Pictured above: We just arrived and took the first shot of the M Resort’s lobby. Notice how cool it is that the NSCA logo is blasted up on the back wall of the concierge desk. If you’re reading the twinkle in my eye correctly, it says, “I’m gonna spank this mutha.”

Pictured above:  My state of mind upon arriving was well-captured in this shot.

Pictured above:  After traveling & unpacking, it was time to unwind a bit. There was a great draft bar that served a wide range of delicious microbrews chilled to 32 degrees. Young’s Chocolate Stout for me, and a Pyramid Apricot for my wife.

Pictured above:  What better way is there to follow up gourmet beer than with some hearty grub. Mushroom & Swiss burger for my wife, & I chose the crispy-crusted salmon on mashed ‘taters (for the haters).

Pictured above:  Guess who’s the bigger pig between my wife & I.

Pictured above:  GAME ON!!!  The time finally arrived for me to present. I did the same lecture twice that day, once at 8am and again at 1pm. Check out all those letters after my name.

Pictured above:  Brad Schoenfeld, one of the most knowledgable & accomplished guys in the business, graciously introduced me to the audience. Brad (along with Anoop Balachandran) played an instrumental part in me speaking at the event.

The way I met Brad is an interesting story. On a whim, I emailed him and asked if I would take a look at his peer-reviewed article titled, “Does Cardio After an Overnight Fast Maximize Fat Loss?” He gladly sent it over & gave me permission to dissect it in my research review - and I combed through it with obsessive -compulsive rigor. I felt that it was a very well-done article overall, but I also discussed aspects I felt needed more support. Instead of letting my points of contention bruise his ego, Brad actually appreciated the critique, and even thanked me for doing it. He told me that science can only move forward when we hold each other accountable for the accuracy of our material, and that challenging your peers is critical for the advancement of scientific knowledge.

I was so used to dealing with fragile egos among the top guys in the fitness field, that hearing this from Brad literally dropped my jaw to the table. I was impressed with his attitude (to say the least), and was honored to meet & spend time with him at the conference.

Pictured above:  I wasn’t going to merely assume that the audience knew that I’m the Ron Burgundy of nutrition, so I shared some of my background & clientele with them at the beginning of my lecture.

Pictured above:  Here’s a shot of the audience, both time slots I did had a packed room. The energy was off the charts, and the vibe in the room was brotacular.

Pictured above:  Speakers were sheduled tightly back-to-back, so a good part of the Q & A was held outside the lecture halls. It was such a rush to see the audience react so positively to my presentation.

Pictured above:  One of my favorite pastimes – eyeballing the menu. This was taken between the morning & afternoon lectures, right before seeing Marie Spano discuss weight loss strategies. I was extremely pleased to see her discuss research comparing various diets & illustrating the fact that yes – calories DO matter.

Pictured above:  After my 2nd lecture, I was asked to do an interview with Greg Nockleby, the NSCA’s marketing & PR manager. I advocated excessive intakes of grains, dairy, and sugar in the little time I was given in the advertising media (just kidding ).

Pictured above:  I had the privelege of having a buffet melee with  trainer/researcher extraordinaires Brad Schoenfeld and Bret Contreras. I’ve been friends with Bret for a while now, so I was almost 100% ready when the topic turned to maximizing male performance in & out of the gym. In all seriousness though, we had some amazing discussions about training & nutrition research. Bret is such a sharp guy, and his sense of humor is off the hook. We got so wrapped up in conversation, they had to let us know the place closed an hour & a half before they kindly asked us to get the heck out. Bret & Brad are truly good guys, and I’m looking forward to their continued friendship.

Pictured above:  The Aragon/Schoenfeld epic bro-fist. Brad’s presentation, titled “Facts & Fallacies of Fitness,” was chock-full of research & concepts that wowed & engaged the audience. Overall, the conference provided plenty of fun & learning. I got a lot of useful information from each session I attended, all of which were taught by high-caliber professionals in the field. There were many sessions to choose from (both lecture & hands-on), and it’s always tough knowing you can’t see them all.

The people running the conference are top-notch, and they deserve a ton of thanks & credit for getting me involved with the NSCA. Special thanks goes to Peter Melanson (the NSCA’s Education Manager) for putting up with the multiple drafts of my powerpoint presentation that I sent him each time I found an insignificant typo.

I hope to see more of you from Internet Land in attendance at next year’s event. In the meantime, I’m stoked about seeing the new & the regular attendees of the Fitness Summit next month.

[GO HERE TO COMMENT]

Mark your calendars for May 18th-19th

The planets are aligning, the Fates are conspiring, and the ultimate time of reckoning is upon us. The 10th anniversary of the Fitness Summit is right around the corner, and registration is as easy as visiting this page. Whether you’re in the fitness business, or simply are passionate about fitness, you will get tons of practical knowledge from the Summit.

The biggest difference between the Summit & other conferences is that you get to hang out with speakers (& the attendees) for 2 days straight. Other conferences begin & end with the lecture/workshop time. At the Fitness Summit, it never ends until you get back on the horse that brought you there. The atmosphere is very accommodating,  non-judgmental, relaxed, & informal. Even Crossfitters will not be denied attendance. After the workshops end, the real bonding (bromantic & other) begins. Here’s a quick breakdown of the speakers, in no particular order of awesomeness:

• Lou Schuler — This man has been to Mars & back, twice. He is an internationally celebrated author, and does not do public book signings because traffic laws and fire codes would be violated. He is a sage in this industry, and any trainer who hasn’t heard of him should be tarred & feathered.
• Nick Tumminello — Nick is a true juggernaut. If I’m not mistaken, the word juggernaut was created because of Nick. I saw him lecture for the first time at last year’s Summit, and I was utterly blown away at his knowledge & delivery – so was everyone else. The room was in shambles; Nick destroyed the place with his awesomeness. You better act like you heard me, cuzz.
• Eric Cressey — I’m extremely excited to see Eric speak for the first time. His reputation in the fitness industry precedes him. He owns a successful training facility, holds a full mantle of records in powerlifting, and I’m fairly certain everything he touches turns to gold (or at least bacon). As far as being a superstar goes, Chuck Norris could not hold a candle to Eric Cressey’s jockstrap.
• Alan Aragon – This guy is famous for trolling the Paleos & getting them extremely pissed off, yet they STILL love him. In fact, lust might be a more accurate word. Paleos hang onto his every word, sort of like crack addiction. If there’s anything about Alan that’s worth seeing, it’s the pop-locking he does on the lecture stage, and the karaoke singing he does offstage.

More details about registration, lodging, CEUs, etc, are on the Summit page right here. I hope to see at least 10% of the internet show up to this life-altering event. We’ll have a blast learning, eating, and raising a toast to the fall of Sauron & the triumph of Middle Earth. See you in May!

[GO HERE TO COMMENT]

It’s been more than a decade since I graduated from college, but the memories are vivid and most of them are good. I was recently contacted for an interview with Anoop Balachandran, coordinator of the Health & Fitness Center at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. This interview will appear in the Fitness Center’s newsletter. By the way, Anoop maintains one of the few blogs out there with useful, research-based information (exercisebiology.com). The questions I answered were a pleasant diversion from the ones I typically get from the more advanced/technically inclined audience. While the latter are also important, they only apply to the minority of the population. In the following exchange, more of a general college student audience is addressed. Without further ado….

_________________________________________________________________________

Are there ‘bad’ foods and ‘good’ foods? And is it ok to eat a donut?

First let me thank you for the opportunity to reach the students here. Answering the question, labeling foods as “good” or “bad” is a false endeavor from the start, mainly because it ignores context. All foods in isolation can’t be judged without knowing their proportional contribution to the diet. Even seemingly “bad” foods such as donuts can be perfectly neutral (& even beneficial in a psychological sense) as long as they only comprise a minority of the diet. There’s no compelling research evidence suggesting that a diet whose composition is 80-90% whole & minimally refined foods (with the rest coming from miscellaneous indulgent foods) is not prudent enough to maximize health, particularly in physically active populations. Moderation & not tagging any foods as taboo or off-limits is the best way to sustain good dietary habits in the long-term.

There are so many diets out there. But which one do you think is the best, and why?

In a similar sense that foods cannot be inherently good or bad, the same applies to diets. A universally superior diet really does not exist, since the goals, preferences, & tolerances vary with the individual. When examining the spectrum of low-carb to high-carb diets, the choice along the continuum mainly boils down to which one you can best adhere to. With respect to meeting supply & demand, those with a higher volume of training will tend to do better on more carbs, while those who are more sedentary with minimal training demands will do better on less. A blanket recommendation for diet type simply cannot be issued here due to variations in both lifestyle & genetic predisposition across individuals. What CAN be issued as a general recommendation, once again, is to strive for the majority of the diet to come from whole & minimally refined foods. By the way, there are exceptions to this (ie, high-quality protein powders, which are refined foods but still can impart health benefits), but it’s still valid as a generally applicable guideline.

What would you advise a 19-year-old female who wants to lose weight and look toned?

I would first have them focus more on body composition (indicated by clothing fit, comparison pictures, mirror feedback, & in some cases more specialized body comp tracking) rather than total bodyweight. 19 year-old women in many cases have not reached their full potential for bone density, so placing the focus on the scale could be counterproductive from a health standpoint. Not to mention, weight fluctuations due to their monthly cycles can also play serious head games if the scale is used as the main gauge of progress. I would have them honestly examine their eating habits and pinpoint the aspects they are habitually overdoing (ie, empty-calorie intake & oversized portions), and simply pull back on those, rather than taking the all-or-nothing approach of complete avoidance or drastic reductions in overall intake. A moderate caloric deficit should be sustained, along with consistent training and enough regular time off. I would also emphasize the importance of a well-balanced training program that includes resistance training with sound progression. The latter tends to be overlooked by women, yet it’s critical for optimally improving body composition & maintaining those improvements.

How about a 19-year-old guy who wants to pack some muscle?

Guys in their late teens need to first realize they won’t reach true skeletal maturity for another decade or so. Drugs & genetics aside, it’s no coincidence that the top-tier bodybuilders in the world are mostly in their 30’s, with a good handful in their early 40’s. These guys are skeletally mature, and thus have the underlying architecture to hold a maximal amount of muscle. What I’m getting at is that “packing on muscle” in your late teens is not a process that can be hurried, and most guys in their late teens will not be able to accumulate truly substantial levels of muscle mass until they break into their mid-20′s. That’s just the reality of the matter, like it or not. Sure, there indeed are massively muscled 19 year-olds, but they typically are the gifted (or drug-enhanced) exception rather than a realistic benchmark for goal-setting.

With all that said, novices with the primary goal of mass gain should strive to cover their protein & total calorie needs, and not be disappointed in slow but consistent gains. For a 19 year-old who’s just starting out, putting on 15-20 pounds of muscle per year in the first 2-3 years of consistent training is a very respectable accomplishment. Gains in the advanced stages (more than about 4 years of consistent progressive training as an adult) will typically slow down to half of that rate, at best.

With the holiday season coming up, do you have any tips for holiday eating?

My main tip is to relax and enjoy the food as much as the time spent with family & friends. Using the holidays as an excuse to stuff yourself silly for days on end is a bad idea, but so is the other extreme of trying to steadfastly adhere to a rigid diet. Use surplus calories from holiday eating as a time to set some personal records in your chosen sport or training activity.

What do you think are the three major nutritional mistakes people commit when they try to lose weight or gain weight?

The biggest mistake in either losing or gaining weight is not having realistic goals & expectations. Keep in mind, the following guidelines are general, and apply to the majority, so exceptions exist. For fat loss, roughly 1-2 pounds a week is plenty. For muscle gain,  roughly 1-2 pounds a month is plenty. Sorry to burst anyone’s bubble who’s been watching the Biggest Loser or seeing how Joe Gymrat gained 20 solid pounds in 2 months (which is typically rebound weight gain after prolonged dieting). While progress can indeed occur faster in the initial stages of a program, expecting to exceed those benchmarks in the long-term puts most people at risk for experiencing frustration & dropout. There are always exceptional cases, but following these limits can prevent most folks from overeating while gaining & undereating while losing.

A common nutritional misconception for either weight loss or gain is the idea that there are “special” foods that will get the job done faster or better – and conversely, the idea that “bad” foods that will critically hinder the process. Another common mistake for weight loss is placing an over-emphasis on cardio & an under-emphasis on resistance training. Preserving as much muscle as possible while losing fat is important for long-term success. The preservation of muscle during weight loss can be indicated by how well you can maintain your lifting strength. If strength is dropping precipitously, then undue losses in muscle are likely to occur as well.

Where can we read more of your writings, Alan?

My most comprehensive & current material is in my monthly research review, and an ongoing index of the topics covered can be seen here.

Do you have any final comments or thoughts, Alan?

College students as a group should realize that the pursuit of physical fitness goals can be a good thing, but it can also be taken to obsessive levels that disrupt a healthy balance of focus on other aspects of life. Just remember that there are far more fulfilling rewards in life than merely having six-pack abs & bulging biceps.

UPDATE: I have a new inteview with 3DMJ.

[GO HERE TO COMMENT]

I’m not too modest to admit that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the amount of online celebrity I’ve experienced – however minor it may be in the large scheme. Thankfully, there hasn’t been any significant attacks on my material or character. I haven’t had to shield myself or recover from vicious criticism, defamation, or career-damaging scandal. Why is this? I think the reason is simple: I do my best to avoid talking out of my rear end & ignoring scientific research. When people dish out information that’s grounded in nothing but hype & imagination (which is common in the fitness industry), they make easy targets of themselves.

And now on to the point of this blog post… As a moderator of the forums at bodybuilding.com, I’ve built a solid relationship with the members – especially in the Nutrition forum. There’s plenty of camaraderie, and discussions range from serious to ridiculous. On the note of the latter, you can never underestimate people’s graphics skills (or sense of humor). Without further ado, here’s some of the fine handiwork of the people who make my job something I truly enjoy.

>

<

Postscript

I recently became aware of the blog of James Heathers, a fellow metal fan who happens to be on faculty at the University of Sydney. A recent blog post of his included a Meshuggah track, which he posted after a conversation we had about that great band, along with the limitations of a recent study on whole-body vibration training.  His full commentary in a yet-unpublished letter to the editors of the European Journal of Applied Physiology is in the latest issue of AARR.

 [GO HERE TO COMMENT]

The Fitness Summit is about a week away (May 13-14th), and I’m one of the speakers. If it’s feasible for you to make it, there’s still a little bit of time left to take the plunge. Here is the info & registration page. Listen to Lou Schuler describe it in detail in Episode 204 of The Fitcast.

Speaking of Lou, I’d like to shamelessly plug his new book, The New Rules of Lifting for Abs, co-written by Alwyn Cosgrove. It’s a very fast read, and it contains plenty of solid information. I would say that the most appropriate target for this book is the lay audience in the beginning-to-intermediate stage of their training. I realize plenty of the readers of my blog are in the advanced stages, so consider getting this book as a gift for folks who you’d like to get started on the right foot. Also, don’t be surprised to find new exercise ideas for yourselves and/or your clients. The focus of the book is ‘core’ training, and it clarifies the many misconceptions surrounding that. A more detailed review of the book by JP Fitness moderator & friend of mine, Roland Denzel, can be found here. You’d be very hard-pressed to find a bad review of any of the books in the ‘New Rules’ series.

So, hurry up & register for the Fitness Summit. You’ll get to pick the brains of Lou & the rest of the speakers for 2 days straight. Again, details about the speakers & registration are here. Lou’s book is available at all of the following: Amazon | Borders | Barnes& Noble | Penguin | Indiebound

The next plug is for 2 products by Xtreme Formulations: Ultra Peptide (a casein-dominant protein powder) & Ultra Peptide Whey. Understand that I don’t have a formal endorsement deal with these guys, so there’s no vested interest here other than to spread the word that these products taste so good, they can legitimately be used to replace traditional desserts. My personal favorite flavors of Ultra Peptide Whey are Arctic Lemon, Mint Chocolate, & Mochaccino. My faves in the casein variety are Chocolate & Lemon Creme Pie. Cinnamon Roll is a popular one as well. I’m not exaggerating when I say that Ultra Peptide (the casein version, not the whey) is the best tasting protein powder I’ve tried thus far. It can turn pretty much any plain food (yogurt, cottage cheese, oats, etc) into something that tastes absolutely indulgent.

One more thing….

The RSS feed for Martin Berkhan’s site apparently wasn’t working during the time he posted my guest article, so I’ll link it here.

That’s all, folks. I’ll be pretty darn busy between now & the Summit, so answering questions relating to this blog post will be out of the question. Instead of leaving people hanging, the comments function will be closed. I’ll be back in a bit. In the mean time - train smart, eat heavy.

SCCRRREEEEECH…. Alright, how about another update?

New article just posted at wannabebig.com: The Dirt on Clean Eating.

Off-Topic but Important

I think this message is important, especially for industry gurus who use Facebook and similar social networking means to interface with a high volume of friends and/or patrons of their products & services. The bigger the network, the bigger the risks. Scammers have targeted the vulnerabilities of Facebook members to pull all kinds of stunts. This includes identity theft and various evils, from mild harrassment to serious crimes. It’s like taking candy from a baby for these criminals, since a lot of personal info is easily accessible from Facebook accounts.

My Personal Account

I recently visited Facebook and posted an announcement about my guest article on Leangains.com.  I’m not very active on Facebook, but I do make it a point to add people with friend requests each time I drop in. I automatically avoid adding people without profile pics. Another thing I automatically do is get suspicious about seductive female profile pics. You know what I’m talking about, those with that “come hither” glamor shot-type of look. Scammers know full-well that the last thing that the average guy can resist is an attractive woman.

I’ll walk you through an actual example of me screening a prospective Facebook friend who might be a fraud. First, take a look at a snippet of my Facebook home page, once the friend request drop-down box is hit. There’s something fishy about the girl’s pic. It’s a little too dreamy, air-brushed-looking, and just out of the ordinary:

.

Instead of reflexively hitting the “confirm” button for Venelle Legazpi, I clicked on her picture, then visited her wall. There’s nothing there but pics posted, no updates that would indicate a normal person. Her info page is blocked for privacy purposes. This person had already successfully ‘friended’7 guys, and 3 of them are well-known fitness industry folks. I already sensed a scam, but just to completely close the books on this case, I ran a TinEye.com search on one of her pics. TinEye is a unique type of search engine that retrieves the web location(s) of any image you feed it. The process is super-quick. As a moderator at Bodybuilding.com, I use TinEye to run checks on members who might have fake avatars.

The first step is to right-click on the pic you want to search. On the drop-down box that appears, click on properties. A box will pop up, and copy the URL (highlight it, then hit Ctrl + C). Then, make sure you copy the entire URL on the pop-up box (only part of it is circled in red below):

Once you’ve copied the URL, paste it (hit Ctrl + V)  into the URL search field on the TinEye.com home page:

In the case of this suspicious Facebook friend request, 15 images were found of someone named Misa Campo, not Venelle Legazpi. Scam confirmed:

A Google search on Misa Campo yields results that are not necessarily safe for work. Clicking unfamiliar links is a good way to invite viruses & various forms of malware into your computer. If you think you’ve mistakenly ‘friended’ a fraudster, here is a guide to un-doing that move. Anyway, I hope this helps protect some of you out there with big fanbases or lots of incoming traffic on sites like Facebook.

[GO HERE TO COMMENT]

Full-on brofessor mode

The above pic, taken earlier today, is of me & the nutritional counseling class of Dr. Terri Lisagor, at California State University, Northridge.  Dr. Lisagor was one of my nutrition professors in my undergrad, and she’s one of the most well-rounded, successful, big-hearted people I know. She regularly invites me to lecture to her students on a range of topics from sports nutrition, altering body composition, and counseling various client types.  The teaching sessions consist primarily of Q & A with the students, and me coming apart by the jokes & wisdom that Terri interjects as I answer the students’ questions.  Most of the students are in their final year of undergrad, and they still have fire in their eyes & the will to learn. I always get a very gratifying kick out of watching the students (& Dr. Lisagor) furiously type and scribble notes as I ramble on & off-topic.

General notes

Thanks for your feedback on the previous post about paper credentials versus the fitness industry. A lot of insight was shared, and a lot of food for thought was dished out. As evidenced by the pic above, I have an affinity towards nutrition education, and not just because the dietetics field is 95% women. Also, thanks for your feedback in general on this blog. I’m still pretty stunned that it gets the traffic it does, especially since my blogging frequency would make any social media guru wince & frown in disapproval.

I realize it’s been months since I’ve posted, and I wanted to assure all of you that I haven’t given up blogging for good. I’ve just been busy with more pressing things, the big 3 being AARR, my ongoing work with Men’s Health magazine, and of course, my rambunctious but lovable stable of clients. As soon as I can reign my projects into a more managable melee (especially pulling forward the AARR posting date), blogging will have to take a backseat. I have a post cooking right now & I’m dying to get it out, but not until I handle the first things first.

Summit alert

For now, I’d like to alert everyone that registrations are now open for the JP Fitness Summit 2011, May 13-14 in Kansas City, MO. Here is the info & registration page. If you’ve been thinking about attending for some time now but never pulled the trigger on it, listen to best-selling author/industry oracle Lou Schuler talk about it in Episode 204 of The Fitcast. He doesn’t even need to try to sell it; all he needs to do is relay facts about it and you’ll get the vibe of how great it is… And with that, I gotta go. I’ll be back after slaying a few more dragons (while eating an alarming array of non-Paleo foods).

_______________________________________________________________________

UPDATE: Head over to Leangains.com & check out my guest article critiquing the ISSN’s position stand on meal frequency.

_______________________________________________________________________

[GO  HERE  TO  COMMENT]

The fitness industry appears to be unique in its ability to facilitate career success despite a lack of what I call paper credentials (letters after your name). Before I go on with this, it might be a good idea to set some operational definitions for fitness industry & career success. The latter term is highly subjective, so let’s just define it as the ability to make a decent living. I’m not necessarily talking about getting filthy-rich, but at least being able to comfortably cover your independent living expenses without needing a night-job where dollar bills are waved at you.

Next, let’s define the fitness industry itself. Let’s just figure this encompasses any field related to improving the body composition or physical performance of the healthy population through diet and/or exercise programming.  This section is titled as a question because this is the only industry I’ve been professionally involved with. I don’t have any first-hand experience in other industries, so the uniqueness of this aspect of the fitness world is mainly an assumptive observation I’ve made.

So, here’s the point. It seems to me that paper credentials are not nearly as crucial for success in the fitness field as they are for success in other fields. This is especially the case with entrepreneurs – particularly those whose business is primarily internet-based.  I’m not aware of any formal research on this topic, but I would venture to guess that the fitness realm has a large proportion of entrepreneurs. This demographic obviously has little concern for employer acceptance, so their main entrance requirement into practice is a big set of cojones. Also, a knack for effective marketing is often what separates the highly successful fitness entrepreneurs from the average ones.

The good & the bad about such an open industry

Fitness industry credentialing  is largely based on certification. This allows people to take  more focused and efficient routes toward adeptness in their chosen skill set. Anyone who has a college degree related to nutrition or exercise is well-aware of the battery of irrelevant, time-wasting, life-bleeding courses (in addition to the relevant ones) required to get the degree. There are several instances where I’ve heard people attest to learning more in their 3-day certifications than in their 4-year degree. This is kind of sad, but it’s true. Furthermore, in the fitness field, personal trainers can get hired almost anywhere, as long as they’re certified.

The good thing about certifications is that they cut right to the relevant information, and omit the trivial courses common in college curriculums. This is good in the sense that plenty of industrious people with advanced degrees in unrelated fields have made a rapid switch over to the fitness field due to its low entrance hurdles. Thankfully for many folks contemplating a late career change, the fitness field is free of the traditional entrance barriers of other professions. But of course, there’s a dark side.

The fitness industry is famous for being chock-full of quacks and charlatans. There are heaps of people running their mouths online and off, pontificating about this nutrient or that, this way of training or that — without having learned the physiological basis for such recommendations or protocols. The fact that this field has so many wackos makes it difficult for the consumer to discern whose material is scientifically based, and whose material is a lot of hot air. This is the unfortunate side of the picture, but it’s also part of my point — you can be devoid of scientific knowledge (or you can create your own brand of pseudoscience), and still become successful in the fitness industry.

A little about entrepreneurship versus employment

Again, if you plan on approaching a large company for employment, degrees can not only help, but in many cases are required for being remotely considered for the job. Degrees can also help facilitate an easier climb up the corporate ladder, and allow higher pay rates. However, entrepreneurship is a different animal, especially in the fitness industry. In many cases, a great physique will get you more clients and/or customers than having a string of letters after your name. Aside from a miniscule minority, clients truly don’t care what certifications trainers have. They just want to know if your clientele gets results, and that you actually care about them enough to show up for appointments.

Entrepreneurship in the writing vein is a whole other topic that could easily warrant its own post, but here’s what I’ve learned. The people who give up their hard-earned money for fitness information products do not do so on the basis of how many advanced degrees the author has. Now, this may be different in the realm of medical information for diseased populations, but for the healthy population aiming to either look or perform better, there seems to be a different set of prerequisites in the eyes of the clients & customers. Case in point – how many of you reading this blog give a rat’s ass about my degrees? I didn’t think so.

Just a few examples

Perhaps the best way to illustrate my perspective of this topic is by providing a few real-world examples of entrepreneurs whose material I’ve followed at some point (or still follow).  The common thread among them is their success despite their non-reliance on paper credentials.

• Let’s begin with the late Dan Duchaine. He’s written a number of books, but is perhaps most famous for Body Opus. Dan is widely regarded as one of the most brilliant guys to ever utter a word about nutrition & other related topics, and pretty much no one really gives a hoot what he studied formally. A little-known fact is that his college degree is in theater arts.
• Another guy who made a huge mark without a string of degrees after his name is best-selling author (Body for Life) & former owner of EAS, Bill Phillips. In contrast to Dan’s somewhat ‘underground’ celebrity status, Bill has reached obscene levels of commercial success. He has no health or fitness-related college degree that I know of. While I’ve never gained any innovative nutritional knowledge by reading Bill’s material, he’s a fascinating and inspiring study in achieving a tremendous scale of success with the lay audience.
• I mention Lyle McDonald quite regularly because a)  for roughly the past decade, he’s been one of the most influential guys in the industry, and b) he and I have a similar market niche. Although our business models differ slightly, we share the same fundamental science/research-obsessed approach that’s tempered with field experience. Lyle fits the present topic perfectly because he’s another guy without a string of advanced degrees and certifications (after his undergrad degree in exercise physiology, he got bored of the snail-pace of college). Nevertheless, anyone who’s familiar with his work knows that a stack of degrees would be a humorous underrepresentation of his actual knowledge.
• Martin Berkhan is best known for his scientific approach to intermittent fasting. Martin is unique among this list because he doesn’t have a book out. However, has one of the most impressive collections of client success stories you’ll ever come across. His own transformation is particularly amazing. When he does put out a book, there’s no question that it will accelerate his already rapid career ascent. Once again, Martin does not rely upon his academic credentials to assert his credibility, and nonetheless has a backlog of clients waiting to work with him, and a legion of followers waiting for his book to be completed. I don’t even know what his exact degree is (nor do I really care), but I do know that he’s one of the very few people whose work I bother to read with genuine interest.
• Tom Venuto is best known for authoring the e-book Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle. He also has an Avery-published book available through major retailers called The Body Fat Solution. On a side-note, this is probably the most scientifically sound weight loss book to ever hit the shelves of mainstream book stores. Tom has parlayed his physique and vast client experience – along with his genuine diligence in gathering the facts – to create a prodigious level of success. His formal education boils down to an undergrad degree in exercise science and a couple of training certifications. But does anyone really care about what Tom’s formal education is? I know I don’t – but maybe that’s just me. What matters is that he strives to balance his personal experiences with what’s been demonstrated in scientific research. Speaking of research, both Tom Venuto & Martin Berkhan are currently subscribed to my research review, and have maintained their subscriptions since the publication’s initial release in early 2008.
• Anthony Colpo is best known for his book, The Great Cholesterol Con. For those unfamiliar with his work, a good introduction is this peer-reviewed article on the cholesterol controversy published in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons. Of equally high quality is this response to a critical letter to the editor regarding his paper. Anthony’s sharp reasoning ability and firm grasp of a wide range of fitness-related topics put him squarely on my short list of excellent reading material, despite the lack ‘flexing’ of letters after his name.

Wrapping up

There are plenty more examples worth discussing (Alwyn Cosgrove [correction: I was just informed that Alwyn indeed has a master's degree in exercise science, but the fact that I was unaware of this speaks toward my point that he doesn't necessarily use it to tout his expertise], Jamie Hale, Leigh Peele, JC Deen, & the list goes on), but this piece is already running too long. Let me stress that this was not meant to be an anti-college article, nor was it meant to indiscriminately rail against advanced formal education. There obviously are brilliant & successful folks in the fitness industry who have advanced degrees (James Krieger, Emma-Leigh Synnott, and Layne Norton immediately come to mind). However, my point stands that becoming successful in the fitness industry - especially as an entrepreneur - is not critically hinged upon paper credentials.

I’ll end off by mentioning what I feel is one of the most effective training grounds for fitness entrepreneurship: being an employee. For anyone thinking of creating a successful business, spend some time first as an employee – even if it’s for a limited but long enough stint to get a feel for what consistently produces results. This way, you’ll be able to minimize your risks & use your corporate experience toward more smoothly navigating your own company. Here’s a short list of certifying bodies that I feel are worth the investment for those seeking to get a foot in the door:

• National Strength & Conditioning Association
• National Academy of Sports Medicine
• American College of Sports Medicine
• International Society of Sports Nutrition
• Update: the ISSN has a sports nutrition certification for those without a 4-year degree.

BREAKING  NEWS:  David Miklas just created more video brilliance (here).

[GO  HERE  TO  COMMENT]

And no, it’s not the fact that I stumbled into a brief torrent of T-shirt design. Some of you might relate to the experience I’m about to describe. The reason I wanna share this is not to show off how cool I am, but to show you how I still run into inner (& outer) struggles with a journey that I’ve intended to create for myself. I also think there’s a lesson or two to be learned, and I’d like to pass those on.

Last week I was given the opportunity to test my chops as the full-time nutritionist of the Los Angeles Kings. During a lengthy discussion with Jeff Solomon, the team’s director of operations, we came to an agreement that my distance-based model of working with clients didn’t line up with his vision of having a full-time staffer who traveled with the team. I could have decided to fulfull this more traditional position, but instead I chose to stick with my current trajectory.

Could I have been open to actually driving to work? Yes – I do it every Monday for my in-person counseling practice. Could I have been open to allowing myself to become part of a team of coaches building better professional athletes? Yes – I do it right now, although on a distance basis. Could I have decided to, if even temporarily, set my career path in another direction with different challenges & benefits? Yes - any sane person would, says my wife. The fact that Jeff was such a personable & straight-shooting guy didn’t make letting this chance to join his team slip by any easier.

I essentially was chosen for the opportunity to do what most nutrition students & professionals would give their left kidney for. But I chose to stick with what I’m doing now…and this was an awakening moment for me. I discovered a few things that I haven’t yet taken completely to heart: 1) I love what do, apparently to an insane degree. 2) I’m very persistent about disallowing the most attractive offers to distract me from following through with the personal vision I’ve set out to accomplish – and am currently accomplishing. 3) If point #2 wasn’t in place, then point #1 might not be the case.

Now, I have to qualify & somewhat disclaim what I just said by emphasizing that most people should be open to various paths within a given career – especially when you’re just starting out, or if you’re not completely stoked about your current position. It’s not like I was offered a position in a completely unrelated field. It’s just that in a large sense, I’ve been there & done that. Now I place a super-high premium on working from my home computer and being geographically close  to my wife & kids year-round. This is what makes me happy, and this is what I’ve worked endlessly to achieve over the last 18 years.

I believe that the best of my career is yet to come, and every day is its own adventure as I graduate to each new level of self-actualization. I want to encourage any of you who’s been in a similar position to not harbor any regrets about walking away from incredible opportunities that don’t fit your original vision.

Oh yeah, happy Halloween weekend, everyone. Just remember that sugar is baaaad, mmmmkay?

[GO  HERE  TO  COMMENT]

Time to let the cat out of the bag…

If you’ll recall back in June, I wrote “Why Nutritional Dogma Dies Hard” and the Broscience graphic prompted several requests for a T-shirt to be made. Well, what ended up happening was me doing that – plus falling into a ridiculous creative catharsis.

Now, please don’t panic and think I’m switching careers. I’m not going to suddenly appear on Fashion TV next to Donatella Versace. This is a one-time eruption of artsy-ness, and now it’s back to the regularly scheduled fitness flogging. On rare occasion I might come up with a new design, and I’ll alert you each time that happens.

Click here to see what I’ve been brewing up.

Update: here’s a snapshot of what the page looks like now, I’ve put up 10 new designs since the initial announcement:

[GO  HERE  TO  COMMENT]