Sites We Like
There’s a tremendous amount of information on the Internet pertaining to fitness and nutrition. So much so that we find many people are a bit inundated. Going directly to the source of information in the form of academic journals and papers would be ideal, but most people lack the requisite knowledge to understand what they’re reading at that level. Not to mention the fact that research doesn’t spell out everything we need to know about exercise and diet.
Instead, many people are left with reading 0ther’s interpretations of the original information. There’s no shortage of ‘interpreters’ either. It seems that every Tom, Dick, and Harry are claiming expertise in the fitness realm nowadays. They all have websites and they’re all pumping out information via blogs as fast as they can.
Don’t be fooled… there’s a lot of nonsense being slung around. Amidst it all though, there are a number of people who are more than worthy of your attention. Our goal with this page is to expose you to some of what we feel are the brightest minds in the field.
People Writing About Exercise, Performance, & Nutrition
Lyle has influenced us quite a bit. Though he’s best known for the various fat loss diets that he has written books about, people underestimate his knowledge of exercise science. All of his books serve a specific purpose for a specific population (except for A Guide to Flexible Dieting which everyone should read). He also has an amazingly extensive article archive, which he updates once or twice per week. I often say that if personal trainers read every free article on his site they’d be miles ahead of the pack. He also has a great support community, where assuming your questions aren’t stupid, you’re likely to get an answer from him. Lyle was gracious enough to sit down with us for an interview a couple of years ago and it turned out to be great. It’s still worth checking out if you haven’t read it before. Lyle’s site is for those interested in fat loss, muscle gain, nutrition, exercise, performance, and pretty much anything else you can think of. If I had to tell the average exerciser about one site only to use as an educational resource, it’d be Lyle’s.
Matt’s one hell of a smart guy. He’s all about the integrity of information and educating the consumer of fitness information. He wrote an excellent book titled Maximum Muscle that he makes available for free download on his website. Don’t let the title fool you as it’s for anyone interested in improving their physiques. It’s one of the best books I’ve read on the topic actually. He blogs here and there and more than anyone else – he gets me thinking about things in directions my mind wouldn’t have gone naturally. Subscribe to his RSS feed… I assure that you won’t be disappointed. Matt and I sat down for a lengthy interview which you can read here. Matt writes mostly about strength training but he’s dropped some great articles about fat loss and practical application of the basics.
Alan is fantastically smart and fantastically witty which makes for some very entertaining and educational writing. He puts out a monthly research review where he writes his own editorial piece, reviews current research on exercise/nutrition/supplementation, and speaks about happenings in the lay press. If you’re an industry professional, you’re crazy for not dropping the $10 for this subscription. Alan also has some excellent articles and entertaining blogs that you can read on his site. Alan’s primarily known as a nutrition guy although he has excellent articles on his site and in his research review about exercise as well.
James has been around the net for a while but it wasn’t until recently that he started up a website. When he did though, it was welcomed warmly since he puts out very thorough, applicable and timely content. He researches objectively. He’s well spoken. He’s a published research author himself. Like Alan Aragon, James has a research review that runs $7 per month if memory serves me correctly. It’s right up there with Alan Aragon’s research review in terms of quality. James also updates his site with free articles on a regular basis. He’s definitely someone worth paying attention to. James balances his information between nutrition and exercise pretty evenly.
Joel is the man. Simple as that. He’s new to the Internet fitness scene relatively speaking, but he’s impressed me more than just about anyone. He makes part of his living training professional mixed martial arts fighters. If you’re interested in performance, you have to add his website to your favorites. His book, Ultimate MMA Conditioning, is on my top 10 list as far as fitness and performance books go. I had the opportunity to meet Joel and to hear him speak at the Central Virginia Performance Training seminar and the guy is wicked smart.
Tom’s an all around cool bro. He has won bodybuilding competitions, he has written the top selling fitness e-book, he writes with passion and evidence, and he’s a nice guy. Heck, I sent Tom a t-shirt years ago along with a letter expressing my appreciation for what he represents in this industry and replied with her personal email address and telephone number. He was also kind enough to sit down with us for an interview, which you can read here. I can’t recommend Tom’s 2 books enough for the average dieter. They complement each other very well and they’re must reads as far as I’m concerned. The first is Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle and the second is The Body Fat Solution. And if you’re looking for an awesome blog to follow along, be sure to check out Tom’s.
Dan is about as down to earth and practical as they come. There’s a lot about him that’s atypical as far as fitness experts go who have a presence on the web. Considering he has been picking up heavy stuff longer than many people reading this have been alive… you better believe he has some tried and true words of wisdom to share. He has some quality resources on his site but by and large my favorite products of Dan’s are his book, Never Let Go, and his DVD seminar series, A Philosophy of Strength Training.
Mike is a machine continually pumping out quality articles and products. His blog/website is a must read as far as I’m concerned and his most recent product was also, in my opinion, his best, which was a DVD seminar series titled The Bulletproof Knees & Back Seminar. You don’t have to buy his products to learn from him though as Mike’s newsletter and blog are constantly making me think.
Mike (from above) and Eric tend to go hand in hand. They’re both young guys who put out similar content. They’ve even collaborated on numerous products and articles. Make no mistake though… they stand independently as far as professionalism and knowledge go. Eric has a lot of cool things happening at his facility in Mass. where he trains many professional baseball players. If you’re looking for performance enhancement, injury prevention, or programming information… you definitely want to check out Eric’s website. If you are a baseball player, don’t miss his cresseyperformance.com page.
If you’re a strength coach or you’re in charge of the preparation of athletes, you have to read and watch the works of the great late Charlie Francis. He was one of the brightest minds in the field. I’d start with the Charlie Francis Training System and the Weights for Speed DVD series.
JC is a talented guy. He developed the Body Improvements website. On top of this, he’s about as practical and sensible as they come in the fitness scene. If you’re interested in a no-B.S. approach to looking good naked, go to his website and download his free book. JC puts out some great content on his blog so be sure to tune in.
This guy is also known as the “glute guy.” I’ve to admit… when he first came on the scene I thought he was cheesy. Boy was I wrong. Bret’s an entertaining guy – not to mention that he really knows his stuff and has been around a block or two in the fitness hood. He has one of (if not the) most popular fitness blogs on the net and for good reason – he brings A-level information each and every time he posts. He offers a lot of alternative views and personally I love reading his articles.
This guy has been wildly popular since writing Starting Strength and Practical Programming. Honestly, these are two books that have to be on your shelf. Not that the basic 5×5 program needed reincarnating… it’s a time tested and great setup to strength training… Mark got more people lifting heavy barbells than just about anyone. His books and DVD are affordable and worth every penny. He also has great articles on his website.
Patrick is a strength coach and massage therapist out of Arizona. He’s someone I’ve been paying attention to for a long while as he writes great articles for his website. I generally think of him as a performance based writer but he definitely includes his fair share of general fitness stuff.
Martin is best known for his popularization of intermittent fasting. He has quite the physique and has coached many others to equally impressive body compositions using the IF approach. Check out some of his before & afters… eat your heart out a-meal-ever-3-hours worshipers. Not to mention that Martin has written some of the best mainstream fitness articles out there as far as I’m concerned so check out his blog.
Mike’s a strong dude. A powerlifting champion even. What I like most about him though is his program design ideas. He wrote a book, The Reactive Training Manual, which is a must read for any serious weight lifter. It’s essentially the anti-cookie-cutter routine, which is a nice change of pace considering what most prepackaged programs are nowadays. His program philosophies revolve around basing your training on your body’s current status opposed to what some program says you should be doing at a given point in time. His site is worth a look as well as there’s some great content there.
Charlie operates one of my favorite blogs. He’s a doctor of physical therapy, an athletic trainer, and a certified strength coach. Needless to say he’s one smart guy. He’s not flashy and some of his writing will be beyond the lay reader. If you’re an industry professional though, this is someone you want to be following. I’ve not had the opportunity to watch his seminar DVD, Training=Rehab, Rehab=Training, but I hear it’s phenomenal.
In my opinion, Anthony is best known for speaking out about the low carb zealotry that pervades this industry. He has excellent resources on his website regarding fat loss and nutrition.
Jamie authored a book that’s affordable and very easy to read. Fun too… it’ll teach the average dieter lots about the common myths infecting this field. It’s called Should I Eat the Yolk. I wrote a brief review of the book here. Jamie puts a huge premium on evidence-based information and that shines through in all of his work. His website is loaded with quality articles regarding nutrition.
Ross is a pleasant detour from your traditional fitness expert. He offers an awesome website, community and products. This guy is definitely worth checking out namely if you’re interested in motivation and top-notch training ideas you can do at home with very limited equipment.
Strength training website geared towards women. Great articles and resources.
Miscelaneous Sites I Don’t Feel Like Writing Descriptions For
sandow & the golden age of iron men
canadian athletics coaching center
casey butt of weighttrainer.net
kelly baggett of higher faster sports
Education
getbodysmart.com – an online textbook of anatomy and physiology with interactive quizes
learnanatomyphysiology.com – another great resource for learning anatomy and physiology with videos, free ebooks, powerpoints, 3d anatomical models, etc.
medical information resource center – another great anatomy tutorial with quizes
american journal of clinical nutrition – research database
pubmed – research database
highwire – research database
journal of exercise physiology – research database
journal of the american medical association – research database
scirus – research database
journal of clinical investigation – research database
national institutes of health – america’s medical research agency
ted.com – TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading
something fishy – great resource for folks dealing with or battling eating disorders
Nutrition Databases & Tracking Software
http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=4&tax_level=1
http://nutritiondata.self.com/