How do you Lose Weight ?

I try to answer every question I receive individually but it has gotten out of hand lately.  I receive a great number of extremely open-ended (example above) questions which are covered extensively throughout the website as well as in the Personal Trainer Questions and Personal Trainer Answers Blog I’ve started an autoresponder which is basically encouraging people to post their questions as threads in the forum which allow a back & forth discussion rather than a long email response which is better for both parties.

Not so Stupid Questions

Another problem is a question which is impossible to answer in one email.  If there are open-ended aspects of the question or some important information is left out,  it takes exchanging a few emails which often become lost in our crowded email boxes.  As an educated personal trainer, I refuse to give poor answers which aren’t thorough.

If you have submitted a question on the AskTheTrainer contact form in the past and haven’t received a response it is very likely that your email response was sent to your bulk mail folder or your question did not have enough details to provide a good answer.  Solution:

Join the Ask Personal Trainers Forums

SPAM Problem

Even though I have never sent out SPAM email or even multiple emails at a single time, certain emails put my emails in their spam folder.  Unfortunately GMAIL and Yahoo are 2 of the most common emails which put my  emails in spam.  As a matter fact I think out of the first 300 emails I responded to, less than 50% actually made it to the recipients who asked a question on my website.

Please Join and Participate in the Forum

I would love to make my discussion forums more active.  I have a few other expert, certified trainers who I have already made moderators so your questions will be disucssed back and forth and you can assure there is not some 12 year old kid in India answering the health and fitness questions which are very important to you.

Join the Ask Personal Trainers Forums

Can’t Believe it has been a Whole Year!

When I first started planning AskTheTrainer.com in January 2008 I didn’t really know what to expect.  I was personal training many clients in the gym at the time and didn’t have much time to work on it.  It took until early May to create enough content to publish the site.

After I published the site I put countless hours pouring all the knowledge I accumulated through BS and MS degrees in college, personal training certification courses and over 8 years of personal training clients.

I started publishing a weekly Fitness Top 5 List on May 19, 2008 and published it religiously every Monday for 49 straight weeks!  I only took a couple weeks off when I moved to Thailand where I am able to work on the website full time.

Bro Science vs. Reality

When I explored the possibilities of creating a fitness website one of the primary motivating factors was the high levels of complete garbage on the internet.  What I saw was either utter trash, selling bogus products and generic, cookie-cutter websites reiterating rehashed bro science.

If you don’t know what bro science is here is a simple example.  The youtube video of the ripped bodybuilder bench pressing 500 pounds and telling you how you have to eat 600 grams of protein and 6,000 calories a day to gain muscle is bro science as oposed to looking at the 1st law of thermodynamics.

I aggressively pursued creating AskTheTrainer.com because I knew that the content on my site is lacking on the internet today.  Why 95% of exercise videos online are videos of fitness models, bodybuilders and athletes lifting weights is beyond me.

I don’t watch Michael Phelps videos to learn how to swim better, I find someone who can show me the techniques.   I created simple exercise videos training my actual clients to show that you don’t have to be a pro athlete to perform challenging exercises.

I have what I would guess over 75% of websites don’t have, which is credibility.  I partly started the website because I felt like I was wasting my exercise science degrees personal training when kids straight out of high school could do the same thing.  I took out thousands of dollars in student loans which I felt like was a waste if I didn’t put my education to use on paper.

I had a choice to make at the beginning of the creation of my site.  Use bro science to make money and lose credibility, or to maintain my credibility and try to help every single person I can and I’m glad I chose the latter.

Questions and Answers

Since the site called Ask the trainer questions and answers are a large part of the site.   This week’s year aniversery top 5 list was about the Top 5 Health & Fitness Questions for the First year of AskTheTrainer.com At first I had no problems personally answering every question which was sent to me promptly.

Unfortunately I’m getting flooded with questions at a pace which I cannot keep up with.  I am now looking for qualified personal trainers to help me answer questions on the personal trainer question page.  For personal trainers who want to answer some questions and voice their professional opinions I will give you credit for your answers with a link back to your website.

I am looking for trainers who will answer a question and tell it like it is.   I hate telling people what they want to hear just to sell something.  Since I’m not selling anything I can voice my 100% honest professional opinion and I think it has given my site’s visitors confidence that they will get a quality answer to their questions.

AskTheTrainer Stats Since May 1 2008

AskTheTrainer.com

731 Web Pages

530,967 visitors

688 Health/Fitness Question Emails

AskTheTrainer YouTube Channel

363 Videos

1536 Subscribers

2,158,313 Video Views

If you are not very internet savvy these numbers may seem like a lot, but when you consider there are an estimated 600,000,000 internet users world-wide the numbers have much, much room to improve.

If you aren’t familiar with everything it takes to create a successful website there is a lot more than just creating a website.  Whether you are looking to create a website business for yourself in the future or you know friends who want to the best way to educate yourself on how to create a successful website is Site Build It

To view all my content as it gets published you can view and subscribe to the AskTheTrainer.com FriendFeed

Onward 2009 and Beyond

In the upcoming year my goal is to constantly improve AskTheTrainer.com  I am branching out to other personal trainers to help me help the online fitness world  “keep it real” by using actual proven science to help people by providing answers to their questions, information and services.

Everyone Knows Why Physical Fitness is Important but Why is Defining Physical Fitness Important ?

I was going along creating new content pages for AskTheTrainer.com when I came upon a roadblock.  The page was titled the definition of physical fitness.  At first glance it would seem the the definition of physical fitness is obvious but it was very difficult to define properly.

I asked fellow personal trainers on internet forums and even a professional group on yahoo which is filled with college students and PhDs.  I received some interesting responses from different angles but none satisfied me.

Many people tried to break down the definition of physical fitness using aspects of human performance.  One PhD and motivational speaker simply said, “The Power to Do” which I thought was very uninspiring.

The reason I found this so difficult is simply because its important!

Every day people search for definition of phsyical fitness almost 400 times online.  With the obesity epidemic and many people who live sedentary lifestyles search for a definition of physical fitness, a good definition may help them understand what they have to do to turn their sedentary life around.

The way I tried to define it was looking at the human being as just another organism.  Like Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, the bottom of the pyramid is the most basic physical fitness needs which are the needs to be well and be able to perform the ordinary daily tasks and occaisonally a new task.

The second level of the hierarchy I made for specific adptations to occur for the 5 components of fitness, flexibility, muscular strength & endurance, cardiovascular endurance and body composition.  I also made sure to mention maintaining the state of well being while adapting to the environment.

The final level like Maslow’s Self Actualization is reached by very few.  Reaching the peak of an individual’s athletic potential is accomplished by few and few even strive to reach such an accomplishment.

If I had to define Physical Fitness in One Sentence it would be as Follows

“The human beings physical ability to thrive in any environment.”

I may add something to make sure the reader would know that the human could place themselves into the environment or the environment could adapt itself.

I am also looking for other people to add their input with their definition of phsycial fitness so I can add it to my page and quote them.

Definition of Physical Fitness

College Degree Reviews

College Degree Reviews

I have aired my general complaints with the fitness industry and personal training in general on this blog.  I was searching online for college programs of kinesiology and I found very little outside of each individual universities description.

I was thinking that if I was finishing high school or looking to get into college, it would be very hard to find any good information about college exercise science programs.

I decided to create a whole section on AskTheTrainer.com for current personal trainers can post a review of their college degree program.

I have begun to contact personal trainers from around the nation and the response has been surprisingly fast.

Most of the trainers have found it fun to review their college degree programs and I did too.

All trainers who write a review I will list for free in my personal trainer directory as well.  I look at it as a great way to promote college educated personal trainers who spent the 4+ years putting in the hard work.  For anyone interested please use my contact form on AskTheTrainer.com

College Degree Reviews

100 Abdominal Exercises

For real? Yes, it is actually a term searched online over 350 times a day.  Why so many people search for this specific term is interesting.

No doubt it is because they think the more ab exercises they do the more fat will disappear from their mid sections but most of you reading this will know the myth of spot reduction.

I put together a page which has motivated me to improve my entire free exercise videos library.

I am slowly but surely adding a thumbnail to every exercise video so the viewers can get an idea of what they’re about to see.

It is going to take quite a while but what’s best for the viewers of my site is all I really care about.

I created an abdominal anatomy clickable anatomy chart so people can see which abdominal exercises target which core muscle.

Give it a try

100 Abdominal Exercises

Ask Personal Trainers Discussion Forums

I recently released discussion forums on AskTheTrainer.com under the subdomain http://forums.askthetrainer.com

I also have the domain www.AskPersonalTrainers.com which I may eventually use for the forums because that is which really describes the forum.  Since I get so many questions I needed something which allows for more discussion.

Most questions are not something which I can give a 1 part answer for so the forums makes perfect sense.

I have a couple CSCS moderators and I’m looking for more Personal Trainers who would like to take part in a new exciting forum.  I think starting from a fresh start allows a forum to avoid all the BS that makes up a bulk of most fitness forums.

In order for the forums to succeed I need good moderators who can provide quality answers backed by their exercise science education.

So far my Moderators are:

Okinyi Oyungo, CSCS - Rockville Maryland Personal Trainer

Jim Benson, MS, CSCS -Lexington Kentucky Personal Trainer

Both Okinyi and Jim are also in my personal trainers directory which I am currently only allowing CSCS and other high qualified personal trainers/strength coaches.

If you are Interested in Being an Expert Moderator Please Register

Join AskTheTrainer.com Discussion Forums

Moderators and Super-moderators are needed to answer questions for the thousands of daily visitors.  Once you join send me a PM.

I also have an International Personal Trainers Directory in which I am allowing any trainers with any certifications accepted in their countries to sign up and publicize themselves, services and websites.

Personal Trainers Directory

I’ve been looking for any personal trainers in the US who are looking to make more money.  Who isn’t right?  I’m not going to be stuffing cash in their pockets but exposure is what improves the chance of landing the big client and getting more local clients and my directory will help both.

One example is personal trainer Okinyi Oyungo who is a CSCS and neuroscience graduate from the University of Pennsylvania who wrote this week’s entry in my Fitness Top 5 List about the Worst Cardio Mistakes.

You can view his trainer directory entry here:  Maryland Personal Trainers
If you would like to be included in the directory please email:  mike@askthetrainer.com

Personal Trainers Directory

Bad Gym Habits which Bother Other People

This weeks top 5 list is dedicated to the people who make the daily mundane trip to the gym interesting, and bothersome at the same time.

[polldaddy poll=1154639]

Top 5 Worst People in the Gym

Marshmallow Candied Yams the Ultimate Dietary Suicide

Happy Thanksgiving

I had my Thanksgiving dinner yesterday because my sister & husband are going to Oregon on Thursday.

It gave me motivation to write this weeks Fitness List which happens to be seasonal.

I love stuffing but it had me thinking, which foods are the most fattening on Thanksgiving?

I created the top 5 worst Thanksgiving foods list which had foods such as marshmallowed candied yams (picture) which I was astonished to find had literally billions of calories.

Top 5 Most Fattening Thanksgiving Foods

Personal Trainers Directory

New Feature on AskTheTrainer.com

There are so many great personal trainers in the United States.

Exposure is important for many careers in personal training so I have created a

Personal Trainers Directory

In the directory you can click on a map of the United States and find personal trainers in each state and eventually each city.

I plan to use the directory to help personal trainers in each state and city to not only advertise their websites, but also to achieve higher search engine rankings for their local listings so they can get more local personal training clients and more exposure.

I will allow freedom for personal trainers to have any information they like posted.

If they do not already know, having their address posted to as many places as possible is one of the most important things for getting high ranks on the Google local listings which is google maps (below).

These local listings are absolutely FREE as opposed to the yellow which is paid adverting through google adwords which may cost as much as $5 per click!

You can see the below search for San Francisco Personal Trainer bringing up my website FitSF.com

Paid Advertising through Google in Yellow / Free Local Maps listing in Red

I will require a small one time donation for anyone wishing to be listed in my directory which is for the time I will put into making their entry look nice and how the personal trainer wants it to represent them.

Now the average personal trainer directory is automated and boring and gives really nothing to the browsers of the internet or the trainer or their clients.  In my Personal Trainers directory there will be a nice looking listing for each personal trainer.

Anyone Interested in Being the First to be Listed in my Directory Please Contact Me

Completed so Far in the Personal Trainer Directory

California Personal Trainers

Nevada Personal Trainers

Oregon Personal Trainers

Florida Personal Trainers

Washington State Personal Trainers

Illinois Personal Trainers

Arizona Personal Trainers

Colorado Personal Trainers

Texas Personal Trainers

New York Personal Trainers