Friday, 30 March 2012



Dan The Man's Summer Shape Up Program!

Alright folks lets face it summer is just around the corner, lets go from FLAB to FABULOUS!



I am offering 3 months total body transformation to get you ready for summer! Program will run from April 15 until July 15th.  If your looking to gain muscle or shed that unwanted body fat this is the program for you!  Whats all included:
  •  10% percent off regular prices (HURRY ONLY HAVE ROOM FOR 3 MORE CLIENTS)
  • You will get three months of nutritional counceling and customized meal plan for FREE (this is valued at $300.00!!
  • Your own workout journal so I can track your progress along the way.  Journal is packed full of fitness and nutrtion tips(valued at $25.00)
  • Fitness evaluation and assesments every two weeks throughout the challenge
  • 3 personal training sessions/week with Dan the Man himself at Vital Edge Health Studio!
  • Customized Cardio and resistance training plan made for you!
  • Unlimited Online support throughout the challenge!
To Find out Why Dan is the MAN like his page on facebook



Thursday, 29 March 2012


Frequently Asked Questions I Get As a Personal Trainer

             Q:  I want to get into shape but don’t have time to work out?

A)      My first answer too this is make time!  Everybody is busy with work, children, housework etc.  The list of excuses not to work out could go on forever.  How many hours do you spend watching television, sitting on the computer or whatever else cut that out and make time!  Think of it this way, you can be in awesome shape working out less than 6 hours a week.  That is including your weight training and cardio.  That is only 6 hours out of 168 hours in a week, that’s about 3% of your time which will be invested into yourself being healthier and living a longer life!  How can you not have time when you look at it that way!


·         Q)  What is a realistic amount of weight loss per week?

A)       First off I will ask you how long it took to put the weight on.  I can guess that didn’t happen overnight so neither will losing it! I believe 1-2 pounds/week is a healthy number to shoot for when losing weight.  This can be achieved without living in the gym and starving yourself.  With a sensible exercise/nutrition plan it can be done.  However keep in mind if you only have say 10 pounds to lose it will be a lot harder and slower going.  The larger amount of weight you are trying to lose it might come off faster in the beginning.  This number is an average some might lose slower but don’t be discouraged.  If the weight is dropping too fast I become concerned because a lot of that won’t be fat, it will be a lot of muscle mass which is counterproductive as it slows your metabolism down.

·         Q) I want to gain muscle and lose body fat at the same time, how can I do this?

A)     Um yeah me too, this is everyone’s dream, unfortunately it doesn’t work that way with gaining muscle you have to put on a little bit of body fat.  Your body needs that body fat as an energy source so it doesn’t break down that hard earned muscle as fast as your building it! 


·         Q) Will lifting weights make me bulky?

A)     NO! Lifting weights is going to help you look lean, toned amd get your metabolism going to drop body fat.  When you see people that are “bulky” from weight lifting this did not happen by accident. Their training program and diet was designed to make them that way.  With the right nutrition and training program you will look lean and toned from weightlifting!



·         Q)  What supplements are the best to take?
A)      My answer is get your diet on track first.  If your nutrition and training aren’t on track forget about supplements! Spend your money on someone knowledgeable and get on a meal/training program customized for you.  That will bring you more results then buying expensive supplements and having a crappy diet!  After that is on track then talk to me about supplements to help with progress.

Q) How many days a week should I work out?

A)     That is a complicated question that varies completely depending on your goals.  It will also change depending on your nutrition/sleep patterns/ stress levels/ fitness levels/previous training/ work and many other things that effect recovery.  If you hardly eat, don’t sleep much, party on weekends and are stressed out then you aren’t going to be able to train five days a week like some bodybuilders or athletes.  You would quickly overtrain and actually regress further away from your goals if you tried.  All these things will slow down recovery.  I don’t train over four days a week and I would say my nutrition, sleep, and stress levels are excellent.  I also have been training for almost eight years.  Remember more is not always better!

·         Q) How can I afford personal training isn’t it expensive?

A)     No, people can afford it. It is just a matter of how much you want to invest in your health.  I meet people who will eat out five times a week, buy a Starbucks coffee every day, go for drinks….this list could go on forever.  Get rid of the unhealthy choices in your life and invest that into your health and set your priorities straight.   Even myself being a trainer; has a coach who I pay to keep me on track, and I even used to have one when I was in university.  So if I could find the money for it while in school I believe it is more affordable then you think.

·         Q) Why can’t you just write me a program and well check up in a month?

A)      This doesn’t work for many reasons.  As a trainer it is hard for me to customize your program when I am not there to see your progress.  This is also a problem for me to make sure you are doing the exercises properly and pushing yourself.  Without the intensity you will not progress!  Also when I see you in a month and you haven’t been to the gym since it’s a problem.  I’m there to keep you accountable and make sure your workouts get not only done but finished properly.




Sunday, 25 March 2012

Getting Started in the Gym….Here’s Some Tips to Get You Started in the Right Direction!

Over my career as a personal trainer I always get the same questions on people getting started in the gym.  So here’s a short article to cover the basics and get you started in the right direction!  These are the two most frequent questions I get asked.

How many days a week should I be lifting weights?

 This is a question I am frequently asked by clients from beginners to advanced that I have trained.  This answer can vary depending on your current level of fitness, training intensity, diet, occupation and many other variables in your life.  That’s something a GOOD personal trainer can determine what is right for you (Dan The MAN could help you decide this!)  But here’s some tips to help you!                                                                                                 

    Starting off resistance training you will see great results from 3 days/week of weight training providing that the intensity is there in the workout and you are using your time in the gym efficiently!  Average workouts should be 30-45 minutes to start.  Eventually increasing time to an hour. So that’s between 1.5- 3 hours a week of weight training.  So you can see you don’t have to live at the gym to see results!  Consistency is the key, doing three workouts one week and none the next week will keep you STUCK without progressing!

Don't forget that when it comes to losing weight or building muscle that at least 75% of your results are from nutrtion. Maybe more!  Only 25% is from your exercise program!

   I have been bodybuilding consistently for the last six years and am still following a four day/ week program right now.  So you can see you can still look good, be healthy and have a life outside of training!  I have NEVER made a client a program with more than five days a week of weight training.  This is what I see a lot in the gym are people trying to build muscle or lose body fat training six days a week! When is the body recovering?  Unless your sleep and nutrition are perfect, it’s probably not.  This can slow down results just as much as training inconsistently.

How Much Cardio Should I be Doing?

  The problem I see with people doing cardio in the gym is they are doing it for the wrong reasons.  If i see someone in the gym that is doing hours on end of cardio everyday and ask them why they are doing it they usually say to lose weight, looked toned or drop body fat.  Well that is for all the wrong reasons!  Cardio is not the ideal way to burn body fat!  My weight loss clients are started out doing an hour of walking split up into 20 min periods 3 times a week and increased from there.  Unless you are training for a marathon cardio DOES NOT need to be done daily especially if your following a resistance training program as well.  Weight training and nutrition is the key to burning body fat.  To much cardio (depending on the intensity and duration) can actually lead to muscle loss which will slow down metabolism and actually be counter productive to your weight loss goals.  Not sure how much cardio is right for you? contact me for your cardio plan today! 

Get started on that 6 pack BEFORE the summer!


...AND NO I didn't mean the one you get from the liqour store!

Here are some more advanced abdominal exercises to target different parts of your abs! The first exercise is going to target your lower abs. 

Hanging Leg Lifts

These are a great exercise to use when leg lifts on a bench become to easy for you!  We will first go through the exercise then show you how to increase the difficulty.  Start by hanging from a chin-up bar with the body straight, then raise the legs and slowly lower them back down.  Remember to keep it under control on the way up and down so your not just swinging!  If you find these too difficult bend your knees to make it easier.