In fact, research shows that the Sprint 8 workout increases the body's Human Growth Hormone production by a whopping 530% for up to 2-3 hours after your workout.

It's the perfect workout to get you ready to conquer the Gladiator Rock'n Run Obstacles:

* Stairway to Heaven

* Hell's Hills

* Rope a Dope

But why is Human Growth Hormone (HGH) important?

It increases muscle size and strength. It helps incinerate body fat, improves skin texture, thickness elasticity.  It increases sexual potency, frequency and improves energy levels and exercise endurance.  Hell, increased HGH just makes you feel better!

How do you do it naturally?  

The Sprint 8 Workout.  It's "Gladiator Tough!"

The principle is simple. You warm up for 2-3 minutes then Sprint, Run, Pedal or Swim as hard as you can for 30 seconds. After your gut-busting, heart burning, all out "30 second workout," you decrease the intensity to a comfortable level for 90 to 120 seconds.

Then do it all over again for a total of 8 cycles.  

If you are doing this correctly.  You'll know.  You'll be sweating… pardon my French… your ass off.

Here is a sample of how the Sprint 8 Workout would look on a bicycle.  But remember you can apply Sprint 8 to any cardio workout you currently do.  I do it on the treadmill and in the pool.

* Warm up 3 to 5 minutes.  This is crucial.  It will raise the core temperature of your body.

* Set 1.  30 seconds of high intensity riding.  (70% of max capable effort)

      * Recover for 90 seconds by pedaling at a comfortable pace.

*Set 2.  30 second of high intensity. (75% of max.)

      * Recover for 90 seconds.

* Set 3.  30 Seconds of high intensity. (80% of max.)

      * Recover for 90 seconds.

*Set 4.  30 Seconds of high intensity. (85% of max.)

      * Recover for 90 seconds.

* Set 5. 30 Seconds of high intensity. (90% of max)

      * Recover 90 seconds.

*Set 6. 30 Second of high intensity. (95% of max)

      *Recover 90 seconds.

*Set 7. 30 Seconds of high intensity. (100% of max)

     *Recover 90 seconds.

* Set 8. 30 seconds of high intensity (100% max)

     *Recover for 3-5 minutes. 

I've recently done this workout with a few people.  Everyone agrees – it kicks butt.  The best thing about it, it doesn't matter what your level of fitness is.  It works for everyone!

Don't get stuck standing still. Take action. Do something. Try the Sprint 8 Workout!

Be Gladiator Tough!

Dan "Nitro" Clark

 

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It not about distance. 

It not about time. 

It not about speed.

It's about place.

The Grand Pitons of St. Lucia.  They are jaw-dropping stunning and one of the "1000 Things You Should See Before You Die."  

The run was through this sleepy little village island of St. Lucia in the Caribbean called “Fonds Gens Libre” which means “valley of the free people.”  The name of the village hints at its history.  It is where the native runaway slaves (Neg Mawons) and the black freedoms fighter first settled during the slave wars in 1748.

 

The run started on the outskirts of my hotel the Jalousie Plantation.

Within minutes I disappeared into a lush rain forest and was lost amongst giant ferns and massive bursts of green vegetation.  

I charged through a clearing, ran down a long dirt road past an ancient cacao plantation through magnificent stands of cocoa, banana, and coconut.  As I entered Fonds Gens Libre and raced past the small wooden shacks the speckled the hillside my heart pumped so hard in my chest — I could literally hear the battle cries of the ghost of the Neg Mawons. 

I thought about their battles.  The blood spilled for freedom.  And it made me think about our freedoms.  Our great country.  The things we take for granted. 

It made me think about this last year.  The triumphs… the failures… the dreams and the losses.  

I came to an impossibly steep incline – and charged up it for all I was worth.  My heart rattled against my ribs and my lungs burst, then finally hacking, spitting, grunting – I reached the top of the hill.  

There I stopped, took a deep breath in, and looked at the valley that spilled into view below me. 

Baptized by the fire and the adrenaline that only a hard run can bring, I'm filled with the desire to be a better man.  A better father. A better brother, son, companion and friend.   

And that’s what  a great run is. 

It’s a stage to get to a better part of ourselves.  To hear our inner voice.  To open up that hallowed place within us that allows us to connect with God, Allah, nature, the universe or whatever you may call it.

It’s a place I yearn to return to again and again. 

It’s the reason I run.  

Now go out there and get your run on – so you'll be ready for the "Gladiator Rock'n Run."   

Dan "Nitro" Clark

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The first thing you need to know about Tyra is that she works her tail off and has a great, hard working staff. It's her vision, but they make it happen.  A special shout-out to exec producer John Redmann.  The next thing you need to do is be ready and bring your "A" game 'cause it all happens fast.  

I got the call from Tyra's staff asking me if I would be interested in coming on the show on a Friday to talk about my memoir "Gladiator – A True Story of 'Roids, Rage and Redemption."  Then Saturday I did the pre-interview.  

Monday I'm on a plane from Los Angeles to New York. Tuesday I'm on the Tyra Banks show.  The reason the pre-interview you is because the want to make sure you're lively and great on the phone — meaning you will make a great guest.  

The pre-interview was a new experience for me.  Most of the talk shows I've done were for the American Gladiators.  There have been numerous — from Good Morning American to the Tonight Show — and I simply showed up on set and talked about Gladiators — talked about being Nitro.  

Being on as an author was definitely new territory.  I knew I couldn't go on and be that cocky-guy who lead with his fist — but I also wanted to be exciting, interesting with a touch of salaciousness.  The pre-interview went on for nearly 90 minutes.  Even though I knew I was going to be on the show, I was nervous, thinking I was going to screw it up somehow.  

I think the most important thing is being true to yourself and your message and not pushing or forcing to try and be something you're not, so they'll think you're great. 

I arrived in New York late Monday night for my appearance the next day.  I won't bore you with my nightly rituals, except to say — I called my girlfriend, told her I missed her, then drifted off to sleep.  

My publicists and I arrived at the studio in the early afternoon and were immediately buffeted into a dressing room.   No sooner had I put my bag down, when a bouncy producer walked in and handed me my script and asked me if I wanted to run through it once.  Huh?  

Remember that pre-interview?  

Well, they take all of the good stuff, put it into a question answer format, and basically hand you an outline of the show.  This is what Tyra is going to ask you.  This is how you're going to respond, or at least did in the pre-interview.  Hint- hint.  Wink-wink.  

Bouncy, cute producer tells me she's going to be Tyra and I'm going to be me, and wants to run through it once to see how it plays. Alrighty, then.  We go through it once and I'm disappointed because all the questions are geared around sensationalizing the side-effects of steroids.  

I'm more then disappointed, I'm disheartened.  

Because I know my book goes miles deeper and at the heart of it, it's about: identity, love, family, addiction and survivorship told through the prism of celebrity.  I also know that to connect and really resonate with Tyra's female audience I had to find a way to work in the "human" side of the story into my segments. 

I had to let her audience know this book was an emotional journey — about a little boy whose parents we're divorced when he was 5 years old and who cried inconsolably until a man told him "big boys don't cry."   

That boy took those words to heart and didn't cry when he was ten years old — and his older brother died in his arms — then spent the rest of the life trying to become whole again, trying be human, trying to feel.

Yes, this journey involved drugs,women, celebrity — but I also knew even at the darkest points my humanity shined through in my life and on the page.  

Suddenly a producer popped in — whisked me down the hallway to the stage area — all I can think about is how to get the story I want tell across while still satisfying the producer's needs. Now, I'm standing behind a curtain at the back of the stage while they are doing my introduction and it's really something.  

"Most famous Gladiator, huge hunk, every women's fantasy."  I feel myself swell up with pride until — the announcers says — "Who grew breast from steroids.  Welcome Dan Nitro Clark!"   

The stage manager pulled back the curtain and tells me to "Go, Go!"  I stumbled on stage feeling awkward as hell, not sure whether to smile and wave, or hang my head down in shame and embarrassment.   I kinda did both.  I think.  You'll have to watch my entrance and let me know. 

So, I'm sitting next to Tyra, still a little thrown by the introduction — being in front a live audience staring, by having three cameras targeted toward at me like canons.   But now, I'm more determined then ever to tell the story I want to tell and not get caught up in this whirlwind of sensationalism about steroids.  

I make up my mind right then and there that no matter what she asks me — I'm going to answer her question then start talking about "human" aspect of the journey.  Tyra asks me the first question, "When did you start taking steroids?" I give her the one sentence answer and dive into, "But what I really want to talk about is how we stereotype boys and girls at a young age."  

I could see Tyra look at me a like, "Ahh, what??".

I keep going and tell the story about my parents being divorced, being inconsolable, the words big boys don't cry, and how it affected me.  I tell her about my brother dying in my arms, and how I didn't cry.  

I tell her about how I spent the rest of my life building this huge body, all to protect that kid inside.  

And I'm talking FAST.  Real fast, just trying to get the story out.  And I'm aware that I'm talking hyper-fast which makes me even talk faster. I keep thinking at any moment they are going to "Gong me" and stop shooting and tell me to get the hell back to the script.  

As the words keep spilling out of my mouth, I see Tyra keep eyes shoot down to her script then back at me with a glare that says, "What the hell are you talking about?"   I now realize I've been talking non-stop for close to a few minutes when Tyra suddenly looks at me and says: "Oh my God, how did your brother die?"  

Her question is sincere and her eyes are full of compassion.  I take a deep breath in and tell her the story. Then we took the interview from there moment by moment.  

Kudos to Tyra for letting me have that moment and being such a pro that she knew a better story when she heard it, and for trusting herself and me to go with it.   

Be brilliant and please check out my book "Gladiator."  I think you'll be stunned and shocked. It's actually good.

Dan "Nitro" Clark

On the Beach.  Smiling.  Walking toward a place I want to go in my life.

 

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Take me for example.  I went from the blustery world of Red, White and Blue spandex starring as “Nitro” on the American Gladiators for 7 years to reading Oprah.com.

And yep, I take a lot of flak for it from my buddies. It usually sounds something like: "What happened to you?  You used to be a man."

The truth is, I’m still a man. Just a better man.

Once I let go of the old ideology of what it meant to be a man – the transformation began. When I was young I believed a man was the toughest guy in the room with the icy stare who was impervious to feeling anything.

In the past, I often led with my ego and my fists, because violence or at least the threat of it was just easier.  But then I realized I was isolated.  I was a prisoner locked inside my meat-suit.

It wasn’t until I made the transformation from “man” to “human being” that I was free live as a: 

Father, teacher, student, writer, friend, and a fully conscious being who could feel. My mind set went from "what's in it for me?" to "how can I help you?"

The point I’m trying to make as the end of the year rapidly approaches is:

Are you living your best life?  Are you walking toward a place you want to go?

Or is there some type of transformation you need to make to become the better version of yourself?

If so, now it the time to act. 

There will never be another moment like this.

There will never be a better time. 

There will never be another now. 

Time flees so fast it’s hard to fathom.  Hopes, dreams, great ideas, become time-worn relics in the chest of “what could have been.”

Take in a stiff breath of courage.  Take those first few steps.  Start making that transformation.  Start on that path to a happier and healthier life.  Start walking toward a place you want to go.

You deserve to be happy.  You really do.

Here are a couple question that may help you along the journey:

• What do you love to do?
• What makes time disappear?
• What makes you smile when you think about doing it?
• What do people say you’re good at and have a knack for?
• What comes easy to you that other people find challenging?
• What have been some of your most rewarding experiences in the past?
• How would you finish this question: "If only I could make a living at… "

Good luck along the way.  Be brilliant!

Dan Clark

Pic of Me and Kid Rock goofin' around.

BTW – about Oprah.com. I’ll take good information from anyplace I can get it!  Including GQ, Men's Health, NY Times, Esquire,  Best Life, and Shape. 

 

Technorati Tags: Dan Clark, Nitro, American Gladiator Nitro, Best life, Fitness tips, Life Transformation, Shape, GQ, Men's Health, Oprah.com, Oprah, how to live a better life, how to become a better man, living your best life, how to be happier, how to be healthier, what is a real man?