Recognized by the Los Angeles Times and LA.com as one of Hollywood's top trainers, Grant Roberts gained worldwide notoriety after being personally sought out by Director Clint Eastwood to train actress Hilary Swank in preparation for her role in Eastwood's film Million Dollar Baby. Under his guidance, particularly his expertise in personal nutrition and weight training, Swank gained over twenty pounds of lean muscle mass in just nine weeks, and convincingly played a prizefighter who challenged real-life 140-pound world champion, Lucia Rjiker. Her sculpted physique was a critical component in making the film realistic, and there is no doubt that it contributed to Swank's Oscar win for Best Actress and the film's Best Picture award in 2004.

Roberts developed the fitness and nutritional theories that he used to train Swank over more than 20 years of involvement in virtually every facet of the fitness industry, from nutritional research to fitness equipment design. His lifelong dedication started at a young age, opening his first fitness centre at age seventeen and winning the national Heavyweight Bodybuilding Championship at nineteen. At a time in his career when he was being courted by professional athletic organizations, he had an unfortunate turn of events and was forced to add rehabilitative therapies to his repertoire. Roberts was involved in an automobile accident that left him little chance to survive, let alone return to professional athletics. The vehicle he was driving flipped end-over-end and on one of the revolutions, he was ejected through the sunroof and crushed by the car as it rolled over top of him. An impression of his upper body was moulded to the windshield as the car's momentum left Roberts' battered body behind. Roberts was taken to a hospital with a broken back, broken clavicle, head trauma, broken ribs and two punctured lungs. He remained on life support and was hospitalized for many months. At the time of his release, the musculature that had likely saved his life had been reduced by over 70 pounds.

Initially Roberts could only take a few steps before gasping for breath and it took more than a year to learn to breathe normally. Roberts underwent half a dozen corrective surgeries in the following few years. This included the removal of one of the ribs that restricted blood flow to his left arm and repairing the rotator cuffs of both shoulders that were severely torn. Additionally, a new disc was built from a portion of his hip and was installed with a titanium plate in his cervical vertebrate. The trauma left him with badly damaged veins from the massive amounts of intravenous medicines and considerable nerve damage. Driven by the task ahead, Roberts commenced his own rehabilitation by using the water in his pool at home for resistance. The medical community was not overly supportive - they thought that Roberts should just be grateful he was alive rather than considering a return to athletics. So, Roberts decided to take on the arduous task alone, deciding to isolate himself in the beautiful surroundings of Costa Rica for four years. The majority of his research was focused on repairing his nerve damage through experimentation with neurological function and the physiological aspects of training. During this time, he taught himself the Spanish language and began doing seminars and exhibitions with the United Nations, traveling to schools throughout Central America promoting the importance and benefits of nutrition and physical fitness.

To this day, Roberts still suffers from many of the effects of his accident. Ironically, he still competes in strength events and exhibitions, only now he flips cars for audiences by lifting them, not driving them. Roberts admits he doesn't retain anywhere near the strength he once had. And while he also has some significant scars, this has not stopped him from returning to the bodybuilding stage either. He is now recognized as an expert in his field and focuses his energy on sharing his knowledge with the world - conducting seminars on nutrition and exercise, speaking with worldwide media (newspapers, magazines, radio and television) to deliver his message, and offering consulting and personal training services. He actively lobbies the government for tax credits to reward people who choose healthy lifestyles and for the creation of a fitness industry regulatory body to protect consumers. He also continues his research and development for nutritional innovations, creating and improving fitness equipment, and building and operating new fitness centers.

Roberts will be releasing a book called The Unified Diet in January 2008 that will be a culmination of all his learning and knowledge, combining the best of the diet and nutritional theories he has tested into one "unified" diet. It will be a guide to understanding the science of nutrition - what you consume and how it affects performance - and how to combine that with an exercise program for safe, efficient and effective results. The book will also include all the tools to allow each reader to individualize a program that reflects their own unique body composition, lifestyle, time availability, favourite foods, etc. Whether the goals are weight loss, weight gain or sport-specific performance, The Unified Diet will help the reader achieve them.

Roberts currently resides primarily between Vancouver and Los Angeles, but spends much of his time traveling, training and promoting the fitness lifestyle. Roberts is available for consultation, seminars and appearances.

For more information, please contact: info@grantrobertsfitness.com