How to Become a GYM SUPERSTAR!

I'm in dirty Jersey ROCKIN' it....

2009-05-30T20:04:00.001-04:00

I'm in Morristown, NJ right now at a fitness business conference...(and I hope there aren't any people from NJ offended by the 'dirty jersey' subject...that's all they've been saying here).

The elite of the elite are here and it's truly an amazing experience so far.

Tomorrow there is a bootcamp at 7am and then presentations all day.

What I wanted to let you know about is about The Good Times Lifestyle.

I have a start up newsletter and a video for you.

this is the homepage http://www.thegoodtimeslifestyle.com

I'll be back next week to start really getting into The GTL and what's it's all about.

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant
The Vitality Coach

PS - If you known anybody who wants to learn about The GTL send them to http://www.thegoodtimeslifestyle.com. It would be very much appreciated.

Back to the basics of succesful fat loss...

2009-05-18T20:45:00.001-04:00

Living in a high paced society, we tend to get caught up in all the new fancy gizmos and forget about the basics. Especially when it comes to exercise.

A new so-called miracle pill comes out weekly. The next great ab machine infomercial hits the airwaves monthly. The next revolutionary diet book comes out every day it seems. Listen, a pill didn’t get you overweight. It was one more bite that pushed you over the weight threshold.

So how about we blow right by all the hype for a minute and get back to the basics. Basics that will get you results.

The Ethic We’ve All Seemed To Lost

There’s a major theme associated with all the miracle pills, machines and diets out there. They tell you that there’s hardly any work involved. Claims such as “Just take the pill and watch the fat melt off your body,” or “Only 10 minutes on this revolutionary machine, three days a week and you’ll get a six pack in eight weeks,” are made all the time.

This is the part of the article in which I could go on one of my tangents about how stupid all that is, but I won’t. I’d much rather try to solve this problem of lacklustre work ethic that most of us possess these days.

As we’ve grown as a people and as a society, we’ve gotten lazier and lazier. Every new invention has something to do with making our life easier (and lazier). Now, if we come across something that requires a little sweat and persistence, we think it’s unfair and ask, “Why can’t this be easier?”

If easy got us what we truly wanted, then money would never be a problem, and hot dogs and Doritos would be the greatest meal in the world (to me anyways).

The fact is that sweating, working out when you don’t feel up to it, doing certain things you won’t necessarily like doing and eating food that might be just plain boring are all part of the process to true and lasting results.

Pure Eating

Processed foods = not good
Natural foods = good

Easy enough, right?

The only reason we think we can’t live without all the cookies, fast food burgers, pop and easy made dinners is because we’ve grown up with them. They’ve always been around us, we crave them in certain situations and they become a part of our world.

The better the food, the better it is for you. That’s the basics. Generally speaking, the longer the shelf life of something the worse it is for you.

MTAing It

Making the adjustment (MTA) is necessary for success. Listen, if you’ve gained weight by eating more calories than you expend, then obviously reducing your calories is a part of the process. By doing that, you’re going to be hungry sometimes. Here are some hardcore basic truths for you.

YOU DID THIS TO YOURSELF!

It’s going to take some sacrifice and discomfort in the initial stages of your journey. Your body will make the adjustments and be successful. You just need to give it the chance to do so.

Basics Of Success For Body And Life

To be truly successful with your fat loss goals you need to have passion. That’s why I always say that your goals need big time emotion behind them. You also have to be willing to work. Understand that there is no snap of the fingers solution associated with your goal. Be focused. Surround yourself with your goals. Make sure you are always thinking about them. Be persistent. It’s not always going to be a smooth process. You might have major bumps happen that will make quitting creep into your mind. Just remember, if you quit, you can’t move forward and as long as you keep moving forward, you’re always getting closer, even if you can’t tell.

Email Dan your questions at dan (at) thesoko (dot) com.

How to be High Energy All Day!

2009-05-11T01:35:00.002-04:00

My youngest brother, Mark, got engaged Sunday to his girlfriend of 2 years and asked me to be his best man for the wedding. So before anything else I want to give a huge CONGRATULATIONS to the two of them.

Isn't it funny how news like that puts a whole new perspective on the day. I was up until 3am the night before working on a new project and his phone call came at about 10am and I was still tired and in bed (which is really late for me to still be in, but anyways). Once he told me the news my energy sky rocketed and the rest of the day was one of the most energy filled days I've had in a while.

I know for a fact that if he didn't propose Sunday morning, he never would have called me about it and my day wouldn't have been as upbeat probably. Not saying it wouldn't have been a good day, but with all the projects and deadlines I have coming up my focus would have been on them and maybe the pressure of some of them would have played a role in my energy throughout the day.

But with the news I just worked on my projects like it was no big deal. Funny how it all works, eh?

All that happened was a mindset shift that turned my day into and high energy and high productivity day. It's the difference between positive vs. negative news.

Mark's news was obviously very positive. If he called me to say that this whole 'Swine Flu' thing is really scary and he's afraid to travel, that would have been negative and it would have probably wrecked some of my energy for the day.

The point is (and I didn't even plan on writing very much to you today) be positive and forget the negative. The negative is moslty in our heads.

There was a point where I didn't read the newspaper, watch the news on tv, or turn on my radio in my car. I did that for 2 months. 60 days with no news (trust me, if it's that important, you'll hear about it).

Then one day, I started watching the news just to see how it would affect my mood. Within 3 minutes of watching about some killings in Iraq, I literally starting feeling sick to my stomach and had to turn the tv off. It was incredible.

My mind just wouldn't have it.

The message is simple, BE POSITIVE!

If you are negative or just quit something then it's officially over.

If you're positive and keep working, at MINIMUM you are at least giving yourself a shot to move forward. With negativity you don't even give yourself that option.

Now like I said, I wasn't even going to write anything to you today but something inspired me to just keep typing (I'm not going to read through it so I hope it all makes sense :) ).

Joan, my newsletter subscriber who gives me recipes on a weekly basis gave me the simplest breakfast ever yesterday, so I tried it out this morning and loved it.

It's over at the website at http://www.gymsuperstar.com/myths.html
What do you do to keep yourself positive? I'd love to know.

The "Good Times" Lifestyle is coming.....keep your eyes wide open.

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant
The Vitality Coach

3 Reasons Why Goal Setting Is So Critical

2009-05-03T20:40:00.001-04:00

Zig Ziglar tells a story about a man named Howard Hill. Hill was one of the greatest archers in history. He could hit the bulls eye perfectly in the centre from 50 feet and then split the first arrow with his second shot. Ziglar goes on to say that he can teach you how to be a better archer than Howard Hill in less than 20 minutes, provided that he blindfolds Hill and turns him around a few times, so he doesn't know where the target is.

Now, obviously you can say, “Well how can Hill hit a target he can't see?” And that's a great question. But Ziglar likes to ask a question back.

“How can you hit a target you do not have?”

Goals are important; I would say that they are critically important. I believe we were all built for purpose and accomplishment.

What's your purpose? What are you going after? What do you want to accomplish in your life?

Here are three reasons why setting and having clear goals can change your life.

Improve Your Self-Image

Most people wonder how having goals will improve their self-image, and I'm with them. It took me a while to understand it too.

A lot of people don't set goals because deep down, they don't feel they deserve to have whatever it is they want. Through years of negative conditioning, it has been cemented in their minds that they can't do or have certain things.

I remember being told in high school that I couldn't play baseball in the USA. My good friends were even telling me this. Fortunately, I had a clear goal of what I wanted to accomplish. I wanted to play the highest level of college ball there was.

If I didn't have that goal and I was just playing on a hope and prayer that I would somehow get to that level, I would have never gotten there. I wouldn't have had confidence in my purpose. I would've folded like a lawn chair at the first sign of real pressure or the first time I hit a bump I couldn't see past.

I would have had a poor self-image when it came to believing what I could or could not do. I had a clear goal, however, and I believed in it. That's what got me through all the hills and valleys on my way to my goal of playing NCAA Division I baseball.

Are you trying to get the body you want on a hope and a prayer or do you have a clear goal of the body your want?

When you know exactly what you want, the confidence to go after that goal is a lot easier to find.

Get And Stay In Focus

You can't hit a target you don't have. That's pretty simple.

Having clear goals gives you that target to focus on. Without a target, you also can't plan how to reach it. With a target to shoot for, you can set up a plan of how to reach that target.

Having goals keeps you focused. Sure, wanting to lose 10 pounds is a great goal, but there's a reason that goals must be specific. There is not a definite focus needed to lose 10 pounds. You can lose 10 pounds over the course of a few months or a year. You can gain some weight here and there and it wouldn't really matter too much. Sure it would be discouraging to gain weight, but there's no urgency to really fix the problem causing it.

Set a date and then set a plan. When you have a time limit for a goal that really means something to you, staying focused is a lot easier to do.

Live With Purpose

Without a purpose, what are you really doing?

When you have kids, you have a purpose to raise them and take care of them, so that's what you do. When you need a secondary education to get in the career you want, you have a purpose and you get the secondary education needed.

But what about your health?

We generally don't have a serious urgency to worry about things until we are diagnosed with something or a doctor says, “If you don't fix your health, you're looking at an early grave.”

What's your purpose when that happens? To live longer, right?

Should that be our ultimate purpose? Sure, of course it should be. But right now, it could be about building your shoulders or getting a lean stomach. Having a clear goal means something to you gives you a purpose.

So, what's your health purpose?

Emotional Push

Setting goals is great, but having goals with huge emotional ties behind them is life changing. Putting more emotion into a goal literally catapults your odds of success astronomically. Once you have the emotion, all you need is action, action and more action. And never ever give up on your goals.

Questions? Email Dan at dan (at) thesoko (dot) com.

What Happens When You Quit?

2009-04-20T23:21:00.001-04:00

It's finally starting to get nice here in Edmonton. But I hear it's going to get colder again, but that's alright since I'm leaving Friday to go back home for my dad's retirement party.

I wanted to drop you a quick email about quitting today.

What happens when you quit?

You stop moving forward. You literally give yourself no shot of reaching your goals.

One of my clients, who is blind and will be trying out for the National Team in the 800 meter race, told me a story today about her Saturday.

You see, ACDC tickets went on sale for their BIG Edmonton show in August. Now, I would love to go (and actually might get in without paying because I may do security at the concert...so that'd be sweet).

But she woke up Saturday not knowing the tickets went on sale...she actually just heard it on the radio as she was getting up...that was 9am.

Tickets went on sale at 10am. She wanted tickets, but didn't really know how. She couldn't use the computer or the phone because she wouldn't be able to see all you credit card info to buy the tickets. So she started trying to find a ticketmaster open. She found one way downtown.

She called a cab and went. She has never been to this place before. The line was crazy long, obviously. She had to ask random strangers to help her find the ticketmaster place in this mall.

As she stood in line, she could here people saying things like, "I heard tickets just sold out at the other ticketmaster." "Tickets are going to be sold out by the time I get up there." "This just doesn't look good, I'm out of here."

People actually left because they didn't want to wait anymore and assumed tickets were sold out. She stuck it out, got to the front of the line and bought 4 tickets.

She said at one point at about 9:30am she thought, "man, that would be fun to go to, but I really don't think it'll work, I can't easily get tickets like other people."

She told me she almost didn't go because, "what are the odds, of it actually working?"

Most people, wouldn't go.

If she decided to not go try and get tickets, August would have rolled around and she would be thinking, "man, that would be fun to go to."

Never knowing that that opportunity would have been there.

What opportunities are you saying "no" to before you even know about them?

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant
The Vitality Coach
http://www.gymsuperstar.com

PS - here's your recipe of the week from subscriber Joan:

Grilled Pepper Salad

1 red pepper, quartered
1 orange pepper, quartered
1 green pepper, quartered
1 onion, cut into thick slices
8 mushrooms
1 tsp. olive oil

Dressing
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. dijon mustard
1 tsp. honey
1 clove garlic, crushed

In a large bowl, toss the veggies with olive oil. Grill until slightly blackened. Cut the peppers into bite size pieces. Whisk the dressing ingredients together. Toss the vegetables with the dressing. Serve at room temperature. Serves 4.

86 calories, 2.5g protein, 4g fat, 13g carbs

2 new fat loss recipes

2009-04-12T21:18:00.001-04:00

It's was such a beautiful weekend here in Edmonton. Saturday, Justin (my GM) and his dog Jersey went to a park to toss a ball around a bit. Then we went back to his apartment to get things organized for Gym Superstars inaugural bootcamp in Beaumont starting this Tuesday.

I cooked some steaks and had a couple Rickard's Red to enjoy while sitting on his balcony.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you live in Edmonton or area you have 1 more day to sign up
at the lowest price you will probably ever see one of our camps
so sign up now while you can.

http://www.gymsuperstar.com/bootcamp.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's Sunday right now and we just had a great Easter dinner and a fun filled afternoon of finding easter eggs and dying some eggs too. All good times.

So, of course, with the holiday and spending time visiting, work took a back seat and that's okay.

So today i just wanted to let you know about my new article and 2 new recipes for you.

The article entitled, Long Cardio-Free Living can be read here.

The 2 new recipes can be found here.

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant
The Vitality Coach

She beat breast cancer...

2009-04-06T01:06:00.002-04:00

I was at a Charity Fashion Show in Support of
Breast Cancer Saturday night. It was to raise
money for a Breast Cancer survivor, Patricia, who
has to still pay the large amount of money that
it costs for treatment.

They raised a lot of money, which was great, but
the best thing for me during the night was
listening to her story and the life lessons she
taught us. I mean, her story had me on the verge
of tears for most of her talk. She is an amazing
person and everybody who organized the event
should be proud of the job they all did.

She's only 27, was diagnosed at 26. Her family
has no history at all of breast cancer. You can
imagine what kind of shock that is to find out
that you have breast cancer at such a young age.

She told the story of "that day". The day she was
diagnosed with breast cancer. She was supposed to
go on a date that night. She remembers wondering
what she should do. Probably for most people, the
decision would be to cancel the date.

She wanted to go, and she did. She said it was
the most important decision she made during her
treatment because at that moment she made the
DECISION to not let cancer beat her.

That was her critical point. It wasn't that her
decision made treatment any easier. It was
painful, she lost her hair and eyebrows. She had
to literally battle everyday. Most people just
aren't that strong. You can think of every
decision you've ever had to make, but it's really
nothing until your LIFE is on the line, isn't it?

We talk about the bumps in the road and we are
going to let them beat us or not. Bumps are there
to make us stronger and to teach us how to live a
better life.

"Spectacular achievement precedes only
unspectacular preparation" - Robert Schuller

Patricia has accomplished a spectacular
achievement, she beat breast cancer.

And there was nothing spectacular about how she
had to accomplish that achievement.

There's a huge lesson here.

One, you need to DECIDE what you want or
accept as your reality.

Two, it's not always going to be fun going
after your big goals. It will suck and be frustrating
sometimes. That's just the way it is.

But it's necessary. You need those moments. They
test you.

They look you right in the face and
say, "how bad do you really want this?"

The answer to that question is ALWAYS yours.

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant
The Vitality Coach

PS - New recipe is available at the site...go here
to check it out.

Gym Superstar Recipe of the Week: Balsamic Glazed Salmon

2009-03-30T00:26:00.001-04:00

I'll be honest, this weekend was very unproductive, but for a reason.

Because I planned on it to be that way.

I needed a weekend to relax with some of the 'boys' and take a break
from business so I did.

Now I'm ready to rock it some more this week.

But I do still have a NEW recipe for this week.

Balsamic Glazed Salmon

1 tbsp.olive oil
4-5oz. salmon fillets
sea salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp. honey

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Season both sides of salmon
with salt and pepper. Add salmon to skillet and cook 2 minutes
per side. In small bowl, mix together vinegar and honey. Add
mixture to skillet and simmer until fish is tender and liquid reduces,
about 2 minutes. Serves 4.

267 calories, 12g fat, 8g carbs, 28g protein

Let me know how you like it.

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant
http://www.gymsuperstar.com

PS - If you're in the Edmonton, Sherwood Park, or Beaumont area we
have our first bootcamp of the spring season starting Thursday, April 14.
Head to http://www.gymsuperstar.com/bootcamp.html for more info.

Recipe of the Week: Scrambled Egg Whites

2009-03-23T00:23:00.001-04:00

Scrambled Egg Whites

1 tbsp. olive oil

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1 tomato, chopped

1 cup baby spinach, chopped

4 egg whites

salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, pepper, tomato and spinach and saute for 3 mins. Add eggs. Stir until scrambled. Season with salt and pepper. Serves 1.

240 cals, 16g protein, 14g fat, 12g carbs

Liam's Health Tip of the Week Is???

2009-03-22T03:15:00.002-04:00

Want more Liam????

Let us know :)

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant
The Vitality Coach

51 and still kicking ass...

2009-03-18T22:47:00.004-04:00

Interview with newsletter subscriber Lisa on her own success story.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and why you're so involved in fitness?

Oh my goodness... I have to start off by saying , "I am the luckiest girl I
know."

I truly believe that. I am one of the "lucky ones" in so many ways.
I have 4 amazing children, Melanie (22), Travis (19), Clay (15) and Paige
(12 as of Feb 7th, she is counting the days!)

I have been lucky to be a stay-at-home mom all these years. I got what I call, "my wake UP call"...you know how fast time goes by... life just happens, and you are so involved in what is going on around you that you suddenly realize that YOU have
gotten lost along the way somehow.

I woke up one day in Sept a few weeks before my 49th birthday and realized the big 5-0 was so close... in 1 year I was going to be 50 years old. How did that happen? It just crept up on me.

I took a good look in the mirror and did not like what I saw. Somehow I
found myself staring back at a woman who had not been taking care of herself
at all. I definitely had let myself go.

As luck would have it, an old friend came by and invited me to start walking with her. That was a start at least. We walked that first day and her knee bothered her so the next day she invited me to go to her gym, LA FITNESS and take a water aerobics class. I had never done that before.

Dan, I walked into that gym the first week in September 2006 and I have been there almost everyday since. This was my BIRTHDAY PRESENT to myself. I wanted to be FIT and 50. I gave myself 1 year to do this. I looked long range as I knew to do it the right way it was going to take some time.

When I joined the gym my starting weight was 212 lbs. Oh my GOSH... I weighed 222 lbs when I was 9-months pregnant with my first child and she was born weighing 10-1/2lbs~ I couldn't believe I was that heavy. It is so easy to kid yourself when you go around with sweat pants all the time.. LOL. I remember how horrible it was when I had to go buy a pair of jeans and I found myself in a size 18/20!

I began working out by asking questions, watching the trainers, watching
other people in the gym. I started on the equipment and eventually started
taking the classes that are offered.. step, pilates, yoga, spin,body
scuplting... I was there.

I also was doing the treadmill...walking on it for almost 45 minutes at a time. As i stayed on that treadmill I would ask myself every day.. "How bad do you want this...and my answer to this day is always the same .. I WANT IT BAAAD". I never did go on the scale... I am through with that game. The scale can make or break your day.. and it didn't matter to me.. I knew I was going in the right direction.

I paid attention to what I ate... I suddenly no longer cared about food that I knew
was not beneficial to me. I was so surprised in December when I went for a
checkup and I was down to 174 lbs.

I kept on striving. Every day I would go to the gym.... I wake up in the morning so excited as to what I am going to do each day. I even had bunion foot surgery in February and that didn't stop me... I just carried my crutches and my shoe pad..and i would at first sit at the machines with my leg elevated on a chair working my upper body...LOL...then the doctor gave me permission to at least do my spin classes...there was not going to be anything to hinder my progress.

One of my favorite classes at the gym I call my Kick ASs class on Wed
mornings. When i walked into that class for the very first time the
instructor, Joyce, took one look at me and asked me if had ever really
worked out hard before... hahaha.. well... I did the Cher step VHS tape a
few years ago i answered.
Oh my goodness..that girl kicked my BUTT that first day.. and I watched the kind of shape she was in and the things she was able to do and then something inside me just CLICKED and I KNEW I wanted to strive everyday to achieve that kind of FITNESS LEVEL.

Joyce and I are the best of friends today and she has been there since the beginning of my journey and watched my transformation and she is still KICKING my BUTT every
Wednesday morning and I love IT still~

Dan, as crazy as it may sound.. "FITNESS, gave me my life back. I never knew
what i wanted to be 'when i grew up".. I have loved being a wife and mom...
but this is the first time that I have found something that is all about
ME... I truly LOVE the whole aspect of it.

I have found my passion. I am so humbled when somebody comes up to me and tells me I have inspired them.

Doesn't get any better than that. If I can just get that word out to women
that turning 50 is a whole new beginning for US. there are things i do
everyday in gym that the younger girls can't do...

On September 28, 2007 i turned 50 years old. I weighed 140 lbs... I felt
good... I mean... I FELT GOOD. I always say... if everybody knew what it felt
like to really feel GOOD...they would never want to feel any other way. I
have people ask me have I reached my GOAL... I always say... NO WAY... this
is a lifetime Journey... there is so much more to find out what I can
accomplish. It is not unusual to see me pushing 2 risers with a 45-lb plate
on it across the gym floor... or pushing a tire... I am up for anything.

I was at the gym so much... last year they actually offered me an instructor
position... so I teach 2 body sculpt classes on Mon and Fri and I make sure
we have FUN... work HARD, challenge ourselves... and we are high-fiving
each other all during class.

Nothing is better than the look of accomplishment on somebody's face when
they achieve something they had no idea they could do.

I always tell my class the only limitations we have are those we put on
ourselves. WE can DO ANYTHING we set out to DO.
I love the tabata training method and incorporate that throughout my class.
Whether it's 20 seconds on and 10 seconds of rest for 8 rounds and 4 quick
minutes..or 50 seconds on and 10 seconds of rest for a 20-minute circuit
alternating 5 exercises.

We even do relay races at the end of class just like the old days in PE class and it's so fun to watch them cheer for each other. It's amazing the things we did as kids 'playing' now kicks our butt, trying skipping and frog jumps and bear crawls and hop scotching across a
basketball court... It's hard NOW...lol.

One of our favorites...or most challenging is a full tabata round of
mountain climbers on paper towels... 4 little minutes.. but man it kicks our
butt..and we are all SMILING and high-fiving when we are done.

I pretty much workout every day in some way. That is what I am trying to
concentrate on now. A rest day. I know it's important.

A real training program.

A good nutrition plan.

These last 2 years I have been doing this by myself. Now I am ready to get really serious and see just what I am capable of transforming my body into with a TRUE PLAN.

It is so exciting to watch your body change before your very eyes along with
all the amazing “ROCKY MOMENTS"... when you hit 10 on the treadmill for the
first time... when you finish your first tabata of mountain climbers. when
you can do your first Chin UP... it's never ending. Every day offers
something new.

I am currently getting ready to get my Personal Training Certification in
Feb (Lisa just accomplished this goal…CONGRATS LISA!!!). I am hoping to take my enthusiasm and love for fitness... and just try to spread it among others.

This is all about ME. It's MY turn now. I can't even put into words how
much I love what I get to DO. Not everybody gets that in LIFE.

I know that....

I am the LUCKIEST GIRL I KNOW....

Give it your all... don't give up... have a long range vision... stay off
the scale..the numbers mean nothing. Take pictures often... a picture will
tell you more than numbers on a scale or what's looking back at you in the
mirror as we are our own worst critic.

Stay positive. Challenge yourself everyday and be proud of what you do
accomplish. This is not a contest. This is about developing a healthy
life, a longer life, a better life.

My poor mother-in-law spent the last 2 years of her life in a "lift chair".
She couldn't even get out of bed. It was like being trapped.

Believe you can change. Believe in yourself.

Don't get in a hurry and try not to get discouraged and frustrated... just
keep going every day. Be good to yourself.

The journey itself is the most wonderful reward...

Don't be afraid to lift weights... we are not ever going to look like the
BIG BOYS... :)

If you are walking on the treadmill talking on your phone or reading a
magazine.. and you are not seeing results.. guess what? you are not going
to get results.

Interval training is the way to go. Short, fast, INTENSE.. I love interval
training. One of my favorites is on the treadmill going as fast as I can
for 45 seconds.. I mean my heart pounding through my chest.. .and then I
recover for 1 min 15 sec really slow... and then I go really fast again..
and i do this 6 or 7 times and with a 5 minute warm up and cool down..that's
like 20 minutes and you are DONE..and you have gotten a great workout. This
can be done on the elipitical, the bike,swimming laps in the pool.. You can
mix it up 60 seconds fast 60 seconds recover or 30/30.. or however it works
for you at your fitness level. Remember, we all have to start somewhere.

Keep trying new things... I am currently learning how to use the
kettlebells... LOVE THEM... just LOVE THEM and the ropes, I love those, 2.
LOL... it's all just so much FUN~

Oh...and don't forget to stretch...

I hope this is ok... i tend to get excited... sorry DAN :).

Lisa :)
Atlanta, GA
mother of 4
51 and kicking assssss LOL

Grilled Lemon Chicken Skewers

2009-03-15T15:12:00.000-04:00

Lots of cool stuff happened this week. Just can't tell you about it...yet :).

Remember I said you are apart of a community here at Gym Superstar?

Well, we have a member of the community now helping me with Recipes of The Week.

Subscriber Joan (soon to be sports nutrition advisor) has agreed to help us out.

So every week you're going to be given a brand new, healthy recipe to try out and use
towards accomplishing your health goals.

The first recipe of the week is Grilled Lemon Chicken Skewers.

You can go see the recipe here:

http://www.gymsuperstar.com/myths.html

And Lisa (another subscriber) will have her interview she did with me released to you this
week. Tons of awesome advice in it so be on the lookout.

Let me know what you think of the recipe :)

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant
The Vitality Coach
http://www.gymsuperstar.com

What's Been Happening At Gym Superstar?

2009-03-08T23:04:00.000-04:00

It's been a busy week here at Gym Superstar. The website is about 90% done (it's done enough that I'm going to send you there to check it out anyways). We are planning and organizing our spring bootcamps to begin in april. We are setting up a date for my High Performance Health Seminar. And we are getting ready to do A LOT of travelling in May.

I'll be in D.C and Virginia for about a week and then at the end of May I'll be in New Jersey for a Conference. There's a lot of stuff to do in a short amount of time but that's why Justin and I sat down and wrote out what had to be done and by when.

Just doing that is going to help us make sure we stay on track and get it all accomplished.

Have you been planning and writing down what steps you need to take to reach your goals???

Side note: I've gotten such good feedback from Step 1 and 2 about changing your 'reality' it kind of caught me off guard a little bit. I knew people would be interested, but i didn't think you'd be THAT interested. I LOVE getting those emails from you. And don't worry, more steps are coming.

Anyways, I've been getting a lot of emails about cheap ways to workout. (ie. not paying 50 bucks a month for a gym membership, and not paying a personal trainer...i still hate being called that sometimes....a bazillion dollars for lack luster results).

So there are two things I wanted to tell you about today.

ONE: The Gym Superstar In-home program is READY and it's extremely affordable and it's not 100's of pages of crap to read through, just the plan and some cool audio interviews that will help. I just put it up on the homepage of the new website at http://www.gymsuperstar.com

TWO: People have suggested I start a coaching program. I don't know how much it would cost (it would be a lot less then hiring a guy who got his certification over the internet....our industry is idiotic...seriously). The only thing I'm asking if there is interest for it. That's all. So please let me know if you'd be interested in it and if there's enough I'll go ahead and figure out how we can make it win-win for everybody.

I learned a couple new exercises last week that I'll be filming in the next week and will make those available on the blog as soon as they're done.

So, not really a lot of teaching or learning in this email...sorry...I just wanted to make sure you were up to date on everything and if you have any questions or such just let me know :).

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant
The Vitality Coach
http://www.gymsuperstar.com

PS - follow me of twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dgfitness

Interview with Newsletter Subscriber Jo Anne Burns

2009-03-05T17:01:00.002-05:00

As I've said in my OPERATION: Burn Fat FAST! E-course, I want this newsletter to be a community group. There are even some subscribers getting involved with helping me out with information for my sites.

I've actually interview 2 amazing women from this list and I will be giving you both interviews (both very inspiring).

Today's interview is with Jo Ann Burns from Minnesota. Enjoy and if you have any questions for Jo Ann let me know and I'll make sure you get your answers :).

Interview with Jo Ann Burns

Tell us a little bit about yourself and why you're so involved in fitness?

I truly believe that how fit you are is a reflection of your self-respect for yourself. I also believe there is a direct correlation, obviously, to how well you live your life.

We are given one body - why not respect it and give it 110% everyday? I grew up loving fitness - I was big into basketball and was an all conference player - and really have always been intrigued by the entire facet of eating well and training hard.

I coached JV basketball for 2 years - and loved working with kids and instilling in them the "champion chant"....Now, with 2 small girls - who are 5 and 9, I watch the state of our world and fitness has become an even greater purpose in my life - trying to instill in kids the importance of fitness and controlled meals.

I am 42 years old and am an active competitor in figure bodybuilding. I love the discipline and results that come with training so hard - and being so determined about where I am going.

How many days a week do you workout?

I train 6 days a week - I saw a quote once - that said - girls workout - women train. I definitely consider the time I spend in the gym as training. My trainings are 60 minutes max and I work extremely hard and I'm done....the key is remembering that 80% or more of your results happen outside of the gym....yes, I certainly train hard, but I eat succint, smart, controlled food that compliments my training. Once you get the combination down - it's so simple.

What are your goals and why are they important to you? My goals are to "get better every single day"....positive attitude is a must. I am one of those people that wakes up every morning and I, quite frankly, talk to myself.

But my mantra is this - I tell myself how lucky I am to be where I am right now and how fortunate I am to have the discipline to know where I am going. I tell myself that I will train harder than the day before, be more focused and touch every life I can to empower them to be more healthy.

I will continue to compete every year - this year I'm competing at least twice, if not three times....next year I'm planning on going to the Cayman Islands to compete......and possibly go for my pro card.

I also am proud to say, I know I'm a great role model for my girls. They train with me, they watch me - they eat healthy foods - they understand the difference between foods that feed your body and those that really don't....I am setting in place for them my legacy and that is truly the most important part for me.

What's your training philosophy?

I have so many quotes I live by - "get better every day" - "if you believe it you will become it" - "lift heavy or go home" - "be the miracle".....I believe it's my job to inspire others...and, I know I do that everyday.

There is not a day that goes by that people don't ask me - "how long did it take you to get where you are at and how do you train"....I have to say most are skeptical when they hear my regimen. Women, by nature, are cardio queens.

My training philosophy is - lift heavy and hard, supersets and dropsets - smart cardio which is short sprints and intense and you're done. Cardio and too much of it - especially steady state just eats your muscle - which you need to burn fat - any so many don't realize the more cardio you do - simply you just become good at it and you need to do more...who has time for 2 hours of cardio???

I sure don't - and I would not look the way I do if I did that much cardio. I love having muscle - I love being super strong - and I love the fact that my training is less than 60 minutes.

My best advice is "stop the cardio" and "start lifting weights and heavy" - there is no such thing as bulky and heavy weights....and if you are getting bulky there is no correlation to the weights - it's the amount of carbs you are putting in your mouth - so check out your diet.....

Train hard - no looking back - no regrets....just living life incredibly fit, happy and fulfilled!

Thanks Jo Anne!!!

Remember, if you have any questions for Jo Anne you can email them to me and I'll get those questions to her.

Next week I will release the other interview with Lisa.

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant
The Vitality Coach

PS - Do YOU have a story you think will inspire the list? Let me know and we'll set up an interview with you too.

Step 2 in Changing Your 'Reality'

2009-02-25T23:52:00.001-05:00

Another enormous response from you guys about Monday's email. I got a lot of great answers as to what the first step in changing your 'reality' should be, but almost all of them boiled down to the basic need to have a healthy and positive self-image of yourself.

So what's step 2?

In my books, the next step is getting a CLEAR VISION of what you want.

Your 'reality' is based on what your purpose is. If your purpose is mixed up and not very clear, then your 'reality' will seem scattered and unorganized. That's frustrating.

If your purpose is exact, then your 'reality' is filled with precision and useful action.

A clear vision of what you truly want gives you the ability to know exactly what your priorities are.

A client of mine and I had this exact conversation this morning. She was training for a fitness competition and while away on vacation she tore her rotator cuff. That's when she came to me for rehab and training advice. This week, everything was feeling a lot better, until Monday when she seemed to reinjure it while teaching a fitness class (she's very motivated...and admitebly doesn't listen to rehab advice sometimes).

She was very frustrated and in pain. Today we sat down and went over why this has been so frustrating to her and what her TRUE priorities are.

As a result I found out that the only reason she was really doing the fitness competition was because everybody told her she should. (Tip: If you're going after a goal that doesn't give you a burning desire to complete, then you're wasting your time)
I then asked her about her priorities. What was more important to her.

She said priority number 1 was her business. Priority number 2 was being able to teach her classes (she absolutely loves teaching her fitness classes, at this point, the tears started to come out). And her third priority was the fitness competition.

Once we pinned down the priorities it was clear to her that the fitness competition wasn't as important to her as she thought. She HATED dieting for one thing, she's does not want to shelf out a thousand bucks on supplements (when she told me this, I was a little annoyed that her dietition was going to make her take all these crazy things), and this WASN'T her goal.

INSTANTLY, after our half hour talk, the weight had been lifted off of her shoulders, she was a lot happier, she had a clear vision on now what needed to be done, and she stopped craving peanut butter :).

In a matter of a half hour of thinking and talking, she changed her 'reality' from one of frustration and agony, to one of hope and happiness.

It's amazing what you can do if you have a clear vision of what you want.

Sit down and write out what your priorities are in your life. Figure out what is stressing you out and if they really should be (where are those stresses on your priority list?)

When people are frustrated and lost because they are overwhelmed, a lot of negative thinking occurs.

When people realize what they want and have a clear focus on it, it brings nothing but true positive thinking, because the more clear the vision, the more 'real' it has become.

What is your VISION for yourself?

What are your priorities?

Please, let me know.

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant
The Vitality Coach

PS - I'd love to hear from you. I read all of my emails everyday. And, although, I cannot answer then that very day sometimes, I will get back to you if you'd like...just give me a couple days :).

Step One In Changing Your 'Reality'

2009-02-22T20:04:00.000-05:00

WOW!

First off, THANK YOU for all the kind words from
the last email. It's an amazing feeling knowing
the true impact that some of my emails have on
people. You guys are the best.

I got a pretty consistent question from the mass
of emails I did receive so I want to try and
answer it to the best of my ability.

"How can you change your current 'reality' into a
new 'reality'?"

There's no clear, do this and you have a
different reality I don't think. Obviously, it's
a change in mindset that brings you the new
reality, but I feel if you want to change it for
good you need steps to make that new mindset a
habit (or the way you always will now think).

I think the first step is learning to have a
positive self-image.

We were born with a choice. A choice we still
have today. Are we going to be successful or not?

I've struggled with positive self-image in the
past and still slightly do today. There were
times where it really held me back from doing
something that could have made my career a lot
more successful.

I'm 6'3" and about 210 pounds, so I'm not a small
guy, but sometimes I get 'skinny' syndrome where
I think I'm too skinny and for some reason I
think people won't listen to my advice because
I'm not packed with huge muscle. And it's
RIDICULOUS that I think that sometimes.

At those times I have a poor self-image of myself
and it stops me from sharing my thoughts and
opinions with people sometimes.

Why do I think that way sometimes and why do I
let that hold me back sometimes?
Growing up I was very skinny. When I went to
college I was 6'2" and 168 pounds. First thing
coaches told me, "You're way too skinny, we need
to bulk you up."

A lot of things said to me about my size where
about me being too skinny.

Well, that's negative. It makes it sound like
being skinny is a BAD thing. So all of a sudden I
think less of myself because of my size. How
stupid is that?

I understand why I needed to get bigger (I wanted
too...I always wanted to be bigger), but the
constant barrage of information being sent into
my mind about being too skinny gave it such a
negative undertone that in my head, I was too
skinny and that was my 'reality'.

I now know that my 'reality' is that my body size
is FINE and what's important is that I live a life of
good health and the information I use that helps
people.

Because the more you help people get what they
want, the more you get of what you want.

I do this to help people. The more people I help,
the happier I am, and the more confident I am in
my abilities.

I'm very successful at what I do, because I have
the up most confidence IN MYSELF to be able to
deliver those results to people. There were
choices involved in me becoming that confident.

It was a choice for me to read and study all of
that research. It was a choice for me to read all
those success books. It was a choice for me to
apply and try out the information I learned from
those success books. I'm not exactly re-inventing
the wheel here. I'm applying what has worked for
people in the past, using it myself, and then
passing it on to people who don't know about it.

It's then THEIR choice whether they use it or
not.

Sometimes when I talk about training philosophies
and what I teach, I sometimes get someone saying,
"well, that's not really news to me, I've heard
that before."

"Have you applied it with your training then?"

"No"

"Well, then why are you asking me for advice? If
you've tried and failed with that information,
then you would have gained knowledge as to what
might not work for you. If you didn't try it,
then it was like you never heard that news,
because NOTHING happened."

I think I'll stop here, before I get off track
and start rambling.

There's obviously a step 2. But step 1, is
getting a positive self-image of yourself and
accepting the fact that the choice to succeed or
fail is YOURS and YOURS alone.

Again, I WANT to hear your thoughts. Please email
them to me.

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant
The Vitality Coach

PS - The new site is getting there. Since the
crash we've obviously had a lot to do. Justin (my
manager) is doing a great job getting all the
information back and on the site.

PPS - just click 'reply' and let me know what you
think is the the first step in changing your
'reality'.

What's 'REAL' to you?

2009-02-19T22:57:00.000-05:00

Depression is become rampant in our society. With all this economy crap going on plus all the unfulfilling messages that advertisements are pushing on us, we just don’t really have a lot of self-confidence left in us.

Or do we?

I used to be clinically depressed during my latter college days but instead of give you that whole story here I’d like to tell you what I’ve learned from that experience and what I continue to learn today.

I have clients who are depressed and there’s hardly a day that goes by where I don’t get an email from somebody who’s extremely depressed about their physical body and/or overall circumstances.

This is why I decided today to email you about a very deep subject (too deep to cover in one email), and give you my perspective on what helped me ‘get out’ and ‘get in’ to a world where anything is possible. A world that can be yours, as well.

To me, it’s all about REALITY.

What’s REAL to you?

When I was depressed, the only way to have fun and make friends was to go out and get drunk was ‘real’ to me.

Not being able to satisfy my family with my baseball career was ‘real’ to me.

Thinking that the world was a never ending struggle and all it will do is take my dreams away from me was ‘real’ to me.

Believing that the only way I could make it through a baseball game was to take a couple Vioxx pills (yes, the one they took off counters a few years ago because of the dangers of it) was ‘real’ to me.

What’s ‘REAL’ to you?

Is your health being impossible to conquer ‘real’ to you?

Is it just not happening that you can’t go out one weekend without drinking?

Is having absolutely no time to exercise ‘real’ to you?

Is being the person everybody stares at when you go to the gym ‘real’ to you?

One big thing I know about all this is that your surroundings play an amazingly HUGE role in determining how you think and what you do.

If most of your friend’s party on the weekend, then it wouldn’t be hard to figure out what you’re doing, would it.

If your family grew up feeding you KFC as your protein source then it wouldn’t shock me that KFC is still apart of your life.

Why do you do things that are bad for you, even if you know that they are bad for you?

I think it’s because you BELIEVE them to be the truth about you and they’ve brought you the COMFORT of your current situation.

And just because you’re comfortable doesn’t mean that you’re happy and loving life. Usually being comfortable is what makes life monotonous, boring, and unhappy which brings along depressed feelings and a negative attitude that your world sucks.

I know I’m going to have a lot more to talk about this subject so I won’t make this a marathon email.

I want to hear your thoughts, as well on this subject so email them to me.

What I wanted to get across today though was that YOU have FULL control on what goes into your head and what you believe to be ‘REAL’.

Everything around you has an effect on what you actually believe to be ‘real’. It’s up to you to decide if those things about actually ‘real’ and what you’re going to do to make your life the best life that you can possibly imagine.

Keep ROCKIN’ IT!

Dan Grant
The Vitality Coach

PS – we had a website crash last week, so the site is slowly getting back up, so if you go there and it’s all ‘crazy’ looking that’s why.

PPS – I want to hear your thoughts on this last email. Just click the reply button and let me know.

25 Random Things about me...

2009-02-03T21:44:00.001-05:00

Hi,

There’s a fitness community I usually go to see what other fit pros are up to. One post the other day got a huge response and I wanted to share it with you and get you involved.

It’s called 25 random things about me…some literally nobody knows until right now.

Here are mine…

1. I was born in Thunder Bay, ON, Canada, November 12, 1981.

2. I don’t think my brother and I ever got through a video game when we were younger without any punches thrown.

3. I can’t watch horror movies…hate them so much.

4. my favorite singer is James Taylor

5. I was told I was clinically depressed and suffered from major social anxiety January 2003 by school doctors. That November I took my final pill and vowed to never take one again. I never did and now help people who suffer with depression themselves.

6. There’s nothing like watching the Toronto Maple Leafs play hockey on a Saturday night.

7. In 2002 my Junior College baseball team won the NJCAA World Series and I was name Series MVP and 1st team All-American.

8. One Mother’s Day I dislocated my elbow playing Frisbee with my dad. The very next Mother’s Day I almost cut my finger off. Let’s just say I was under very close watch that next Mother’s Day.

9. My Grandpa Grant died of cancer September 27, 2005, the same day as my mom and dad’s 24th wedding anniversary. He was the greatest man I ever knew.

10. My Grandma Grant died after a stroke in March of 2001. Before flying back to Illinois after the funeral my dad told me to hit a homerun for Grandma. The very first pitch I saw back in Illinois I hit over the wall for my very first college homerun.

11. I bought my very first car in September ’08. A trusty ’09 Toyota Corolla.

12. I made my baseball comeback last summer and somehow pulled off one of my most successful playing summers ever and won MVP. I’m now retired…again.

13. I have never done any type of illegal drug.

14. My full name is Daniel Charles John Grant. People usually think it’s cool I have 4 first names.

15. I’m a very emotional person. I tear up very easily at the site of someone reaching their dreams or falling short of them.

16. I believe that everybody’s purpose on earth is to be happy.

17. I almost died on the baseball field when a hard ground ball jumped up and hit me in the throat. I couldn’t breathe for minutes and the doctor said if that ball hit me 1/8th of an inch to the right it would have broken my trachea.

18. My sister not only takes amazingly cool pictures, she’s also the best writer I know.

19. I now wish I didn’t quit learning the piano when I was 11.

20. My favorite movie of all time is ROCKY. I ran the famous Rocky steps last January, it was awesome.

21. My favorite place to go shopping is a book store. I have way to many books I haven’t read yet because of that.

22. I say a prayer to myself every single night before going to bed. I ask God to bless my dad, mom, mark (bro), Ashley (sis), grandpa, grandma and all my uncles, aunts and cousins. I also say hi to my dog Baron. He passed away 11 years ago this month.

23. My favorite date to go on with my girlfriend (when we actually see each other since I’m in Edmonton and she’s in Virginia) is going to the movies. Our first date together was going to see Terminator 3…I’m very romantic :).

24. I love telling my clients that they “aren’t paying the price of good health, they are enjoying the price of good health.”

25. I’ve always been a fairly quiet guy and don’t usually share lots of information about myself, so this is actually really inspiring for me writing all this.

What are 25 random facts about you?

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant

What's your fat loss vision?

2009-01-27T22:40:00.001-05:00

You know I read a lot and listen a lot to very highly successful people to see if I can pick up anything that I can apply to myself.

Well, to be honest, all I keep hearing about is having a clear vision on what you want.

Boy, that's always been really tough for me. Do you remember in my last newsletter when I talked about being a wandering generality?
I always want newer and better things. I focus on one thing and then a month later I want something else. Very scattered.

I find that to be true about most people who are starting to make changes or are thinking about making changes in their lives.

Some people (like I used to) think so much about what they might want that they never actually buckle down and figure out what they ACTUALLY want.

My clear vision is starting to get very clear in my mind.

I've even started my very first vision board (and from how successful they seem to be for A LOT of very successful people), I think you should do the same.

I have 2 bullentin boards. One for business and life goals. The other for health and fitness goals.
So on my business and life vision board for example, I have the Men's Health logo on it because I want to be in Men's Health magazine. I also have a picture of a very high quality suit, one that I envision myself wearing to business meetings and just at my business.

On the health and fitness vision board, I have a picture of vegetables because I want vegetables to be in my diet in all my big meals. I have a picture of a muscular arm because I want to grow my arms and get them more defined.

Those are just some of what I have. I'm going to put some quotes on it too.

Have fun with it. See what you want in your future and if you come across a picture in a magazine of a watch you want then pin in on your vision board.

And make sure you put it somewhere where you'll see it quite often. Implant it in your brain.

I have mine right next to my bed so I see last thing when I get into to bed and first thing when I get up in the morning.

Hey, it's worked for a lot of people, i'm extremely confident it will work for me, so why not give it a try?

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant
The Vitality Coach
http://www.twitter.com/dgfitness

PS - Do you already have a vision board? If so, let me know how it's worked for you and if you recommend it.

Are you a wandering generality

2009-01-22T23:40:00.001-05:00

Often when I'm write you a blog post it's straight off the top of my head, like this one.

It's Thursday night, I had a light day of training clients, got a great power based workout in, ate great (even though I ran out of food and had to make an emergency run to the grocery store on my way home), got my copy of Inside Fitness Magazine with an article of mine in (and Trish Stratus on the cover...not bad), and just finished emailing a few people and checking out Twitter.

If you're on twitter you can 'follow me' by going to http://twitter.com/dgfitness

I listen to audio programs a lot when I'm driving around and the latest one i have been listening to is a program from 1978 by Zig Ziglar. It's from a live even so it's only about 60 minutes long, but Ziglar and his strong Texan accent makes some pretty awesome points on goal setting.

And since goal setting has been our topic of discussion the last couple weeks, I thought I would tell you a about a great point that Zig made that has really stuck with me since hearing it.

It's about why we set goals and why they NEED to be specific.

"Are you a wandering generality, or a meaningful specific?"
I'll be straight with you about this, I was a wandering generality until about 2 months ago. My girlfriend used to get so frustrated with me because one day I wanted to do 'this' and then the very next day I wanted to do 'that'.

My vision and life were so unfocused that I never really got anywhere and I wasted a hell of a lot of time because of it.

Is that you?

Are you a wandering generality?

I'm now more of a meaningful specific then I ever have been in my life. I have business goals, health goals, and life goals.

I don't even know how I'm going to achieve most of them (but we'll talk about that in future newsletters). I just know that's what I want and that's what I'm going to get.

My life has seemed to move into fast forward that last month, simply from the fact that I no longer am a wandering generality and have turned into a meaningful specific.

Whatever your goals are they are meaningful to you...no matter what anybody else says or thinks.

What are you?

How do you hit a target you cannot see?

You need goals...you need specific goals.

Become a meaningful specific today.

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant
The Vitality Coach

PS - It's kind of late now, since I literally just decided to write a blog post for you so I didn't proof read it (I generally never do anyways), so if there's spelling issues....sorry :)

2009-01-18T23:33:00.002-05:00

Hi,

I just finished watching the AFC championship game (which is actually surprising since I haven't even watched a full nfl game all year). I'm such an atmosphere guy.

Anytime there's something historic or just a big event in general, I'm usually pretty interested and want to see it.

Like tonight in Edmonton was Glenn Anderson's banner raising at Rexall Place (I understand that you probably have no idea who that is...in short, hockey player for the Edmonton Oilers in the 80's and early 90's). I've never been a fan of Anderson...I'm a Leafs fan. I grew up watching Wendel Clark and Doug Gilmour.

Anyways, just the fact that it's a big event got me interested and if it wasn't sold out I would have probably got a ticket.

Same thing about the Inauguration of Obama this Tuesday. Probably the most historic event in Presidential history. I just love that stuff. I'm not even American and would watch it all if I wasn't training.

But how about we talk more about your goals today?

You should understand now that your goals need emotion behind them (I reiterate this in my latest video here). If you haven't found out your 'why' then why not? Don't wait, start taking action right now and figure it out.

Now, there's plenty of ways to go after your goals, but right now I want to tell you about one way that has made reaching goals a lot easier and faster for myself.

EXPECT them to happen.

Sounds pretty obvious, right?

Well, when's the last time you set a big goal and in the back of your mind thought, "No way."

It happened to me all the time. I'd say that I wanted to deadlift 400 pounds and there was that little person in the back of my mind saying, "you can barely deadlift 300 pounds, what are you thinking?" or when I set a goal write for magazines and my subconscious mind told me, "dude, you don't even know the first step, don't even waste your time."

Funny thing is, I believed that little voice for a while and things just never progressed.

It literally took a complete shift in mindset with the help of people like Randy Gage, Dax Moy, and a few others for to actually start believing that these goals not only could happen but I could flourish well beyond them.

And I did.

I wake up every single morning and once my feet hit the floor I say to whoever is out there listening, "Thank you for such an amazing day and making my dreams and goals come true."

EVERYDAY!

Get your mindset right and start expecting great things in your life because that's why you're here, to do great things and don't let anybody tell you otherwise. Those people are idiots and a giant waste of space.

If you want to lose 15 pounds of fat, then go do it and do it with confidence everyday like you know it's going to happen.

If you want to do 50 pushups every morning when you get out of bed, then get out of your bed with a purpose and do the 50 pushups. Expect yourself to be disciplined enough to do it, because once you accept that then you can do amazing things.

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant
The Vitality Coach
http://www.gymsuperstar.com

PS - You talked and we listened. The Gym Superstar In-home Program will be coming very shortly.

PPS - Remember, expect great things in your life and they will happen, it never fails.

Fat Loss Emotion and Success

2009-01-17T23:00:00.001-05:00

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant
http://www.gymsuperstar.com

350 to go...

2009-01-15T23:42:00.001-05:00

We hit +4C today I believe here in Edmonton, which is a baumy day compared to what we have been getting. Unfortunately, I didn't get outside because I was busy training and doing some business related things all day.

While I was working I realized that we are already 15 days into 2009.

How are your resolution's going?

Have you stuck with them?

If you haven't then the simple answer why is because you don't have a big enough "why". (I have a way with words, don't I? :) )

If your goal is to go to the gym and start exercising to lose some weight, why is that important to you?

Because you need to get healthier?

That's great, BUT, just being general like that isn't usually going to work because if you are overweight then you haven't exactly had your health at the top of your priority list have you?

It's very hard to just flip that switch like that if you don't have a BIG reason to be doing so.

You need a bigger 'why'. Something that's going to drive you into action.

Something that gives you a true passion for succeeding at your goals because it will create a gigantic positive change in your world.

What is your deepest reason for choosing the resolution's you did?

I've heard these from clients before:

"I want to able to play with my grandchildren."

"I don't want to face the same health disaster as my brother has become and spend the rest of my life on medication."

"I want to be totally free and confident and forget about this man forever."

"I want to wake up knowing that I'll be able to walk pain free at the end day when I go to bed."

"I want to be sexy for my husband again."

Really powerful and emotional stuff.

Emotion runs our life, I believe.

If you don't have some serious emotional ties to what you are trying to accomplish then the passion and dedication just won't be there.

Ask yourself, how emotional is your 'why' to you and your resolution?

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant
The Vitality Coach
http://www.gymsuperstar.com

PS - There will be plenty more tips to come on reaching your goals and living the vitality fueled lifestyle next week.

PPS - Let me know your resolution's and how they are going. The more I know, the better I can understand what type of info to write to you.

This guy gained back over 100 pounds of fat

2009-01-13T22:59:00.001-05:00

hi everybody,

My sister and I were talking on the phone the other night and we started talking about what's happening in each others lives so naturally it turned into a fitness talk for a bit anyways.

We talked about Oprah's recent weight gain, Bob Green, and the Biggest Loser.

Now this Oprah thing kind of drives me a little nuts, but I've learned to not let the obsessions of people who care so much about other people on tv affect me anymore. (did that make sense?)

Not to get on a tangent here, but please start caring about YOUR own life more then you care about Oprah's.

Bob Green, well, I thought most of that Best Life stuff was over hyped, but I did hear him talking about the mental side of fat loss the other day on some show and I agreed with what he had to say. The mental side of ANYTHING is the most important part. I really don't think you can achieve great results until you are mentally ready to do so.

And as for the Biggest Loser, it's reality tv. It's a very dangerous quick fix for these people. Yes it's life changing for them, but does it work?

No, it doesn't. My sister told me on the phone call that the 2006 winner came onto Oprah (this is really why we started talking about Oprah) and he had gained about half his weight back that he lost on his show.

He started at 450 plus and ended up at 185 or something like that and then less then a year later he was back at 315.

Why? Because the concept of losing fat that the Biggest Loser portrays is RIDICULOUS. If you work as hard as the people on the show do and have as strict of a diet as they do then your body thinks that's the way to lose fat.

And when you start relaxing and not working out 5 hours a day and start eating a real world diet again your body just says, "what's going on? I need that 5 hours of exercise to maintain what I've gotten and I need that restricted diet too."

And the result equals massive amounts of weight gain.

I can't even begin to talk about all the Operation: Burn Fat E-course Members who introduce themselves to me by saying they are 'chronic dieting failures'.

Quick fix fat loss needs to be a thing of the past or we as a society will just keep getting bigger and bigger and sadder and sadder.

You have to hit the starting blocks with a foundational knowledge of how to do things the right way and have a mental approach that is long term and 100% dedicated to living a vitality driven and passionate life.

With that approach will come ultimate and life long fat loss.

If you want to hit the starting blocks strong then why not check out our Ignite Starter Program, which is at a special launch price until tonight at midnight when the price jumps up, over at http://www.gymsuperstar.com.

You deserve long lasting success and happiness.

Let's ROCK this life,

Dan Grant
The Vitality Coach

PS - How's your January going? Have you been sticking with your Resolutions? I have some tips coming to either get you back on track and keep you going full steam ahead.

PPS - tonight at midnight the price jumps at http://www.gymsuperstar.com

I slept on the couch last night

2009-01-13T00:11:00.001-05:00

No, I wasn't drinking 'til the wee hours of the morning (haven't done that in a while).

And no, my girlfriend didn't send me there :). (she can't anyways being all the way in Virginia)

The reason I spent the night on the couch at Justin's (the CEO of Gym Superstar) house last night is because we were doing everything we could do to get ready for the launch of our very first product with Gym Superstar, and it took all night.

There was no hype to this program...didn't want there to be any, personally.

What we did was expand one of my products into something that is way more complete and will be more beneficial for you.

This is the time in January where all those Resolutions you made start to feel harder and harder to stay with and this year my goal is to help you achieve them.

I've told you this dozens of times I'm sure, but 2009 is the year of transparency for me, meaning I'll be open and honest to you and not hide anything (like the kit kat ice cream I had at 10:30pm Saturday while working on the website copy...I'm glad I could enjoy it too, since my diet allows me to indulge every once in a while).

We are going to do a fast action type thing with the launch too (or whatever marketers call it), so it will be discounted until Wednesday night the 14th and then the price will go up.

I always don't really like writing emails like this because sometimes they sound like sales pitches and that's not what I'm going for here.

Of course, I'd love for you to purchase the program and be apart of our members only forum.

For one, because I think it will help you, especially the forum because you'll be able to ask us whatever you want and we'll always be downloading recipes and workouts to it.

And second, and for more selfish reasons, because this is a business and to run afloat we need income coming in. That's just the truth.

So after all that mumbo jumbo, I really urge you to head over to http://www.gymsuperstar.com and see what the IGNITE Starter Program is all about and see if it can help you.

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant
The Vitality Coach

PS - Remember that on Wednesday night the price is going to increase so if you want the IGNITE Program for les.s then just head over to http://www.gymsuperstar.com before Wednesday night :).

PPS - yes ladies, Scott is currently available

It's Finally Clear

2009-01-06T23:29:00.001-05:00

Hi,

Lately my energy has been through the roof.

Maybe it’s because I’m back to my diet rather then the holiday diet you might have fell for too.

Maybe it’s because I’m back into my exercise groove.

Maybe it’s because my mind can’t stop coming up with cool ideas to help you and my business.

Or maybe, just maybe it’s because I’ve realized something that has changed the way I live and teach.

Fat loss is a HUGE deal right now because it’s January and people are gun-ho about getting to the gym and doing whatever they can to get back into great shape and never look back.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t exactly work for a lot of people out there, does it?

I’ve been in the industry a long time now and I always knew it, but it didn’t really hit me until lately how much society is making health a very low priority.

We get bombarded with ads about the latest new miracle pill.

If you don’t have a six-pack, just bu.y this cool looking ab machine for only 3 easy paymants of $29.95

If you want a snack, eat these 100 calorie cookies as a ‘healthy’ alternative.

Do you have this problem? Well, just take this pill (that has no long term research) and you should be fine.

What’s our deal here?

I see guys who just want to get bigger arms and of course want them fast so the only option they see is steroids.

I see young woman who are desperately trying to lose belly fat and feel drugs could be the only option.

I’ve been caught up in the whole “I need to get bigger” and all of a sudden I’m ingesting some sort of weight gainer with who knows was in it.

What ever happened to healthy living?

I currently have about 125 emails in my inbox that I still need to answer. I get emails daily from people telling me their goals and frustrations from constant failures of trying ‘this’ diet or trying to workout ‘this’ way.

If we focused on pure health as I like to call it, then we’d all be golden.

Let’s all go back to the basics. Let’s eat natural food that grows from the ground.

Let’s exercise for life. You need to be strong. That means lifting heavy weight (you won’t get bulky) and doing it consistently.

I’ve just started writing a new book (which as of now the goal is to be ready by next fall) about all of this. You are now part of a journey (an interactive one). My goal is to stop focusing on doing anything possible to get those bigger arms or six-pack abs. Those results are very well possible with my new program and diet but it will happen naturally.

Health is what matters. It breads success and happiness.

More to come…

Keep ROCKIN’

Dan Grant
The Vitality Coach

PS – If you haven’t downloaded the full e-course yet just go here to grab it.

Is This Your Year?

2009-01-03T14:00:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone,

I'm off to a funeral this afternoon, which is never fun, but one thing funerals do is let me reflect on my life and where it's at.

We all know that our life will end at some point and it's really up to us to make the most out of the life that we were given. When you think about it, we literally have FULL control over our life.

There's no laws telling you that you have to stay in crappy relationships that are holding you back.

Nobody is forcing processed food down your throat.

If somebody tells you that you're fat, it's really up to you to believe them or not.

If someone calls you a loser it's up to you whether to believe them or not too.

If your husband or wife doesn't want you to go after one of your dreams, there's still nothing really stopping you is there.

Think about it.

When your life is over, you either left having an impact on people's lives or you didn't.

When you die, you either had tons of fun with people that you truly love, or you didn't.

Is life really all about six-pack abs? Of course, not.

Is life about helping others and making the most out of what you have? I think so.

That's why I do what I do. Helping people get back into a life of health and vitality is an amazing thing.

It's why I stay up until 2:30am researching and brainstorming ways to help people succeed.

It's why I started a new business in 2009 (which you'll know more about soon)

It's why I'm never fully satisfied and always looking for more.

It's what keeps me motivated to stay and healthy as I possibly can (yes, you inspire me, as well)

It's why me and the love of my life have only seen each other a total of 5 weeks in the last 8 months (She's learning how to help people in the medical field in Virginia and I'm here in Edomonton doing what I have to do with the new business).

There's a lot more I can write out for you here, but I think you get the point.

Here's a fact that unfortunately people don't agree with. I believe we all have the right to be healthy, happy, and rich (It's the rich part where people always feel there stomach turn because we've been taught for hundreds of years that money is bad and struggling is honorable).

But money isn't my line of work, health and happiness are.

You deserve to be healthy and happy and I'm want to help you get there.

Like I said in the State of Gym Superstar video, this will be as transparent as it gets. I'm going to tell you my true feelings and what I think will help you or not.

But just me doing that won't help you at all really unless you are willing to take full responsibility and take consistant action in what I have to teach.

IT ALL COMES BACK TO YOU!

We are in the beginning of the greatest year of your life 2009.

How are you going to LIVE it?

Keep ROCKIN'!

Dan Grant

PS - If you missed any of the OPERATION: Burn Fat FAST! E-course it is now ready for download in full at http://www.beagymsuperstar.com

Happy New Year's!

2009-01-01T14:31:00.002-05:00

Hi,

Wanted to wish you all a very Happy New Year's!

I'm looking forward to having 2009 be the most successful and fun year of my life and I hope you're looking forward to the same for you, as well.

Me and 'The Beast' wanted to wish you a Happy New Year's on video too so last night at about 1030pm we shot this short vid. I was whispering (didn't want to startle Beast :) ) so turn up the speakers.

Since me and Marleen (my gf) won't be seeing each other until May potentially we decided to just lay low and go to a free ice skating for about an hour and then just relax and watch the Canada vs USA Junior Hockey game (which Canada won....OH YA!).

So this vid was shot right after we got home from the skate.

Gym Superstar is officially launching as a business in the next couple weeks and we have a lot planned for you in 2009. We've hit a couple 'road blocks' already, but that happens and we are working through all of that 'stuff'.

Have a great New Year's and let's ROCK 2009!

Dan Grant

Boxing Day Sale + SUCCESS

2008-12-26T00:01:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone,

The Boxing Sale is ON until 11:59 EST tonight.

With the new business getting started I wanted to give you a final crack at picking up some of my old products (well...not really old).

Even if you have one of the products it would definently be worth it to pick up the package...I mean, it's only $17 for EVERYTHING.

So instead of making this a long post you can:

A) Listen to the video below (It has a new resource I'm going to be using myself and I thought it could work for you too so I talk a little bit about it)

and/or

B) Just go over to http://www.gymsuperstar.com/boxingdaysale.html to see what's going on.

Hope you had a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Dan Grant

PS - Remember, 11:59 EST tonight http://www.gymsuperstar.com/boxingdaysale.html is coming down and some of my products will never be seen again.

The State of Gym Superstar and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2008-12-24T15:08:00.002-05:00

Hi Superstars,

I wanted to let you know where we are at and where we are going in 2009.

Just watch the video (sorry I keep looking down - I had notes on the computer so I didn't forget some points :) )

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Dan Grant

PS - Remember there is going to be a very time sensitive video for you this Friday.

My 405lb Deadlift Goal by Christmas

2008-12-16T23:13:00.002-05:00

When I started getting back into the heavy lifting routine after the long baseball season in October I made it a goal to deadlift 400 pounds by Christmas.

My max in October was 315 (3 plates a side), so not bad, but still quite a bit of work.

Well, today, I went for my goal.

405 pounds.....1 time.....could I do it?

Have you accomplished your goals this year?

With the New Year's coming up I know it's Resolution time so we've been putting together some videos and info together for you to help you out and make sure you accomplish all of your fitness goals for 2009.

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant

PS - What are your goals for the New Year? Let me know below.

Always Go After Your Dreams - Your Motivational Video for the Week

2008-12-07T23:41:00.006-05:00

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant

What I Believe and Kettlebell Week Begins

2008-11-30T20:20:00.003-05:00

What I Believe

Recently a very well known fitness professional wrote a blog post called ‘What I Believe’. He also put a call out for other fitness pros around the world to take action and create their own ‘What I Believe’ article.

I have taken him up on his offer and I urge you to do the same.

I Believe In ‘Real’ Functional Training

I believe that functional training is a term that has been so misused in the fitness industry that most people don’t even know what functional training actually is anymore.

Functional training is performing exercises that will help you in your daily activities. And if you want to be better at daily activities, such as, lifting a baby, bending over and picking up heavy box, carrying your groceries, or just kicking the crap out of your brother at every sport out there (sorry Mark) then you need to get strong.

Standing on half a balloon (actually known as the BOSU ball) with one leg and then doing an overhead dumbbell shoulder press isn’t going to help you at all. When’s the last time you were in your driveway and you needed to walk on a balloon to get inside your house while carrying groceries?

Learning how to properly deadlift and start to lift some heavier weight will help you, A LOT.

Pretty much everything we do is ground based. So why are we training on a ball?

Because it works our core more, right?

Ya…good one.

I Believe In Trying To Consume Foods That Help My Life

I believe that we should all focus on eating foods that help us live longer, not on foods that we live for.

Sure I’ll have a jack and coke every once in a while. But I won’t have it every weekend or every month for that matter.

When I’m at a birthday party I’ll usually have a piece of cake…hey, and maybe some ice cream with that too.

But 90% of the time I’m focusing on whole foods. Foods that help me feel great and will increase my energy and longterm health.

Fruits and vegetables are key foods.

I rarely drink sugary drinks and mostly just drink water. The only other liquid drink I’ll drink on a regular basis in a protein drink.

I believe that this is the only way we should eat to live a optimum and healthy life.

I Believe In Intensity

I believe in lifting heavy weights to build strength and muscle and I believe everybody should follow. (Ladies, you’re NOT going to bulk up by doing this)

I believe that high intensity is the key to fat loss success. If lifting light weight for high reps was the answer then all we would need to do is lift a couple soup cans in our house every day or just go outside and garden for a couple hours each day in the summer.

Gardening will not help you get in shape. Sorry, but when people tell me they garden as part of their exercise I sometimes feel like smashing my head through a wall….just kidding :)…I think it just shows how misinformed people really are.

I also believe in interval training as it continues to dominate slow cardio as a fat loss method through scientific studies. Here’s some studies if you’re interested:

Tremblay A, Simoneau JA, Bouchard C, (1994), “Impact of exercise
intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism",
Metabolism, 1994 Jul, 43, (7), pp 814-8.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8028502

Tabata I, Nishimura K, Kouzaki M, Hirai Y, Ogita F, Miyachi M,
Yamamoto K, (1996), "Effects of moderate-intensity endurance and high-
intensity intermittent training on anaerobic capacity and VO2max",
Med Sci Sports Exerc, 1996 Oct, 28, (10), pp 1327-30.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8897392

Yoshioka M, Doucet E, St-Pierre S, Alméras N, Richard D, Labrie
A, Després JP, Bouchard C, Tremblay A, (2001), "Impact of high-
intensity exercise on energy expenditure, lipid oxidation and body
fatness", Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord, 2001 Mar, 25, (3), pp 332-9.
Hyperlink http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11319629

What do you believe?

I believe a lot more and I’ll be expanding this article into a series of articles to come. Now I want to know what YOU believe and are you following those beliefs to help you conquer your fitness goals.

Let me know at dan @ gymsuperstar.com or in the comments box below.

Gym Superstar Exercise of the Day #10

The 180 Kettlebell Swing

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant

Gym Superstar Exercise Of the Day #9

2008-11-28T00:14:00.001-05:00

Have a GREAT weekend!

Dan Grant

Gym Superstar Exercise Of the Day #8 - Advanced Spiderman Pushups

2008-11-27T07:09:00.000-05:00

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant

Gym Superstar Exercise Of the Day #7

2008-11-26T00:48:00.000-05:00

Hi Superstars,

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant

Gym Superstar Exercise Of the Day #6

2008-11-25T00:48:00.001-05:00

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant

The Megan Fox Abs Workout and Gym Superstar Exercise of The Day #5

2008-11-23T23:51:00.005-05:00

Hey Superstars,

Megan Fox = Sexy Abs

Now is Megan’s workout a good one?

Probably not. Well, if she’s working out with a celebrity trainer then for sure not. Sorry Hollywood trainers but most of you are idiots.

In fact, I’ve read that she’s super lazy and tells her trainer to go home because she doesn’t want to workout most times.

She does control what she eats, however, but I’m guessing she probably doesn’t cook much. And don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying this as a bad thing, I would love to have my nutrition taken care of by someone else too if I could. I say good for her. But let’s get back on subject.

Ms. Fox has great genetics and does workout, but her workouts don’t exactly need to be top notch to get her that great body, because she already has the great body.

But what about people like you and me who weren’t exactly blessed with amazing genetics. Can we still get an incredible mid-section that will turn some heads?

For sure we can. It’s just going to take some work and planning.

Of course, you need the right attitude and get a clear vision of what you want.

Then it’s time to get to work, and I do mean work. ‘No sissy’s allowed’ kind of work:).
Full body exercises with interval training and a good nutrition plan.

Nutrition is such a hassle, I know. But it’s unfortunately completely necessary so you have to eat right. I’ve had the most success with the Precision Nutrition Program. Maybe you’ve had success with another program.

If you have, let us know below. We’re a team after all so make sure if you do know of any good programs to help your teammates out (other blog readers) and let them know about it:).

The Gym Superstar Exercise of the Day #5 is a GREAT exercise to help you on your way to a sexy mid-section.

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant

Gym Superstar Exercise Of the Day #4

2008-11-21T01:11:00.002-05:00

Hey Superstars,

Here's the GS Exercise of the Day #4 as shown to you by the birthday girl Michelle.

Happy Bday Michelle!

She's got a great core exercise for you that requires a bit of creativity if you don't have 'gliders'.

But I list some of those in the video.

For this exercise make you keep your core tight and your arms and legs locked the whole time.

Here's Michelle (she's like me...celebrating her birthday by spending the whole day at the gym :) )

Keep ROCKIN' IT all weekend Superstars,

Dan Grant

PS - What's your thoughts of the exercise of the day so far? Let us know so we can make this the best thing out there.

Gym Superstar Exercise Of the Day #3

2008-11-20T00:51:00.002-05:00

Hey Superstars,

It's 11pm right now and I'm 'up and at 'em' in about 5 and a half hours but I wanted to make sure that you got exercise #3 for week.

It's called the plank walk and my fabulous client Fawn helped me out by demonstrating the exercise for you.

(Pay close attention to the evil look she's giving me when I accidently call her Fay...oops)

Some points to remember about this exercise:

- keep your core tight while performing the exercise

- try and keep a fairly straight line from your shoulder to your ankle while performing the plank

- if you feel any discomfort in your shoulder then STOP!

- try to do as many as you can and then build from there

Enjoy the video!

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant

PS - I have an interview about an awesome fitness success story that will inspire you to make fitness apart of your daily life so make sure you stay tuned for that.

Leading Fitness Experts Give The Gift Of Health To World With Biggest Ever Health and Fitness Giveaway This Festive Season

2008-11-20T00:49:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday, December 10, Dax Moy and over 250 of the world's top fitness professionals will open the doors on the World’s largest ever health and fitness gift-giving, set to generate positive health for over 500,000 people this Christmas

The program, called ’12 days of fitness’ initially began when the UK's leading fitness professional, Dax Moy, wanted to express his gratitude to his clients and offered them a gift a day for 12 consecutive days as his twist of the 12 Days of Christmas.

Last year Moy shared this idea with fellow fitness professional Pat Rigsby and they expanded the 12 Days of Fitness to include not only their own clients but to the world at large and gave fitness gifts to over 200,000 people who signed up at the site at www.12daysoffitness.com.

This year, with the help of 250 of the world's top personal trainers, nutritionists, therapists and specialist fitness experts, the 12 days of fitness is set to become the biggest fitness gift giveaway in history with expected downloads of over 500,000 between the 10th and 22nd of December. "There’s never been another health event like this, where so many people stand to benefit from the expertise of true professionals for free” says Moy who has been working flat out to make this year’s 12 days a success.

“Fitness professionals from around the globe have contributed hundreds of e-books, reports, videos, meal plans and other free gifts in their hope of making 2009 the year that anyone, regardless or their location, financial situation or past failures, can finally reach their fitness goals and make those New Year's Resolutions a reality once and for all.”

Perhaps the best part of the 12 Days of Fitness giveaway is that regardless of a persons health or fitness goals, there are going to be gifts specifically designed to help them achieve success.

"We've received gifts designed for busy mom's, elite athletes, bodybuilders, back pain sufferers and pretty much anyone else you can imagine covering everything from fat loss to rehabilitation and everything in between.

There literally will be something for everyone this year and all of it free, making it, without a doubt, one of the most important gifts anyone will receive this year. After all, what’s more important than health?”

The 12 days of gift giving starts December 10th but those interested are urged to visit www.12daysoffitness.com right away to sign up for their free gifts.

Once enrolled, participants will get a daily email telling them how to access each of the new gifts that are being added each day as well as a reminder on how to access previous gifts.

To guarantee a healthy start to 2009, simply visit www.12daysoffitness.com today.

Gym Superstar Exercise Of the Day #2

2008-11-19T00:09:00.002-05:00

Hey Superstars,

Thanks for the feedback on Exercise Of the Day #1.

Here's number 2 for ya and Scotty J is going to show you this one too.

Notice the wicked Bruce Lee shirt he's sporting...I need to get some cool shirts like that.

Make sure you keep sending in your ideas and what you want to see and whenever I get some time I'll be recording for you.

Now, I realize that exercise #1 was an exercise that not too many people could do, but as difficult as this new one looks, you can definently do it.

We're hitting the core and get a little explosive with this exercise...it will jack your metabolism up :).

Take it away, Scotty J!

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant

Gym Superstar Exercise Of the Day #1

2008-11-18T06:54:00.002-05:00

Hey Superstars,

I tried to get this up last night but my computer was going super slow so I got up a little earlier (It's 4:30am right now) to get it up.

We are going to try and do an exercise of the day for you guys.

They'll be fairly advanced...sometimes not...but they will for sure make you look like superstars in the gym :).

Not every exercise of the day will be for everybody, but if you think you can do the then give them a shot and tell us what you think.

Now I would like to introduce Scotty J to you.

He'll take over from here and show you the GymSuperstar.com Exercise of the Day #1.

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant

PS - What kind of exercises are you looking for?

PPS - We did do a cable exercise video yesterday, so that will be up soon.

Successful Fat Loss Needs a Clear Vision

2008-11-15T18:19:00.002-05:00

I used to struggle with my business because of one simple fact.

I didn’t know where I was going.

I had a great passion to help people and of course I wanted to make a lot of money doing it, but I would constantly struggle to get my business to grow.

If you ask people about me, most of them might say I have ADHD, but I don’t.

My brain does work ‘overtime’ a lot, but it’s because I have so many ideas and I really analyze some things a lot more then needed.

Same with my old business. I would just analyze and put new ideas into it, but I never had an end goal in mind.

Probably like your fitness plan. Maybe you’re always adding new exercises and taking out old ones (which is fine), but maybe at the same time you aren’t really seeing the results you want.

The question really is, do you have an end goal in mind and do you have a specific date by when you want to reach that goal?

If you don’t, your chances of being successful are not very good.

Setting end goals in a specific time frame helps make all that ‘in-between’ work a little more urgent and gets your mind in a proper ‘let’s get this done’ frame.

You’re going to hear me say this, in a variety of different ways, over and over, but without the right attitude you are going to fail in the long term.

And stay away from “I want to look good at Amy’s wedding” stuff too. Why is it okay to be fat and then you all of a sudden need to look good for the wedding?

Because there are cameras?

You know the worst part about this whole ‘I need to change right now’ way of thinking?

It doesn’t help a lot of people become successful in the short term either. I’ve had plenty of people come to me so I can design them a program that can get them sexier in 4-8 weeks and they still can’t follow through because they don’t have the right mind frame and they are still going back to their old habits.

Having a clear vision and an end goal helps to change your old habits into new ones. That’s how long term success is made.

You are where you are now, whether you’re fat or just a little out of shape and want to firm up, because of the decisions you’ve made and the habits you do.

A clear, end goal can help change that.

Do you have any thoughts on this?

If you do then click on the comments area below.

Hope your having a great weekend.

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant

Thanks Superstars

2008-11-14T08:14:00.001-05:00

Birthday Fitness Fun....and The People Pull

2008-11-12T00:02:00.002-05:00

Hey Superstars,

So today is my birthday.

I'm 27 today and I'm having a Fitness Birthday party by working for 15 hours from 6am-9pm.

Why?

Well, one reason is because I don't really have family here in Edmonton. They are all in Thunder Bay, ON and my girlfriend is in Virginia going to grad school. All my buddies work at the gym anyways so I will be having some fun with them.

Maybe doing something like we did last Friday...The People Pull

Behind me on the pull is Scott and Michelle (aka. the fitest person in the world)...

Every friday we do an intense workout together and then sometimes we decide to experiment a little bit....

Have fun laughing at Michelle screaming for her safety at the back (By the way, I don't reccomend trying this yourself...we are trained professionals you know...or trained idiots :) )

It's fun, a little strange, but who cares?

Do you have any fun, maybe weird exercises that you do at the gym?

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant

PS - A have some new videos coming soon...cable training, inhome workouts, fast workouts....they're coming so keep a look out for them.

A Day of Remembrance

2008-11-11T18:03:00.000-05:00

Hi Superstars,

Today is Remembrance Day so I put up this video on the blog today as a tribute to the soldiers who have died in combat.

Since I am Canadian, it is a Canadian video.

I've never been involved in the military but I fully understand what this day means to millions of people on this day.

My mom was born in Milwaukee and her uncle fought in WWII.

I was living in Illinois when 9/11 happened and was living in Iowa when The War On Terrorism began. Actually, a teammate (I played college baseball) was formerly in the military and his first captain was actually killed in the Pentagon attack.

I met a soldier a couple years ago who was in the deadlist battle to date in the war and about 3/4 of his squad were killed in that battle. Watching him, his wife and his two daughters hanging out at a friends wedding gave me chills knowing what he had been through.

You'll notice the name PTE JOSH KLUKIE come on your screen early in the video. He was from Thunder Bay (my hometown) and he went to school with my girlfriend.

Today at the gym at 11am we turned off all the music and stood in silence for 1 minute to pay our respects.

Please take a moment to pay your respects.

Dan Grant

Quick Workout Idea

2008-11-08T17:21:00.000-05:00

Hey Superstars,

here's a quick video I shot this morning.

You wanted a quick workout idea, and you here it is for you.

It's a really quick video and it's just the start.

As you notice we only do jumping jacks and jump squats.

You can use a variety of different exercises and in some upcoming videos I'll show you a bunch of solid exercises you can use in the form I show in the video.

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant

PS - If you see a post you like and want to share it with anybody you think it would help, all you have to do is click that envelope looking thing by the comments link. Pretty cool.

Feeling like total crap and working out

2008-11-06T23:04:00.000-05:00

I had a rough day at the gym today. My workout didn't exactly go as planned.

Why?

I give you a little insight on my currently not very good sleeping pattern which is the number 1 reason.

But, what do you want to hear about?

Let me know in the comments section below.

Enjoy!

Now I'm not saying that if you feel a little tired then don't workout because I know that's the perfect excuse to not go to the gym.

I'm saying that if you're body is just physically exhausted then take a break for a day or two. I've already got a few workout in this week and have a very intense cardio workout (which I hope to get on video) tomorrow, so doing today's workout would have been totally unproductive.

Any thoughts?

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant

Is This The Most Important Step In Fat Loss?

2008-11-02T20:35:00.000-05:00

I’m guilty of this sometimes when I’m about to go on a new venture of ‘changing’ myself or the world around me.

You know what I’m saying. That rush of motivation and inspiration that the thing you are about to do will change your life forever.

Then 3 or 4 days later you find it a lot harder to do…and eventually that initial life changing motivation begins to fade away into the darkness of failure until the next time you want to try to change your body and/or life forever.

For a lot of people, every January 1st is that day. For others, it could be their birthday. Or for others it could be after reading an inspiring book. But it doesn’t really matter when you do it, it’s the fact that you’re constantly failing.

That’s the problem, and it’s a problem that not enough fitness experts talk about.

Don’t get me wrong, when I started out in this industry I was the same way, but I’ve grown to accept that there’s a lot more to the fat loss game then just the nutrition part and the workout part.

We’re soft. We don’t want to work hard. We don’t want to make sacrifices.

We want to feel good and we want to feel good NOW.

Can I really say that ATTITUDE is the most important part of successful fat loss?

Maybe.

We all really start out with the ‘right’ attitude, I just think we aren’t strong enough mentally to keep the right attitude because our brain is telling us that this is going to be a lot tougher then we originally thought so maybe we should just slow down or quit.

Every time you feel that discomfort or have your mind asking you, “is this really worth it?” that’s not a bad thing.

That’s a great thing because it’s giving you the opportunity to grow and change your old shitty habits into new good habits that will actually get you a better life and get you a better body.

You need a clear vision of what you want and the patience to let things ‘work’.

Society has messed our minds with all this instant results stuff and I think it’s time to actually make significant long term changes and not hope and pray for the next ‘miracle’ pill or diet book to come out.

The most important thing in my eyes is to understand that a clear vision and a strong and powerful attitude are needed for anything to be a long term success.

That’s why you’re at my blog and that’s why only a certain few will qualify to take on my advice.

Are you one of them?

If you think you are then you should go to www.operationburnfat.com to find out.

Do you have any thought's about this post?

If you do please post your comments and thoughts below.

Keep ROCKIN' IT!

Dan Grant
www.operationburnfat.com

PS - VIDEOS are coming. Probably by this weekend will be the first one. Is there anything specific you'd like to know about becoming a GYM SUPERSTAR? Just let me know in the comments section.

Coming Soon To A Blog Near You

2008-10-26T21:07:00.000-04:00

We are going to be LIVE and up and running next week.

November 3rd is the projected launch date.

Stay Tuned!

To see if you qualify for my exclusive e-course go to http://www.operationburnfat.com
right now.

Keep ROCKIN' IT,

Dan