The best part about it?  

It can be done anywhere you have apparatus to pull yourself up.  I've done "The Ultimate 9 Minute Workout" at the gym, on a tree limb, sign post, anywhere that can hold my body weight.  So disregard the Pilates machines, Bocce Balls, Barbells and fancy equipment – and let's get started.

Warning:  This workout may be short and simple to perform, but it is HARD.  It will leave you bent over and panting for dear life. Only those who are truly "Gladiator Tough" and ready for a challenge should try it.  

The Ultimate 9 Minute Workout is a combination of a Pull-Up, Push Up and Burpee – done in succession.  I like to call it a "Gladiator-Up." 

How To Perform The Exercise:   

Stand underneath a pull-up bar, tree branch or any kind of bar that will support your weight.  To start you jump up, grab the bar and do a single pull up.  Then hop down and do a push up — burpie — then spring back up to your feet landing in a squatting position.  From there, you do it all over again… and again. 

Here's a quick demonstration:

Ladies, don't fret.  If needed, you can modify by using a regular lat pull down, or the pull up machine at the gym.  If you're outside, have a partner spot you on the pull-up, and do push-ups on your knees.  No shame there, as I'm sure some of the men will be doing the same.

The Ultimate 9 Minute Workout:

Consists of the three sets that are three minutes each in duration.  These are all out — gut busting sets — as quick as you possibly can — sets.  If you can breathe or talk during your set, you aren't pushing hard enough.  After your first 3 minute set take a 90-120 second rest.  Then hop back up and do it all over again until you've performed 3 sets.

Challenge Yourself:

By trying to get knock out as many reps as you can in each set.  If you can get 40 reps in a set, you're really cranking.

Look for the "Vitamin Shoppe / Gladiator Tough Challenge"

May, 7th, 2011 at the Gladiator Rock'n Run in So Cal - Vitamin Shoppe will be hosting a contest to see which Gladiator/Gladiator-ette can bang off the most "Gladiator Up" reps in 3 minutes.  Prizes, Product and Free Gladiator Rock'n Run entries to the Winners!

See you there!

Dan "Nitro" Clark

PS: Let me know what you think of the workout and how many reps you can do in the 3 Minutes.  I want to jump in on the challenge!

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They are LIFESTYLE – NUTRITION books.  

Why?

Because study after study show that diets don't work. Yet diet books continue to follow the typical formula: First there's the sympathy for the would-be weight loser, blaming the excess pounds on everyone but them. Then comes the revolutionary formula that will torch those pounds forever. 

How many of you have tried the "in" diet before?  And how many of you have initially lost weight only to fall off the wagon and eventually gain it all back?  Count me right in there with you.

But you know what I learned over the last 25 years? 

It's simple, consistent actions taken every day that make the difference when it comes to health and happiness. It's never about a diet and ALWAYS about making lifestyle changes.

It's finding nutritious foods that you love that you can eat every day that you also find satisfying so you're never feel hungry or depleted. It's making exercise a daily part of your life.  I'm not talking about moving mountains – I'm talking about simply getting yourself moving every day.  The key, just like when it comes to food, is finding something you love to do. It doesn't matter if it's yoga, pilates, boxing, swimming, fitness walking – find what you love and enjoy and it won't seem like exercise. It will… get this… it will be FUN.

This really is the secret not only when it comes to food and exercise but to everything in life.  Find what you LOVE to do and it will never seem like work.  Learn to make your vocation your occupation and you are truly a wealthy person.

What do I love to do?  

I love helping people change their lives so they can live a happier, healthier more fulfilled life. To that end I give you my three favorite nutrition books of the year.

I've attached a link to be helpful because I know we buy things on the spur of the moment and also when they are easily accessible.  So just click on the book and it'll take you to Amazon.com so you can start enjoying the benefits!

"Sugar Blues" by William Duffy.  I first came across this book when I was reading Jenny McCarthy's blog on Oprah.com.  Yep, that's right.  I went from beating the crap out of guys on TV to hanging out on Oprah.com.  Hey, I'll take good information from any place I can get.  This classic, bestselling book is a stunning expose about what sugar does to the body. I knew it was bad, but I had no idea it was THIS bad.  Be sure to pick up this oldie but goodie.  You'll never look at sugar the same. 

The End of Over Eating by David Kessler.  This by the former head of the Food and Drug Administration is a must read. It looks at our growing obesity problem and our inability to control our food intake as a culture.  It talks about how the food industry is in collusion with the advertising industry and how they spend of 30 billions dollars a year enticing us to eat!  It also provides his take on a solution so you'll never overeat again. 

In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan.  The best line of the book is the first line and a line I LIVE by: "Eat Real Food. Not too much. Mostly Plants."  So forget the diet and do just that.  This book shows you how and informs you about how processed and nutritionalized food have replaced real food.  It's a real eye opener and a quick, informative read. 

There you have it.  Please enjoy and let me know if they work for you and also share with me some your favorite nutrition books!

Be Brilliant!

Dan Clark

BTW — Here's my absolute favorite protein powder - Sun Warrior Brown Rice protein. It's all I'll take now. I ran out of it — went back to whey and almost vomited — I wish I would've because my stomach was upset all day.  I know brown rice, vegan, raw, with no added sugar is a little more expensive than the other proteins, but you are so worth it!!!  Check it out by clicking the link above.

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 The HCG diet calls for eating just 500 calories a day while taking daily injections of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), a hormone produced by pregnant women and excreted in their urine.

 You heard me correctly. "It comes from pregnant women's piss." 

 HCG has recently splashed across the headlines as the drug disgraced Los Angeles Dodger Manny Ramirez used that lead to his 50 game suspension from baseball.  Now people are using it to try and lose weight thanks to Kevin Trudeau's 2007 book, "The Weight Loss Cure 'They' Don't Want You to Know About."

Somethings are better off not knowing. This is one. 

 Using HCG as a weight loss tool only spells one thing: DISASTER.  Not only are there hundreds of possible harmful side effects, but it's been proven time and time again, that fad diets simply DO NOT work. They are a temporary solution to a permanent problem.

Take this statistic into consideration:  

Last year, we spent an estimated $45 billion on diets and diet-related products, yet we’re still the fattest nation in the world.  To add insult to injury a recent government study found that two-thirds of American dieters regained all the weight they had lost within a year, and 97 percent had gained it all back within five years.  

What does work?

 First we have to realize that there is no "silver bullet" solution when it comes to weight loss. Losing weight is not a sprint, it's a process. It's a lifestyle. It's about doing simple things on a daily basis that will change your body and life forever.

Over the upcoming weeks I'll happily share some of the simple things that I've learned over the last 25 years that have put me on a path to a happier, healthier more fulfilled life, and have allowed me to obtain and maintain the phenomenal health I enjoy today. 

Stay tuned!  

DAN CLARK

BTW — the BEST PROTEIN POWDER I've ever tried is Sun Warrior protein.  It's from brown rice and digest easily and the assimilation into the body is the highest on the market and it's the only nutritional product I recommend on my website.  Check it out. 

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  Why are some people healthy, happy, and fit and others are not?  It's simple. There are those who "do" and those who "do not."  It's pretty clear which category the fit people belong in and which those who struggle with obesity fall in.  But the more importantly: Why and how are some people able to stick with programs and others are not?   

Personally, I've been training all of my life and HAVE managed to "stick with it" for over 30 years. What's the secret?  Well, instead of giving you a Top 10 List — which we've all read countless times – I thought it'd be more effective to share with you a "real-life experience" that will illuminate what I think is the absolute best way to stick with any exercise program. 

It started a few months ago when a very good friend of mine (we'll call him Dave) begged me to help him lose weight and start some type of exercise routine.  I hemmed and hawed and was reluctant to because I didn't know how serious he was, but also because I was seriously over-extended and didn't have time to help him. I had just started writing 2 books and was in the beginning of creating a program called "Ten Thousand Pounds" which is my and my partners take on tackling childhood obesity in America.  But Dave wouldn't give up.  He relentlessly hounded me to help him, and it's literally impossible for me to turn down someone (especially a friend) who wants to better their lives by becoming more healthy and fit.

I finally agreed to meet him at the boxing gym a couple days a week at 6:30am — even though it is the absolute "worst time" of the day for me — because I get my most productive writing done in the morning between 6:30am and 1pm.  Normally, I cherish and guard that time with a religious fervor. But I figured if I could make an impact on his life, it'd be worth it. 

Dave started off like gangbusters. In the first month we banged it out and he got GREAT results. He lost 25 pounds, his cardio increased, and he dropped 6 inches from his waist! Now, that's what I'm talking about!! It was a big sacrifice but I felt for me it was time well spent. I am helping him change his life!!!

Then a funny thing happened during the second month. 

Dave's enthusiasm started to wane and he dropped from 4 times a week down to 2 times. I did everything a workout/accountability partner should.  I motivated, inspired, castigated, pleaded – whatever it took to get him to the gym; nevertheless, he didn't even show up for our first workout of our third month. When I pressed him as to why — he came up with the normal laundry list of excuses: Tired, had a meeting, it's hard, was out late the night before, and the classic: "you like it, it's easy for you."

What Dave doesn't realize is that I have all the SAME excuses as he does:  I'm tired, I've got a meeting, I don't have time, I don't want to, I was out late the night before.  

The difference is fit and healthy people ACT in SPITE of their excuses.  

Does that make sense? 

If there's one thing that I can share with you that has made all the difference in my life, it's the simple secret of ACTING IN SPITE OF YOUR EXCUSES.  Be a person of ACTION and learn to IGNORE that voice that tells you: it's too hard, I'm tired, I don't want to; and LEARN to take ACTION in SPITE of it. 

If you do this one simple thing, if you learn to act in spite of your excuses, I promise you it will make all the difference in your life.  I know it has in my life.  

Now go and be brilliant!

Dan Clark

Btw – that's me below not listening to all the excuses, and jumping on the back of crazy damn bull and riding it.  In this case, I probably should've listened, because I quickly discovered getting off the bull HURT a lot more than getting on it!