Thanks to all of you who have been reading my articles on the web for the past 15 years, from the first AOL site, to Cyberpump, to baye.com for all the feedback and for helping spread the word about proper exercise. You rock, and I’m proud of every one of you who has taken the information and used it to transform your bodies and lives, and especially all the high intensity personal trainers out there who have done the same for thousands of others.
Working on the book Elements of Form has involved a lot of thinking about how to optimize various aspects of exercise performance and how to best teach them, as well as why people really exercise and how to help them better achieve those goals. As a result I’ve been refining my own training and that of my clients, and experimenting with approaches that I believe will make significant differences in people’s results as well as the safety and efficiency of their workouts.
I want the web site to reflect this, and have been thinking about how to better use the site both to teach and learn. I can only personally train a certain number of people weekly, but by organizing structured programs and collecting data through the site (which attracts over a quarter million visitors yearly) a lot more is possible. I will be cutting my personal training hours way back and making the site and these programs my priority, as it is of greater interest to me personally and allows me to reach and help a much larger number of people.
We are still in the planning stages, but nearly everything will be changing over the next couple of months. In the meanwhile, there may be technical problems with the site, some content may not be available for periods of time while things are being restructured, and on occasion I may request feedback from visitors on things like topics and features we are planning so I can better tailor the material to your information needs and interests.
I would appreciate it if you could take a few minutes and post your answers in the comments below to the following questions:
- What are your short and long term training goals?
- How can we better help you to achieve them through this web site?
- Would you be interested in participating in large, structured group programs if it required sharing data which would be used to improve future programs?
Comments on this entry are closed.
This is exciting news, Drew, and I’m sure all of your readers appreciate your knowledge and commitment to helping people improve the quality of their lives. To answer your questions:
1. Long term goal – to maintain muscle mass and retain mobility and functionality into old age. Short term goal – to make progress in strength, conditioning, and body comp within my current time constraints of a busy job and new baby.
2. Advice in terms of exercise selection and workout scheduling would be helpful. What you’ve already shared has been truly invaluable.
3. Sure – would love to.
Hi Drew,
Looking forward to seeing the new site.
1.) Training goals short term = fat loss. In the long term it’s to make some serious strength gains. I’ve always been particularly weak and I want to correct that.
2.) Help with diet organisation (what to eat and when) and insights into how you firstly controlled what you were doing to lose fat, and then how to train correctly to increase strength.
3.) And yes, I would probably be interested in being part of a test.
Thanks for your ongoing support.
Matt
Hey Drew,
I would like the group particitation, and sharing info with other professionals.
Thanks
Brian Barlow
1. short – to master safe technique, to progress strength-wise while I can
long – to be strong and healthy in my nineties
2. e.g. to illustrate what not to do because of risk of harm
3. I would unless it requires me to go far out of my way in terms of frequency or exercises
One question though regarding unilateral movements – if there are disproportions in strength do I exercise both sides to failure or wait with the stronger side for the weaker one with number of reps?
Zbiggy,
Depending on the situation there are different ways to do it, but as a general rule when performing isolateral movements it is best to start with the strong side so you have a target rep count or TUL to aim for with the other, and only increase resistance when you are able to achieve your target rep range or TUL with both sides.
1. Short – just get this week’s workouts done – every week.
Long – at 90 – 100 years of age be able to live independently, enjoy a long walk in the park, wrestle with the dog, wrestle with the wife, carry way too many heavy bags of groceries up the stairs.
2. Keep doing what you are doing – continue to provide and update evidence based physical conditioning guidance. Filter and distill all research out there.
3. Sure – it might even help with number 1.
Short-term goals: I am 5’6″ and very tiny! To reach 150lbs from 126 (I’m at 135 now and gaining about 3lbs a month!) and maintain a lean body composition where my abs are still visible; to finally lose the last bit of fat I have on my lower abdomen; to increase my 1 rep max for chest and leg press to 180/250 respectfully; To get a certification (advice?) and begin training other people I see struggling with their weight, health and strength. The list goes on but that’s what I want to do before I turn 25 in March.
Long-term goals: To open a gym with my brother Tony (a recon marine on his last deployment) and to bring true, healthy weight training to the masses. To have relatively the same or better functionality twenty years from now as I do today; to show everyone I know that proper diet & exercise are not that hard or time consuming and that you can look and feel healthy at any age if you take responsibility for what you eat and what you do in your free time.
I would love to be part of a data sharing program. It seems to me like an incredibly good idea. I log my weight, body composition, all my food and TUL/reps, exercises as well as sleep and calorie expenditure right now because I’m just beginning and learning about how I respond to various stimuli…The obsessiveness of it all is at times stressful but it’s how I roll. If everyone in the community pooled similar data together it’d probably be very useful.
James,
I’m planning on developing more materials geared towards personal trainers dealing with various aspects of instruction, motivation, and client retention, which should be helpful to new business owners. Let me know when you guys are planning on getting started.
Sorry for being so long-winded…As for how you could help me achieve my goals Drew Baye and co., your site combined with Mark’s Daily Apple has helped me drop 25lbs, gain almost 7 lbs, add 100lbs to every compound exercise I perform and totally change my outlook on life in what will be six months on November 20th. I went from looking at myself in the mirror and seeing a wasteful parasite, from having no self esteem, from thinking my genetics had doomed me to never having a jawline again, from being unable to bench press even 50lbs, to where I am now. You have already done so much for me by maintaining this blog and making all of this information available for free. Thank you!
1. Long Term Goal: Stay healthy into old age. Short Term: Get strength back to where it was when I was regularly lifting weights without adding much/any fat
2. Advice on exercise selection, techniques, theory and motivation
3. Would be interesting and could help with motivation
1. My short term goal is to be in the best shape I can be for ultimate frisbee season this spring. In the long term, I want to have a body that women I have relationships with are proud of. Really long-term: retain strength into old age.
2. Fewer rants, more information. As far as I can tell, the important information is already up, and the burden’s on me to put it to good use. It would be helpful if it were easier to find, since the search can miss things.
3. Yes, although I’m not going to pay for anything.
1)short term: complete a PT certification course to get a “baseline” of sorts and fill in the holes in my knowledge. Also, to complete my weekly workouts and to change my eating habits.
long term: reach and maintain strength goals and a body fat composition that I am comfortable with.
2)I would also like help with diet organization and advice. I have a decent idea of what I’m supposed to be eating in terms of protein and carbs and fat, but putting it into practice is hard when there are a few decades of bad eating habits to overcome.
3)I would love to participate!
also–this site is awesome. (Almost) everytime I see a new post I learn something new. keep the good stuff coming, and I will keep coming back for more.
Thanks you!
Goals of a fat old man: 1/To achieve leanness, bodyweight, & strength that allows me to work out HIT with bodyweight exercises: weighted chins, weighted dips, weighted handstand pushups & weighted one-legged squats. 2/To be in such obviously good shape that when I offer a friend exercise advice, they take it. Making sense isn’t good enough.
1) Short term: stay healthy. Long term: push my health to the limits of what is physically possible and secondary develop a better looking athletic appearance.
2) Continue offering useful info and education. Subscribers area and/or paid for written answers of specific questions.
3) If it’s compatible with my life style and if it doesn’t conflict with my search for ultimate health.
Looking forward to “Elements of form” and many thanks for all the good work you did until now.
1. Increase muscle size quickly, efficiently (as little time as necessary), and safely
2. For this site, I would continue to write great posts based on common questions & release more products. Possibly add video and pictures for examples. DEFINITELY post testimonials and results.
3. Personally, I’m too busy. I am, however, always interested in trying something new that has been proven a few times over.
Thanks! and I hope this helps!
1. No short time goal other than steady improvement in body composition. Long term: about 5 pounds in muscle gains and lowering of body fat percentage by about 2%-points to reach 8% mark.
2. More research/experimentation in trained individuals (preferably also over 40) regarding frequency, reps and sets, also in relation to body type. Am for instance experimenting with two sets per body part, while only taking the last set to failure, which seems to suit me better than one set to absolute failure (and/or beyond). A sort of pre-fatigue and then finishing it of.
3. Absolutely.
1. My short and long term goals are muscle growth without fat increase even in the age of over 40. Strength improvements are just a secondary goal.
Body composition improvement in the most efficient manner is of highest priority for me.
2. Detailed guidelines (frequency, tul, sets, bodypart combinations etc.) for individual experimentation in order to reach that goal.
3. I would participate in such programms if no personal introduction, measuring etc. is necessary, because I´m living in Europe.
Hi Drew,
Firstly great site and source of information. I have recently set up my garage with free weights as the cost of gym membership has rocketed, which leads me on the questions you have asked;
1) Short Term Goals
Be able to effectively perform HIT with free weights. I also have syndactly of the right hand which does limit some gripping motion.
2) Long Term goals
Build consistently in terms of strength and size. Genetically I am no Yates or Viator but would like to maximise what I have whilst avoiding injury.
3) Yes. (Although I live in the UK and not sure how much of an issue this would be to your studies)
Hi Drew,
1. Lose fat and gain lean mass.
2. How to achieve an optimal stimulus using a range of different equipment…free weights, sub-optimal machinery, household objects, bodyweight, etc. I am a Personal Trainer using HIT principles and struggle a little with my creativity when for one reason or another equipment is unavailable (when training a client).
3. Yes, definitely.
Kind Regards,
Mark