I get emails about EPOC all the time so I thought I’d quickly explain it in an easy fashion hopefully.

Here’s a question I got from a trainer out in California yesterday:

Dan,
thanks for your respone. How about the whole “EPOC” equation??? Interval training would be included in this also, wouldn’t it?
Could you go into that a little for me? (and I will share with my clients!! even though they may not like it… )

My response:

EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) is the ‘afterburn’ of a workout. In simple terms…the more oxygen you are breathing in each breath the higher your metabolism is, thus the more fat you’re burning at that period of time.

So sprinting causes a higher EPOC effect then jogging.

An intense, heavy workout session causes a higher EPOC effect then higher rep light weight workouts.

The harder you work, generally the higher you’re EPOC will last.

You have to be smart though. A heavy or intense full body exercise will have a way bigger effect on your metabolism then tricep kickbacks for example.

Does that make sense????

Have a great one,

Dan Grant

If you’ve emailed me last week, I will get back to you this week.

Last week was just a little too nuts for me at some points with all
the travel I did.

Before I get to this week’s edition I want to just tell you about a
couple fitness sales going on. Remember, this is just for people
INTERESTED in knowing about them.

If you’re not interested, don’t worry about them.

First, Craig Ballantyne of Turbulence Training is celebrating his
birthday for the next 3 days (if you’re on other fitness pros list,
you’ll probably be getting a lot of emails about it, just a warning).

Anyways, he’s got some great additions he’s added to the package, and
once you’ve bought it once you’ll always get new bonuses for life.

I bought his program last June and since then he’s given out some
pretty sweet bonuses after the fact.

So IF interested go to Turbulence Training.

Second, Mike Geary of Truth About Abs is doing a $4.95 trial offer
on his best selling program.

So IF interested about that go to Truth About Abs.

Alright, let’s get on to the crazy thougths in my head:

- The big Apple Blossom Festival happened this week in Winchester.
Jerry Rice was even here. Anyways, you know what the snack of choice
was? FRIED OREOS….I’m pretty sure I saw a few people grab their
chest immediately after scarfing them down.

- I was at a baseball tryout with a pro team on Tuesday and our warm
up was all static stretching. I guess I just assumed the industry
was a lot farther along. I had to re-warmup right after our supposed
warm up.

- A guy at the high school came up to me the other day frustrated as
to why he’s only lost 10 pounds in 4 weeks. I’m pretty sure I hate
The Biggest Loser for putting this crazy weight loss crap in people’s
heads.

- The best part about my job, changing people’s lives.

- I promised you the 100 Calorie Snack report last week. Here’s the
download link: 100 Calorie Report by Jayson Hunter

- I have a list of exercises that are pretty much always found in
my programs. One of them is the pull-ups. They are far more better
for you then pulldowns. If you can’t do a regular pullup then try a
horizontal pullup.

*Set the barbell at a height, typically a touch about your waist level.
Then lay underneath the bar and grab so you’re hanging with just your
heels are touching the floor (or bend your legs and have the soles
of your feet touching for beginners). The pull your chest to the bar
as many times as you can.*

- I may repeat myself quite abit but it’s only because I’ve found that
people just don’t get things right away sometimes. It takes constant
reminding and teaching.

- quote of the week: “Keep smiling, it makes people wonder what
you’re up to.”

- I understand that fat loss training can seem complicated at times,
but the best way to learn is by doing. So go out and try to figure
out what works for you. You don’t have to follow what everybody else
is doing. You can get in great shape in about 15 minutes, 3-4 times
a week. I wrote an article about it at The Soko.

Here’s the link to it: http://thesoko.com/thesoko/content.html?name=News&file=article&sid=1710

Have a great week,

Dan Grant

PS - What’s your number one question about fat loss training? Email
me and let me know. Thanks. admin @ dangrantfitness.com

Here’s my latest column article at The Soko:

Since I now have the honour of writing a column for The Soko, I thought it was about time to have a ‘get to know me’ kind of article. Since it’s baseball season, and since it’s the greatest sport in the world (Sorry hockey fans — I love hockey too, but it’s just not baseball.), I figured I should do a baseball themed article. I’m currently training to play pro baseball this summer, so this article is going to be a lot of fun.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Baseball’s famous song ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game’ is 100 years old this year. A lot has happened in 100 years, especially regarding nutrition and exercise. Have we learned anything? Of course. Has it made the industry any better at solving problems? Sadly, not really.

Let’s face it. A lot of trainers out there just don’t have a clue. There are many great ones, don’t get me wrong. Unfortunately, you really have to be skeptical these days about personal trainers, since it’s so easy to get certified. If you want to be a personal trainer, there is actually a way to become one in just a couple days. I mean, how scary is that?

In an industry that makes over $100 billion a year, while at the same time the results are actually getting worse, it’s probably time to rethink the strategy. But I guess I could be wrong. Maybe it’s not about the results anymore.

Just remember to keep your eyes open for some of the stupid stuff this industry gives you. A few examples would be any kind of pill that guarantees you significant fat loss, a diet that involves all your favourite foods and still helps you lose 30 pounds in 30 days and any advice Bob from The Biggest Loser gives you (sorry, I had to say it).

My Favourite Food Ever

I grew up playing ball. I played college ball. I’m going to be playing pro ball. I love being at the ballpark. You can’t help but love life when you’re at the ballpark on a sunny day in the afternoon whether you are playing or watching.

But before I get way too sentimental on you, I should probably get to my point. (Note: If you want to keep talking baseball with me just email me…I can talk forever about it). My point is my favourite food.

Hot dogs, of course.

I understand I’m a fitness professional and I shouldn’t be eating hot dogs or telling you it’s okay to eat them, but let’s be honest, they taste amazing. All those ‘trainers’ who tell you that you have to be on a crazy strict diet must be people who get all their meals cooked for them, and they also apparently want you to hate your life as much as they hate theirs.

It’s fine to have a cheat meal. It’s just not okay to have cheat days or cheat buffets. I’m a real person, just like you, and I like to eat some things that I know aren’t the best for me sometimes. Sue me.

I go by the 90 per cent rule. A lot of people can be extremely successful following the 85 per cent rule, meaning 85 per cent of your meals are nutritionally sound and will help you towards your goals. The other 15 per cent of your meals throughout the week can be meals of your choice. So sometimes I have a couple hot dogs, but not all the time. — just every once in a while in the summer.

So next time you’re enjoying watching the boys of summer (potentially me), go ahead and enjoy a dog and a beer…just don’t have one every second inning.

Slumps Are Part of the Game

Baseball players have slumps and so do people trying to get the body of their dreams. Sometimes the process might not seem fun anymore or the results seem to be stuck at a stand still. Maybe you go on a week vacation and you end up being less than healthy about your choices.

The best advice I ever heard when I was in a slump was, “just keep swinging the bat and they’ll start to fall.” I think that’s good advice for exercising too. Just keep working hard at it and the results will come.

Taking a week or two off isn’t going to destroy months and months of hard work. Sometimes going through a little bit of a tough streak gives you more momentum once you break out of it as well as new focus and excitement.

________________________________
persistence will pay off

I’ve had my share of ups and downs in my baseball career. I’m sure you’ve had ups and downs during your mission to get a better body. The only thing that will get you through those down times is persistence. There’s no miracle, quick-fix answer, unfortunately. It just takes a little bit of hard work. Every day is a new day to start or get closer to your dreams. Or as the famous pitcher Bob Feller once said, “Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday’s success or put its failures behind and start over again. That’s the way life is, with a new game every day, and that’s the way baseball is.”

Want to keep talking baseball with Dan? Email him at dan (at) thesoko (dot) com.

Source:
www.bodytransformationcoach.com
ThinkExist
www.dangrantcoaching.com

Have a great one,

Dan Grant

Guest Article:

By Registered Dietitian Jayson Hunter

It’s unfortunate, but true: Many women feel the need to starve themselves when they have twenty pounds they want to lose so they can look great for a special occasion. Whether it is a wedding, class reunion or some other special event there is a tremendous amount of pressure on women to look great. And this pressure often leads to the yo-yo dieting and weight gain that is so prevalent in our society today.

You know the pattern: You starve yourself and seem to drop a ton of weight fast. But then when you go back to your normal eating patterns you gain not only the weight you lost back, but you gain even more!

And it’s all the result of one thing: Starving your body of the nutrients it needs.

As you’ve probably read somewhere by now, your body’s metabolism actually burns more fat when it’s fed more often. So if you want to lose dress sizes and inches fast you need to be good to your body. And that means eating the foods it craves to help it melt fat.

So here are 5 simple steps you can follow to help you lose twenty pounds of pure fat. And these steps will help you keep the weight off and end – once and for all – the yo-yo dieting dilemma.

Oh, but before I forget, at the end of the five tips I will tell you about a website for you to visit where you can even more great FREE info and even a 30 day meal plan to make your life even easier!

1. Increase Non-Starchy Vegetable Intake

You have probably seen this many times before, but I guarantee it is one of the most important steps to losing weight. Why you ask? One reason is because eating non-starchy vegetables increases your fiber intake which makes you feel fuller quicker.

Another reason is that vegetables are energy consumers. It takes more energy to digest a vegetable than a type of carbohydrate. You could actually be in a negative calorie balance if you compared one carrot’s calories to the amount of calories it took to digest and utilize that carrot.

There are studies that show on average for those that ate 4 or more servings of non-starchy vegetables a day were the biggest losers when it came to weight loss

2. Protein Should Be At Every Meal

To optimally preserve your lean body mass while losing weight it is extremely important to consume some type of lean protein at every meal.

Protein is a great nutrient to prevent you from overeating because it will fill you up quicker.

It is also another nutrient that is energy costly, which means it takes more calories to digest and utilize protein than it does a carbohydrate.

Your best sources of protein are beef, chicken, fish, eggs, and dairy.

3. Eat Whole Grain Carbohydrates

Consuming whole-grain carbohydrates regulates your insulin levels and keeps your body from producing too much insulin. This, in turn, keeps you losing weight.

Large amounts of insulin promote fat storage and fast digesting or simple carbohydrates produce large amounts of insulin. You want to limit or avoid these fast digesting carbs.

By doing this you not only improve your health, but will speed up your fat loss.

Some studies believe that up to 70% of successful weight loss stems from keeping insulin levels in check and to do this means eating whole grains and avoiding simple carbs.

4. Eat More Healthy Fats

Consume adequate amounts of healthy fat foods such as olive oil, walnuts, almonds, or other Omega-3 products.

Healthy fats are great antioxidants. They also help with brain function and many other essential processes that take place in the body on a daily basis.

Essential Fatty acids also help prevent certain diseases such as heart disease and cancer. Some studies are starting to show that consuming Omega-3 products may boost your metabolism by as much as 400 calories a day.

5. Eat Frequent Meals

There is a direct correlation with eating patterns and volume of food consumed as well as insulin levels.

Eat 4-6 small meals day a day instead of the usual 2-3 large meals. Eating frequently will help regulate and boost your metabolism to burn more calories.

By eating smaller portions throughout the day, you tend to eat less food overall. You also control your blood sugars because, by ingesting a steady state of nutrients throughout the day, your body has no need to significantly elevate insulin levels to handle large amounts of food.

Now of course I do recommend you exercise while making these 5 changes to your diet because nutrition and exercise go hand in hand for fat loss. If you make these simple changes to your diet and take part in an exercise program that has you burning calories then you will drop dress sizes and inches quickly, safely and permanently.

Jayson Hunter RD, CSCS is the author of the Carb Rotation Diet. To discover the 5 absolute truths Every Serial Dieter Who Seeks Rapid-Weight loss MUST come to grips with visit The Carb Rotation Diet.

Hope your weekend is going well,

Dan Grant

PS - Sorry for the lack of posts this week. Travel and festivals have been the name of the game this week. Check back a lot next week. Big things for just my blog viewers are coming.

As you’re reading this right now I am in Winnipeg, Manitoba so if
it take me a couple days to answer you emails, that’s why.

Here’s this week’s edition for you:

- Research has shown that pushups activate the rectus abdominus and
external obliques (your abs) even more then squats and deadlifts.
Pushups will also help prevent shoulder injuries if you do them
right. Craig shows a few examples here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE2AcqxjmL8

- A player came up to me the other day and asked me if he could
‘dipset’. After a good 5 seconds of silence and me starring at him
with a total look of confusion I finally asked, “WHAT?” Apparently
that’s the new lingo these days for “can I leave”.

- quote of the week: “I’ve never looked at another player and said
I have to be better then him. I look at myself and say I have to be
better, Period.” - Danny Wuerfell, University of Florida

- toning doesn’t exist. You can’t ’shape’ your muscles either. It’s
all genetics (unless chemically enhanced) on how your muscles look.
and light weights aren’t going to ‘tone’. You need to build the
muscle to get that ‘toned’ look.

- the 100 calorie snack craze is pretty funny in my opinion. I
know it’s better to eat less of the bad stuff, but we all know that
doesn’t make it any better for you. I’ll actually have a f.r.e.e
100 calorie report for you next week from nutritionist Jayson Hunter,
who is the author of the Carb Rotation Diet.

- blog of the week is Tony Gentilcore’s, who is actually pretty
hilarious about the industry and exercise…I think so anyways.
Here’s his site: http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/entertainment/step_up/

Let me know your thoughts and questions.

Have a great one,

Dan Grant

First off, I’d like to give a shout out to Jason Young’s class. Jay Young is a health expert and has told me he’s an avid reader of the blog, so good morning Jason :).

Anyways, my sister emailed me this article and I thought you’d find it to be an interesting read.

http://finance.sympatico.msn.ca/savingsdebt/insight/article.aspx?cp-documentid=6972004#toolbar

I’ll be doing quite a bit of travelling starting this Saturday, but I will do my best to keep things up to date on here.

Have a great one,

Dan Grant

PS - Remember you can still get Lynn Haraldson-Bering’s interview with me for FREE at www.thefatlosscrew.com

Guest Article by Mike Geary:

Everyone will inadvertently hit a frustrating plateau in their training at one time or another. You’re cruising along for a while, gaining strength, losing fat, looking better, and then all of the sudden it hits. Suddenly, you find yourself even weaker than before on your lifts, or you find that you’ve gained back a couple of pounds. It happens to everyone.

Most of the time, these plateaus occur because people rarely change their training variables over time. Many people stick to the same types of exercises for the same basic sets and reps and rest periods with the same boring cardio routine. Well, I hope to open your mind and bring some creativity to your workouts with this article!

There are many ways that you can strategically modify your training variables to assure that you maximize your fat loss and/or muscle building response to exercise. Most people only think about changing their sets and reps performed, if they even think about changing their routine at all.

However, other variables that can dramatically affect your results are changing the order of exercises (sequence), exercise grouping (super-setting, circuit training, tri-sets, etc.), exercise type (multi-joint or single joint, free-weight or machine based), the number of exercises per workout, the amount of resistance, the base of stability (standing, seated, on stability ball, one-legged, etc.), the volume of work (sets x reps x distance moved), rest periods between sets, repetition speed, range of motion, exercise angle (inclined, flat, declined, bent over, upright, etc), training duration per workout, and training frequency per week.

Sounds like a lot of different training aspects to consider in order to get the best results from your workouts, doesn’t it? Well, that’s where a knowledgeable personal trainer can make sense of all of this for you to make sure that your training doesn’t get stale. Below are a few examples to get your mind working to come up with more creative and result producing workouts.

Most people stick to workouts where they do something along the lines of 3 sets of 10-12 reps per exercise, with 2-3 minutes rest between sets. Booooorrrrring!!!! Here are a few examples of different methods to spice up your routine.

Try 10 sets of 3 with a medium weight, resting only 20 seconds between sets.

Try using a heavier weight and complete 6 sets of 6 reps, doing a 3 minute treadmill sprint between each weight lifting set.

Try using a near maximum weight and do 10 sets of 1 rep, with 30 seconds rest between sets.

Try using a lighter than normal weight and do 1 set of 50 reps for each exercise

Try a workout based on only one full body exercise, such as barbell clean & presses or dumbbell squat & presses, and do nothing but that exercise for an intense 20 minutes.

Try a circuit of 12 different exercises covering the entire body without any rest between exercises.

Try that same 12 exercise circuit on your subsequent workout, but do the entire circuit in the reverse order.

Try your usual exercises at a faster repetition speed on one workout and then at a super-slow speed on your next workout.

Try completing five 30 minute workouts one week, followed by three 1-hr workouts the next week.

Try doing drop sets of all of your exercises, where you drop the weight between each set and keep doing repetitions without any rest until complete muscular fatigue (usually about 5-6 sets in a row).

Want more ideas? There are many more ways to continue to change your training variables. This was just a taste of your possibilities. In order to see how to incorporate various strategies into effective routines, give the programs in my internationally best-selling ebook The Truth about Six Pack Abs a try.

Mike’s letting me give you a very special offer where you can get his program for only $4.95, so be sure to check out Truth About Abs at this link.

Have a great one,

Dan Grant

Apparently the Thoughts from the Trenches theme is WAY more
popular then I thought.

I got so many emails with ‘YAY’ votes and a lot of emails with
opinions and thoughts on what I’d talked about. That’s pretty
awesome.

I didn’t get any ‘NAY’ votes so they are either still hiding or
I’m really liked (I’m going with the first one).

Here’s this week’s edition:

- why are some people so afraid to change their program even when
their current program isn’t working at all for them?

- IF you’ve been reading my stuff for a while you know I’m not a big
fan of jogging for fat loss. Now I know that you can lose weight by
jogging but you can lose weight by not eating for a week. Does that
mean that not eating for a week should be a recommended fat loss
protocol. Of course not. There’s just way more efficient ways to
lose fat, that’s all I’m saying.

- Trainers can be DANGEROUS to your health. Do your research before
choosing one. You’ll be shocked by this story:
http://bodytransformationcoach.com/blog/why-personal-trainers-can-be-dangerous-to-your-health/

- quote of the week: “Ability is what you’re capable of doing.
Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you
do it.” - Lou Holtz

- life coach Craig Harper from good ole’ Aussie land has in my
opinion the best blog out there (even though, I don’t always tend
to agree with his fitness advice), his thoughts on living a
powerful life are second to none. Check his blog out here:
http://www.craigharper.com.au/

- how frustrating is it when you try to teach kids, but they don’t
really want to listen, even though the stuff you’re telling them
could make them into a better player, person, classmate, student,
etc…and then remember you were probably the exact same way they
were. Kind of makes you feel like a dumbbass for not taking all the
advice people were trying to give you, doesn’t it?

- I don’t know what it is about waterfalls or those little water
fountain things you can put in your home, but I love them for
whatever reason.

- I just finished reading Me and My Dad by former New York Yankee
Paul O’Neill. Great read for any baseball fan. Makes me miss the
days of going in the backyard everynight after school to play catch
with my Dad. Sports were so much more simple back then.

- do kids even play catch with their dad’s still or do they just
play those friggin’ video games?

- I think I’ll save my BOSU ball thoughts for next week and a few more
pretty cool things too.

Have a great one,

Dan Grant

PS - Just to let you know that Prograde Nutrition is celebrating
their 1 year anniversary and you can get 10% off anything you want until Thursday
by using the DISCOUNT CODE: oneyear (all one word and small case).
So if you’re interested go HERE

My first experience in the training business was training Division 1 athletes at the University of Northern Iowa. I was in my senior year, and I was an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach for my internship. Five days a week for 4 months, I got up at 5 in the morning and walked (no matter what the weather – and we had some bad storms that year in Iowa) to the gym to train.

Now, to some of you that probably doesn’t sound all too bad, but for a college kid who had classes and tests right after training for 4 hours and then having a 4 hour practice after, along with all the fun that goes into homework and studying, I didn’t exactly get a lot of sleep. But I really enjoyed it and learned a lot in the process that has helped me and hopefully can help you.

So I’d like to share with you a few points that may be able to help you out with your fitness goals.

Not All Programs Are Created Equal

Being relatively new to training back then, I never really thought too hard about programming and what types of results they should be giving depending on the design. After a couple months, I started noticing some people doing really well and performing much better in their sport. Other people were having a lot of problems making any type of significant progress.

Same program, but different results. Now this probably doesn’t sound like a revolutionary discovery to you, but I at least found it interesting. I mean, when you think about it, probably about 95 per cent of people do the same type of workout in the gym. Mostly just body part training, right?

To be honest with you, a lot of people aren’t getting the results they are looking for doing that type of training, but that’s the only way a lot of those people know how to exercise in the weight room. That type of workout has worked for some, so is it the go-to workout? No. Is there a better, more efficient workout? Yes.

How do you find out what’s best for you? You can either hire a qualified fitness professional who can teach you a variety of options or you can experiment until you find something that really seems to work well for you.

A couple tweaks and a few changes really helped the athletes not getting great results start to make significant progress in their training and performance.

Not Always Fun, But Always Worth Doing

I’ve done it, the athletes did it and maybe you’ve done it. Six in the morning workouts aren’t exactly always fun. Sometimes you just don’t want to get out of bed. When I was at Northern Iowa, I was a baseball player, and as an athlete along with the athletes I trained, we had no choice. We had to be there no matter what.

You have a choice whether you go or not. Remember that consistency is the key to getting great results. So skipping a workout every once in a while won’t hurt you. It’s when you start making it a habit that is becomes a problem.

You know what I mean. There’s that first day you just skip your workout. Then a couple days later you still don’t really feel like working out, so you tell yourself that skipping two workouts in a week isn’t that bad. Then you actually get to the gym a couple days later, but put in a weak effort. All of a sudden, working out has become a chore and before you know it, your trips to the gym have decreased significantly.

Here’s a tip. Next time you don’t want to go workout, your mission is to still go to the gym, but just sit there in the locker room for 5 to 10 minutes. If you still don’t feel like working out then go home. Most of the time, however, you will workout just because you’re there.

Sufficient Sleep = Biggest Gains

The athletes who got enough sleep were the ones who got the biggest gains. A lot of college kids don’t get enough rest, which is true of most people actually. I started asking some of the athletes who were making great gains in the gym how much rest they got at night on average and almost all of them said at least 7 hours. When I asked the athletes who were always drained and not making very good gains, hardly any of them got over 6 hours of sleep.

Rest makes a huge difference, so you should really do your best to plan on getting at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night.

____________________________________
what it all comes down to

There are always exceptions to the rule, but what it almost always comes down to is hard work. Some people don’t need as much rest as others, but they still have to work hard to get results. Some people love exercise more then other people, but everyone still has to work hard to get great results, whether they like doing it or not. Most quality programs will give you some great results if you work hard enough at them.

Have a question for Dan? Email him at dan (at) thesoko (dot) com.

Have a great day,

Dan Grant,

PS - Remember PROGRADE is offering 10% off everything to celebrate their one year birthday. SPECIAL DISCOUNT code is: oneyear. It ends this Thursday too, so be sure to check it out here.

Hi there,

Just thought I’d let you know that until Thursday, April 24 you can get 10% off your prograde order using the special code below.

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If you’ve been thinking about ordering or haven’t even heard of Prograde yet then check it out before the sale is over.

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Talk to you soon,

Dan Grant