’t been sticking with your program, and what you should do about it?

I put together this new list (below) of the top 8 reasons why you fall off the wagon.

Rather than worrying about the minutiae of your diet plan, like whether you should be on low carb or high carb, Mediterranean or Okinawan, vegetarian or meat eater, I propose that if you simply focus on these 8 issues, you’ll start getting more lasting results.

How? By being able to stick with whichever plan you decided was best for you! After all, even if you have the best nutrition program in the world – on paper – it doesn’t do you much good if you can’t stick with it in practice!

THE 8 REASONS

1. No focus: you didn’t set goals, you didn’t put your goals in writing, and/or you didn’t stay focused on your goals daily (by reading them, affirming them, looking at a vision board, etc.)

2. No priorities: you may have set a goal, but you didn’t put it on or near the top of your priorities list. For example, your goal is six pack abs, but drinking beer and eating fast food on the weekend is higher on your priorities list than having a flat stomach.

3. No support system: you tried to go at it alone; no buddy system, training partners, family, spouse, friends, mentors or coaches to turn to for information and emotional support when the going got tough.

4. No Accountability: you didn’t keep score for your own accountability – with a progress chart, weight record, measurements, food journal, training journal, and you didn’t set up external accountability (ie, report to someone else or show your results to someone else)

5. No patience: you were only thinking short term and had unrealistic expectations. You expected 10 pounds a week or 5 pounds a week or 3 pounds a week, so the first week you lost “only” 1 or 2 pounds or hit a plateau, you gave up.

6. No planning: you winged it. You walked into the gym without having a workout in hand, on paper, you didn’t plan your workouts into your weekly schedule; you didn’t have a menu on paper, you didn’t make time (so instead you made excuses, like “I’m too busy”)

7. No balance: your diet or training program was too extreme. You went the all or nothing, “I want it now” route instead of the moderate, slow-and-steady wins the race route.

8. No personalization: your nutrition or training program was the wrong one for you. It might have worked for someone else, but it didn’t suit your schedule, personality, lifestyle, disposition or body type.

So there you have it – 8 reasons why most people fall off the wagon! Have you been making these mistakes? If so, the solutions are clear and simple: focus, prioritize, get support, be accountable, be patient, plan, balance and personalize.

Tom Venuto
Fat Loss Coach
www.BurnTheFat.com

About the Author:

I am finally back to my regular workouts after battling the flu.

Still easing back into training after a week off.

Today’s workout went pretty well, here’s what I did.

Dynamic Warmup

Flat BB Bench Press

Flat DB Bench Press

Weighted Dips

Lying Tricep Extensions

DB External Rotations

Stretching Cooldown

3 sets each, 5-10 reps

My stinky old gym was very warm and humid today so I am glad I was done in 40 mins flat.

Came home and had a great lunch of homemade chili that was leftover from dinner last night.

Here’s how I make my chili.

With Father’s Day just around the corner I have a HUGE Dad Fitness Celebration going on starting on Friday at noon with 10 FREE bonuses available to busy dads who get their copy of the NEW Dad Fitness System during this time.

I also held a little contest asking my newsletter subscribers to tell me “why it is important to be in shape as a busy dad”

Well, I received lots of responses via email but I was hoping for more comments on the blog. Guys don’t be shy!

The winner will receive the entire NEW Dad Fitness System for free!

…and the winner is…Scott Vaughn

Here was Scott’s response:

It is important that I get in shape as a dad because my son’s definition of “what a man is” will come from his observation of me. If I am weak, easily winded and soft, he’ll have nothing to aspire to as a man. A boy who doesn’t value his masculinity is a confused & directionless soul. I want my son to know that being a man is a great & awesome thing.

Congrats Scott for stepping up to the plate and sharing your thoughts!

Shoot me an email at info@dadfitness.com and I will hook you up with the entire new Dad Fitness System on me;-)

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.

• Chéri the movie

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

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

Only if you 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.