If you’ve never kept a blog before, the idea of documenting your fitness progress online could seem a little daunting. In fact, to some, blogging itself may seem somewhat intimidating or confusing. But, blogging is actually quite easy – especially with the help of user-friendly blogging platforms such as WordPress. The best part is that a blog is actually a wonderful fitness tool because it allows you to document your progress and motivates you to keep going. It also doesn’t hurt that you can make money blogging, turning your fitness or health blog into a full-time job. After all, who doesn’t want to turn their passion into a business?
Starting a Weight-Loss Blog
More and more people are realizing the benefits of documenting their weight loss progress on public platforms such as social media or blogs. Learning how to start a lifestyle blog is a great choice, as it gives you complete freedom to write stories and include information about how you’re feeling, which recipes you’ve tried, new workouts that you’ve had a go at in the gym or even display before and after pictures and progress pictures of yourself fitting into clothing two sizes smaller. (more…)
We all know the benefits of daily exercise, but many of us simply don’t have the time to go to the gym or go for long walks. However, the benefits of fitting in just a little exercise here and there can soon add up, making you feel so much better in the long term. When combined with a good diet, even a small amount of daily exercise has big benefits, and you’ll soon start to see the results. Even if you work behind a desk, here are a few things you can do between calls or whenever you get a coffee break.
Quick cardio
Cardio exercise gets your heart pumping and feels incredibly good to do, which is why it’s ideal in short bursts. If you need to wake up, try doing a 5 minute exercise at work such as getting up and power walking around the office, or simply doing a few jumping jacks. Swing your arms when you walk anywhere, or take a few flights of stairs each day. It all soon adds up.
Some of the benefits of cardio include:
Keeping your brain active
Helping keep your heart healthy
Releasing ‘feel good’ hormones that give you more energy
Burning excess calories
Next time you’ve got a lull in your work, think of some ways you can get your heart rate up a little. Just a bit of imagination can make cardio at work fun.
Upper body
If you want to tone your arms and chest, then there are a few quick exercises you can do anywhere that use your body’s own weight as resistance. Instead of lifting weights, try desk chair shrugs and other pilates style moves in your office chair. There are many videos online that show you how to do simple moves with your desk and chair that can help you get more toned arms.
Here’s a video to help give you more ideas.
Lower body
As you age, your mobility declines, and building strength in your lower body helps to slow down this process. Lots of walking is good, as is taking the stairs, but you should combine this with a bit of strength training too. Find a wall in the break room and do some squats, or try the office wall chair pose. This will work both large and small muscles in your legs, and after a while you’ll find that you can hold the poses for longer, and that they’re easier to achieve.
While you may think you’re too busy to exercise, there are plenty of ways to get your body moving when you have a five minute break. You don’t need workout clothing or equipment, simply get in short bursts of cardio and strength exercises whenever you can. You’ll soon see an improvement in how much you can do and the intensity of your exercise, so you can slowly work towards your fitness targets. Whether you’re young and healthy, or are haven’t exercised for years, there’s something everyone can do to stay fitter.
You’re fit as a fiddle, bulkier than Hulk Hogan in his prime, and a better cook than Gordon Ramsay – don’t you want to share your knowledge with the world?
Private gyms are attracting more members than ever, partly thanks to a proliferation of budget deals and a newfound respect for a healthy lifestyle. Many folks the world over have recently become fitness fanatics and it’s pushing the demand for private gym instructors to a record high.
TBT: This is a post I wrote back in May of 2007. These were my thoughts on motivation, prioritization, and how to make the most of your training. It pretty much all still holds true.
Priorities
We all have priorities in life. Some of mine include finishing the move into my new house, running a successful website development business, keeping my girlfriend happy, spending time with my son, staying strong and healthy, and not getting fired from my day job. What are yours? Can you list your top 5 and assign priority values to them? I have done this, and what I have found is that staying strong and healthy continues to drop below those tasks that involve either family members, or putting lOOt in the bank (or more accurately giving lOOt to bill collectors).
How can we reprioritize in order to keep our gym goals intact?
I don’t want to get small or weak or fat, and neither do you. In my time, I have seen too many men with joint, neck, back, or hip issues, or perhaps they are just overweight with big pot bellies. Years ago I swore this would not be me. So, how can we redirect some of that focus back into the gym? How can we, when faced with working 14 hour days in order to make a million dollars by age 40, still exercise? Where can we draw some of this motivation that I am talking about. I have a couple suggestions that you could try, some of which I am testing out right now.
Get a lifting partner that will show up on time for each workout. Find someone that isn’t going to talk about his/her friends, or work, or a party, or kids… find someone that wants to FOCUS on training when it’s time to train.
Tell others about your plan (blog about it?). If you tell others what you plan to do with your body, you will hold yourself more accountable for your own progress. After all, no one wants to be embarrassed by failure.
Realize that you aren’t good to anyone else unless you are healthy. If you are always tired, hurt, or sick, you are no good to your family or co-workers. Suck it up and get healthy!
Sometime in your life, you will need to be strong. Perhaps something will fall on you or a loved one. Perhaps you will need to move the contents of an entire house by yourself. Maybe you will need to fight off an attacker, or push a car out of the snow, or rescue someone from a burning building. No matter what the aggressor might be, you will inevitably need to be strong for one reason or another. Why not prepare for it before it’s too late.
Find some good ass lifting music. I personally prefer Static-X, Pantera, Avenged Sevenfold, Staind, Godsmack, Powerman 5000, Korn, Slipknot, Linkin Park, Marilyn Manson, System of a Down, Disturbed, Nickelback, Type O Negative, Evanescence, Tool, Rage, Soundgarden, Audioslave, Incubus, Queens of the Stone Age, (Hed) P.E., Megadeth, Motley Crue, Stereomud, Lamb of God, Ill Nino, Sevendust, Faith No More, Hatebreed, Mudvayne, Shinedown, Taproot, Theory of a Dead Man, Foo Fighters, and Three Days Grace, just to name a few.
My Solution
I have a son that I want to inspire to be strong and healthy. I have a girlfriend that, quite frankly, I want to impress with visions of a Greek God, feats of strength to rival Hercules, and the skill to defend her from predators. These abilities prove to her that I am a male worthy of mating… frequently, if you catch my drift. I have this blog that visitors will be reading, and I don’t want to embarrass myself with failure. I have a business to run, and I want prospective clients to be wowed by my dedication to life and ability to multi-task. Finally, I want to get in better shape, faster, than the guy on Better Body Journal, for he is one of my nemeses in this game of strength.
Find your solution and make your own motivation. Formulate your goals, and make it happen!
A wonderful, inspirational video by Arnold Schwarzenegger – powerlifter, bodybuilder, actor, ‘governator’, and millionaire. This is the man who walked the walk well before he ever started talking the talk.
“Just remember, you can’t climb the ladder of success with your hands in your pockets.”
The original purpose of this video was as a graduation speech at USC. Someone took 5 of the most important minutes of this speech and added subtitles, which you can view below.
Six Rules on How to Be Successful
Trust yourself
Break some rules
Don’t be afraid to fail
Ignore the naysayers
Work like hell
Give something back
You can also view the full 25 minute video and video transcript here: 6 Rules for Success
Today, there are various ways for a physician to communicate with patients including text messaging, web portals, and telehealth apps. The phone is the undisputed means of communication for patients seeking urgent assistance. This allows live two-way conversation making offering immediate assistance possible.
Answering phone calls makes patients get closer to your practice while allowing getting new ones. In-house phone answering staff lack time to offer adequate assistance to all patients on the phone all the time. Enlisting a medical answering service is the solution to save your practice to various real-life situations with callers. Read on to discover the high-quality experience your callers receive from a professional answering service.
Becoming a personal trainer is something that only a select few are suited for. For one thing, it’s not enough to simply enjoy physical fitness yourself, although that is certainly a prerequisite if you want a career you love. You will need to exhibit specific strengths (pardon the pun) in order to excel in such a field.
You’ll definitely have to be committed to keeping yourself in shape; after all, who wants to listen to a personal trainer that isn’t fit? That’s like trusting a driving instructor that’s never been behind the wheel of a car. However, you also need to have the right disposition. If people want to be barked at and ordered around, they’ll join a boot camp class.
It’s the job of a personal trainer to motivate, not command. You need to be patient and nurturing and employ excellent communication skills. And above all, you have to be passionate about helping others become the best version of themselves. But you also need a fair amount of training under your own belt before you can train others if you don’t want to push them too far or cause undue physical harm. As a result, it may take you a little time to become a personal trainer.
A recent boom in the popularity of fitness and a move toward healthier living have created many new opportunities for businesses in the fitness world. Still, marketing your fitness website or blog online can be a challenge if you’re not an experienced veteran in this kind of business. Help spread the positive message of good health and increase your online fame at the same time by following these effective tips for online marketing of your fitness website.
Enhance Your Website
The number of websites on the internet today is practically infinite, and you can rest assured that there is already a website for almost anything you can imagine. This makes it more important than ever to enhance your website with high quality design. You don’t need to enlist a professional designer, though it may help if you don’t have much experience in the design world. If you do know your way around a web page, try browsing for new website templates that you can customize for a unique look.
Business is booming for the health and fitness industry. Gym memberships have soared from 46.4 million in 2003 to nearly 52.6 million in 2013. In addition to that, the number of fitness centers has increased from 26,830 in 2009 to 29,960 in 2011. The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) speculates that the U.S. health club industry has cleared over $21 billion dollars in revenue.
The health and fitness industry’s continued growth, despite the economic recession, has resulted in expos and trade shows popping up around the country. This post will highlight some of the bigger and more influential upcoming trade shows and expos for the health and fitness industry.
Although for some people a week or two’s vacation in the sun represents an opportunity to sit back and relax, if you’re someone who places importance on maintaining your fitness and physique through exercise and training, this won’t be you. Instead you’ll see it as another chance to work out.
While you might try your hand at some new activities when you’re abroad, if you have access to a gym where you’re staying, you may well want to keep up with your current training regime. However, while you may think that you can just pick up from where you left off at home, there are a few issues to be aware of. This will ensure that you can work out safely to avoid injury and ill health, allowing you to enjoy the rest of your vacation and not put your fitness back. Follow the tips below and seek out further advice on staying well before you travel.
It’s kind of astonishing just how many ways there are for the average person to green their routine in this day and age, what with alternative energy options, electric vehicles, and a growing market for organic goods. But you might wonder how you can take an eco-friendly approach when it comes to visiting your gym facility. So here are just a few options for going green when it comes to your personal fitness.
Skip electric machinery.
While an argument could be made that the manufacturing of gym equipment is the most harmful aspect of the industry, from an environmental standpoint, the truth is probably that the energy draw required for machinery is far worse considering that electrical equipment (treadmills and such) is plugged in around the clock, especially in 24-hour facilities. So if you want to keep a clear conscience, simply refuse to support the inclusion of such machinery, or at least unplug the equipment when you’re finished using it.
Kinesiology is ostensibly the study of human movement, but there’s a lot more to it than looking at variations in gait or the way people tilt their heads. In fact, kinesiology, as a science, tends to be far more concerned with how an in-depth knowledge of movement, including the interdependent roles of physiology, psychology, and body mechanics, pertains to the study of human health, including applications for physical therapy, rehabilitation, and orthopedics, just to name a few areas of potential benefit.
So why might someone be interested in obtaining such a degree? And how can you go about getting one that is the most likely to net you your dream job?
Here are a few pointers to help you obtain the degree in kinesiology that’s right for you.
If you’ve ever wondered just what it is that makes humans function the way they do, what keeps our bodies and minds up and running, then you might take a shine to the academic field of physiology, which is basically the study of living systems.
Human physiology, in particular, focuses on the physical, mechanical, biological, and chemical makeup of the human body, including cells, organs, and the body as a whole. You might think this sounds an awful lot like anatomy, and truly the two fields are closely related in that they both study the human body.
Whereas anatomy is largely concerned with the form of the human body, including how all the parts are laid out and interconnected, physiology is more interested in the function of these parts and how they work together in a living organism. Most medical fields require the study of both, but if you’re a lot more interested in the function than the form of humans, a degree in physiology is what you’re looking for.
If you’re interested in studying the effects of exercise on the body, including how people respond and adapt to the physical strain of exercise, as well as the role different types of physical activity may play in harming or helping the body, then a degree in exercise science, sometimes known as exercise physiology, may be just what you’re looking for.
Certification or Degree?
Many folks intending to get in to the physical fitness field, opt to get certified or licensed instead of acquiring a college degree. While a personal trainer or sports nutrition certification will give you a strong background in that particular field, most of those classes are either online or studied from home, and do not garner the same kind of respect in the industry as a college degree.
In fact, a master’s degree will give you the best education and will put you on the fast-track to the top in your chosen field.
All kinds of businesses carry liability insurance as a way to protect themselves from lawsuits should a client slip on a wet floor or fall off a chair in the meeting room, for example. Whenever a client is on your property you are liable for their health and safety, so should they suffer some kind of accident or injury while in your care (so to speak) you could find yourself on the hook for medical bills and other expenses.
Of course, there are other types of liability as well, concerning the products a business manufactures, how they are promoted, copyrights, and so on. But when you’re a personal trainer, the main type of liability you’ll likely be concerned with is the physical variety.
But how does liability insurance apply when you don’t operate out of your own business location?
Does the average personal trainer really need to pay for this type of insurance?
Whether you’re burning the midnight oil to cram for a test, you’re enjoying your precious moments of freedom with friends by partying until dawn, or you’re one of those 24 hour-a-day computer programmers (yeah, we don’t sleep) you may find yourself wolfing down high-calorie snacks that give you the fuel needed to power through your fatigue. Unfortunately, this can have a slew of unfortunate side effects, from simple digestive discomfort and heartburn to weight gain and all of the problems associated with it.
If you’ve gotten in the habit of staying up late, eating into the wee hours of the morning may have become routine. However, you can get back on a normal schedule where your diet is concerned and avoid late-night binges without too much trouble so long as you follow a few simple guidelines.
Many people are interested in finding a career that allows them to combine their love of health and fitness with a desire to help others. But aside from becoming a doctor, a nurse, or a P.E. coach, many students have little knowledge of suitable fields of study they might pursue. So here are just a few majors that have the potential to meet the needs of a compassionate individual that wants to focus on health and fitness.
Physical therapist
All kinds of people will need physical therapy at some point in their lives. It’s not just professional athletes that take advantage of these specialists. So if you want to help people regain physical functionality after an accident, injury, or illness and get back to their normal lives, then this is a great option for a major.
Nutritionist
Modern man is plagued by food-related issues, from obesity and resultant disorders (heart disease, diabetes, joint issues, etc.) to digestive problems like dairy and gluten intolerance, IBS, and Crohn’s Disease, just for example. And considering the vast array of processed foods available in supermarkets, it’s not surprising that few people even know how to feed themselves in a healthy and nutritious manner anymore. As a nutritionist you can help to guide people towards targeted diet plans that help them to feel better and lead a healthier life.
Job applicants who enjoy working with their hands and keeping physically fit can explore different career options. One of these career options is a correctional officer. Other careers include fire fighters, ground maintenance workers and roofers. There are many other job choices for physically fit employees, but these give an idea of the kinds of jobs available. Each career requires good physical health to prevent self-injuries or injuries to team members.
As a software engineer, I don’t get much exercise other than walking to and from my vehicle, and my lunchtime gym session. Some jobs require a high level of physical fitness. Some jobs are a day-long workout session. The significance of this is two-fold:
Are any Project Swole fans also graphic designers?
If so, Project Swole is in the midst of a redesign, and I NEED a new header graphic and logo. If you are interested in seeing your photoshop artwork plastered all over projectswole.com, a dozen social networks, t-shirts and other promotional material, please either post a comment here or go to the website and send me a message.
I will display the top submissions on projectswole.com and let you guys vote for your favorite, although I doubt I’ll get more than a handful of entries. Ultimately the decision is mine though.
So far, of the entries I’ve received, the best have been Werewolf themed.
What do you get if you win? I will promote your website or business, and if I need additional graphics created for this site, for clients, or for other web ventures, I will contact you first.
So that’s it. Please let me know if anyone is interested. By leaving a comment on this thread, send me a message with the contact form, or shoot me an email at [steve at projectswole.com]
Make no mistakes, Project Swole gets traffic. We are currently getting between 10,000 and 13,000 unique visitors per day. This is good. However, this is expensive. In an attempt to recuperate some of those costs, I now host a t-shirt website.
The website is called Comical Tees. I’ve just started to build a sample of fitness tees. Here is a preview. Many more are to come. Please go Like Comical Tees on Facebook, so you can receive all of the updates.
and completely inappropriate, NSFW, don’t let your kids see them tee shirts
So basically I am wondering what kinds of tee shirts you would buy online, if any. Here’s the poll:
[poll id=”34″]
Don’t worry though, this isn’t all we’re working on. Project Swole has many, many ideas, and we are working on building them out right now. The Project Shred 21 day detox diet is still in limbo. PDFs will be delivered shortly for all workout routines. The Werewolf Strength routine will be updated to version 2.0 shortly, and several other routines will be introduced. Guest posts and product reviews are coming. It is time to bring every Swole possibility to light, after many years of broken promises (I’ve been talking about the Project Shred diet for like 3 years, but it’s right here on my harddrive).
Any requests, please let me know. Project Swole t-shirts are coming soon, whether you want them or not, we just have to approve the right design. So stay tuned, because there is much more Swole to come in 2012.
The best part is that a blog is actually a wonderful fitness tool because it allows you to document your progress and motivates you to keep going. It also doesn’t hurt that you can make money blogging, turning your fitness or health blog into a full-time job. After all, who doesn’t want to turn their passion into a business?
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