This is a guest post from Matt Gartland over at HealthyLifestyleDesign.com

What do Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Biz Stone, Mark Zuckerberg, and Matt Mullenweg all have in common?

They’re all geeks – wildly successful and accomplished geeks!

Geeks are creative problem solvers. They perceive and interact with the world differently. They have seemingly divine abilities to conjure remarkable solutions that improve the lives and capture the imaginations of millions. This power is born from challenging conventional wisdom, exploring the boundaries of what’s possible, and taking risks.

And they’re changing the world – from communications, to philanthropy, to publication, to activism, to education, and beyond.

What does this have to do with designing a healthy lifestyle?

Everything!

First, you can learn from their examples and apply their creative philosophies to designing a fulfilling and healthy life.  Second, you can (and should) use the clever creations of the geek-community to empower your healthy lifestyle. Remember, geeks are creative problem solvers. And simplifying the process of getting healthy in a fun and practical way can be tricky.

So, here are five geeky wonders to conquer your heath:

1. DailyBurn – Your One-Stop, Personal Health Headquarters

DailyBurn will mesmerize you at first use. This web-based application has a ridiculously simple and almost game-like user interface. You’ll get hooked. Trust me.

Why give DailyBurn a go?

• Because you have access to over 244,000 foods and recipes
• Because you can track what you eat with a few, simple clicks
• Because you can record your workout data in minutes
• Because you can compete in fun, health challenges with your friends on DailyBurn
• Because you get motivation and support from the entire DailyBurn community
• Because you can easily track your progress with idiot-proof and insightful analytics
• Because it’s FREE

But wait, DailyBurn doesn’t stop there.

They also have a revolutionary mobile application for the iPhone – FoodScanner. It allows you to retrieve the nutritional data of any food item with a UPC barcode. You can enter how many servings you ate of that food after a scan, which automatically updates your food journal in DailyBurn.

It’s dead-easy to use. Watch for yourself.

FoodScanner Demo

2. SparkPeople.com – America’s #1 Weight Loss and Fitness Website

SparkPeople is a jaw-dropper. It’s bursting with information and tools on all aspects of a healthy lifestyle. Whatever your healthy lifestyle passions and goals, you can learn more and find like-minded friends at SparkPeople.

They aim to “make healthy living fun & easy with our tools, content & community.” This fits perfectly with their mission “to help millions of people live healthier lives and reach their goals”.

Why should you fancy SparkPeople?

• Because over 7 million people believe in SparkPeople and have joined the movement
• Because they offer personalized diet and fitness plans
• Because they provide calorie calculators, fitness trackers, and instructional videos
• Because you can connect with certified dietitians and fitness trainers
• Because the supportive community will help you on your quest to greater health
• Because it’s FREE

3. Twitter & Facebook – Life 2.0

What else could possibly be said about Twitter and Facebook? Not much. If you don’t know about these two social network juggernauts I’d check your pulse to see if you’re alive.

But emphasizing Twitter’s and Facebook’s contributions to radically evolving the pursuit of a healthy lifestyle cannot be overstated.

At no point in human history has it been easier to build, connect, and grow communities of supportive and compassionate friends – thanks largely to Twitter and Facebook. Such social relationships are vital to consistent healthy living. Why? Because of the motivation, inspiration, and sense of belonging they provide.

But there’s more.

Twitter and Facebook grant unprecedented access to premier healthy lifestyle experts. You can “friend” and follow renowned nutritionists, acclaimed trainers, brilliant doctors, distinguished healthy publicists, professional athletes, etc. Their wisdom is at your fingertips.

This isn’t about sharing what you ate for lunch. It’s about learning what you should eat for lunch. And so much more.

So get social and join the Healthy Lifestyle Design Tribe on Twitter and Facebook! And if you haven’t already, enlist in the NerdFitness Rebellion on Twitter and Facebook too!

4. FitBit – The Intergalactic Pedometer from the Future

Are you familiar with pedometers? That’s right. Those goofy things you attach to your belt to track your steps.

FitBit is a pedometer, on steroids and from the future.

The FitBit device automatically collects your fitness and sleep data. Specifically, it accurately tracks calories burned, distance traveled, and hours of quality sleep. Seriously, it monitors your sleep – time you went to bed, time to fall asleep, times awakened, actual sleep time.

How can it do all that? According to FitBit, it “contains a 3D motion sensor like the one found in the Nintendo Wii.”

You guessed it, there’s more.

The FitBit device easily syncs with FitBit.com, providing you the ability to track and analyze your daily activity data. Merely walk within 15 feet of the provided docking station and your data will be automatically uploaded.

Oh, and FitBit tracks your steps too.

5. HealthCentral.com – Your All-Knowing Personal Physician at Your Call 24/7

HealthCentral is akin to having unfettered access to a prestigious medical library. It offers intuitive information on copious health conditions, diseases, symptoms, and more. While it has parallels with WebMD, I enjoy HealthCentral for it’s simplicity and quick answers.

What else is special about HealthCentral?

• You can perform a self-examination of various symptoms
• You can watch videos of medical experts
• You can find a therapist in your area
• Everything is FREE

Disclosure - I had the privilege of meeting HealthCentral’s CEO Chris Schroeder at a 2009 conference on how social technologies are changing the future of healthcare and healthy living. Chris was the keynote – a brilliant and impassioned person with a genuine vision for helping others via social technology innovation.

Bonus: Withings – The OMG Scale of Your Dreams

Scales are boring.

Not this one.

The Withings scale revolutionizes the whole idea behind weighing yourself. With old school scales you hoop on, grimace at your weight, hoop off, done. Weighing yourself was an episodic event with no tangible output or call-to-action. And it definitely wasn’t fun.

With the Withings scale, those days are gone. Welcome to new school.

The Withings scale captures not only your weight but also calculates your lean mass, fat mass, and body-mass-index (BMI). It then transmits that data to the Internet via an encrypted WiFi signal where it is accessible via the Withings.com system.

Once online at Withings.com, you can monitor the historical progress of your body composition measurements. According to Withings…

“The web dashboard offers a rich graphical interface with easy browsing over time and allows you to zoom in on the date ranges of your choice. You therefore take pleasure in observing the evolution of your fitness in a simple, intuitive environment.”

It can also integrate with your DailyBurn account or others like Google Health.

They also offer an iPhone application so that you can access your data while mobile.

***

These geeky wonders are just the tip of the iceberg. Many more abound on the Internets. Feel free to look around.

But don’t overwhelm yourself. These technologies (or any other) should make your healthy life easier, not harder. Forcing yourself to adopt anything doesn’t work. So don’t do it.

And when in doubt, do as the geeks – challenge conventional wisdoms and use/create remarkable solutions to transform your life.

Now go forth and geek-out your healthy lifestyle!

What other geeky creations do you use to manage your healthy lifestyle?

What healthy lifestyle challenges are you encountering that warrant a new geeky gadget?

###

Matt Gartland is a healthy lifestyle geek extraordinaire, blogger, world traveler, lifestyle entrepreneur, coffee fanatic, web techie, lifelong kid, bookworm, and more. He writes at Healthy Lifestyle Design (HLD), where he unleashes his passion for remarkable and unconventional living propelled by amazing health. Follow Matt on Twitter and join the HLD Tribe on Facebook.

(Photo: pragmagraphr)

This is a guest post from George Titsworth over at GeekIntoShape.

We geeks have an unfortunate dilemma when attempting to go from geek to super awesome fitness geek of infinite power.

Our hobbies — gaming, coding, reading, correcting people on the internet — tend to be measured in hours and days of time commitment and normally involve some sort of social commitment as well — guild raiding, project deadlines, book club meetings, a lot of dumb people on the internet that need to be corrected. Adding a new heavy time commitment like proper nutrition and exercise seems like an impossible thing to do with all of our other interests and commitments.

But don’t feel like you don’t have time to get fit, and don’t feel like if you dive in to fitness, you will have to leave your geeky hobbies behind. There are so many ways to merge fitness into your geeky lifestyle and incorporate your geeky lifestyle into fitness. And that is exactly what this list is intended to help you out with.

So dial in the 9th chevron, because we are about to open a gateway to new fitness worlds…

Note: the goal of this list is not to get you to peak physical performance (I’ll leave that job to Steve and the Nerd Fitness Rebellion), but rather to give you fun ways to kick start the transition to a healthy lifestyle.

1) Paintball

Put down the the controller, take off the headset, and get thee to a paintball field! You may think nothing is more fun than owning newbs on the console, but wait until you pull off a double kill of colorful bliss with your semi-automatic paintball gun.

Note: I do not claim responsibility for you lack of leet-ness on the paintball field. Not only do you get to have fun fragging your friends, but a half day of paintball is one hell of a workout. You will be running, squatting, crawling, and more!

Some estimates show that ~400 calories are burned during an hour of paintball. The best part is, the adrenaline from the battle keeps you from feeling fatigued like individual exercises might. This means you often get a 2-4 hour workout without even noticing it.

2) Martial Arts

Two words: Cobra Kai. Who wants to let those tools run the place?

I sure don’t.

That’s why martial arts is number two on my list. Whether you focus on Jujitsu, Karate, or Taekwondo, practicing any form of martial arts is a fantastic way to get fit — build strength, master body control, and boost mental focus — you will get it all.

Most schools that teach martial arts have fantastic programs and classes that accommodate for novices and experts alike for a reasonable cost. You even get colorful belts as you level up – that’s right, a real-life achievement reward. Plus, who doesn’t want to be a ninja? So find do some dojo research around your town and find your very own Mr. Miyagi – and get one of those cool spinnung hand drums while your there.

3) Hashing

I have to thank Branwyn32 from the Nerd Fitness Community Forums for letting me know about hashing. The international group called the Hash House Harriers is, in a simple phrase, a “drinking club with a running problem.”

While there is not anything inherently geeky about hashing, the open and social atmosphere makes it a perfect gateway activity for anyone with an adventurous side and a good sense of humor to get into running. Hashing is basically a bunch of people following a leader down a trail, normally non-established (through urban areas, woods, etc.), that usually ends at bar serving some good brew.

The trails are often set up so it can accommodate all fitness levels and running speeds, though don’t think it is just a walk in the park. Some clubs even celebrate the person who comes in DFL (Dead F-word Last) with extra booze… and who doesn’t love extra booze. Find a local hash near where you live!

4) Disc Golf

You might be asking how disc golf made my list. Well, because: I love disc golf!

I suppose I relate disc golf to geeky activities because this was where my computer science buddies and I would go to blow off some segmentation fault steam. The game is simple, get the Frisbee in the basket in the fewest tosses possible and repeat. All you need to get started is a basic Frisbee or you can spend a little extra to get specialized disc made for long distances or slower discs for putting.

In the past, there were only a few dedicated courses to play disc golf on, but there has been an explosion of new, free disc golf courses: on university campuses, in parks, on green-ways. One rule my friends and I like to add to is no walking. Run everywhere — after drives, between holes, everywhere. Doing this always adds enough movement to the game to get a great workout and have a great time by yourself or with friends.

5) Zombie Walk

Zombieland Rule 1: Cardio. Rule 19: Blend in. Well you can knock out two birds with a single stone by going on a zombie walk. Zombie walks have been gaining popularity over the last few years, and I think that’s awesome-sauce.

Zombie-fy yourself and then go for a long walk with hundreds of your un-dead kindred. Zombie walking not enough for you? Some places have even been starting up Zombie 5k’s. I can’t think of a better time than running my ass off while dressed as a zombie Vanilla Ice.

Ice Ice Braiiiinnnnssss.

6) LARPing

I have never been live action role playing (LARPing), but I will be the first to admit that it looks freaking fun.

Now, I know this activity is considered by many to be radically geeky (Lighting Bolt!), but who wouldn’t want to don some epic armor and smash some skulls? Many approaches can be taken for a LARP event, from a theatrical event to a full fledge role playing game with quests, boss fights, and mass battles.

Most LARPing events take place in a large open field or wooded area, so there is plenty of room to run, duck, jump, and fight — the perfect way to get a full body workout. The cost of LARPing can vary. The upfront cost of buying a costume can be a big expense, but most events are relatively cheap – between $5 and $50 normally.

If you are a big RPG fan, I highly suggest searching for a local LARPing group. Stop sitting at a table rolling dice or clicking a mouse and start running through the wood swinging a mace! +5 to Dexterity. -5 to Flab.

7) Geocaching

So I have mentioened ways to become a ninja. And I given you tips on how to become a zombie… What’s next? You guessed it:

Pirates!

The internet and GPS enable smartphones have brought treasure hunting back to the masses. Geocaching is basically a game of high-tech hide and go seek. People plant hidden treasures (caches) and provide clues on how to find the treasures. Your mission is find the caches with the help of GPS and good ol’ fashion brain power.

While some geocaches will take you across a city, some are localized to a smaller area, which is great for running and biking from treasure to treasure. The Groundspeak iPhone app for geocaching is a great tool to get out and find caches near enough to walk, run, or bike, making for a great day of fun physical activity. So get out there and hunt some treasure (you get bonus points if you do it with a parrot on your shoulder).

8 ) Kendo/Kenjutsu

While Kendo technically falls into the category of martial arts, I had to list it separately because of it’s incredible radness.

I spent upwards of 1 trillion hours watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when I was a kid, and I loved Leonardo. Why? Because he was the leader, and leaders carry giant swords. Like Master Splinter taught the turtles, Kendo teaches you mold the mind and body and always strive for improvement. It is a great way to get fit while learning fun skills at the same time.

I only caution you to wait until you have trained a few months before moving to a real sword. You have been warned. Cowabunga.

9) Wii Fit

And, of course, a list of geeky things to help get you fit is not complete without mentioning Wii Fit. Play video games and exercise at the same time. You can’t beat that. ‘Nuff Said.

What geeky things do you do to get fit?

The list doesn’t stop here. I’m sure there are things that you do every day that I haven’t even thought about. So please post a comment and tell me and the other readers your favorite geeky activities that launched you into the world of fitness.

What else would you YOU add?

###

George Titsworth is a father, MMO geek, and software developer who is in the process of converting his flabby software into rock solid hardware. He blogs at GeekIntoShape.com and you can follow him on Twitter @geekintoshape.

Photos courtesy of: the name is josh, kaibara87, silent7seven, .Mitch, JamesMalone, William Hook, fighter-arts, and jk5854

So I had plans to do a much bigger post over here about this, but I really just ran out of time!

Please visit NerdDash.com for ALL of the details about our fundraiser for the Warrior Dash.  I haven’t asked for much (well, anything) while running this site for the past 15 months, so if you get a second…check out NerdDash.com and consider making a donation.  Here’s the ridiculous video I made to announce the site.  This might be career suicide on my part, and now I’ll never be able to run for president (not that I wanted to anyways), but it’s for a really good cause so I’m okay with it.

Here it is:

Nerd Dash Announcement Video

I’m really excited about this project, and I really hope I can raise the $20,000 to send 40 kids with cancer to summer camp at Camp Sunshine.

Thanks for your support guys! If you have your own blogs and websites, I’d be eternally in your debt if you gave a shout out to the NerdDash on your site.  Anything and everything is appreciated.

Oh, and a BIG THANKS to my buddy Joe for doing all the design work for the site. He’s in the process of setting up his own business, so if you need any design work done, shoot me an email and I’ll put you in touch with him.  Joe is the man!

Thank you,

Steve

Now let’s take care of these kids!

Does music ever make you feel like this?

It does for me, which is great because music happens to be a huge part of my life.  My day job involves producing floating music festivals on cruise ships (watch a spur-the-moment commercial I made on one of our cruises last week), I go to a few concerts a month, I play both guitar and piano, and I have a playlist in my iTunes for practically every occasion: for work, while studying or reading, when at a party, while falling asleep, and most importantly for working out.

I’m convinced that I can lift five to ten pounds more when listening to the right song. Unfortunately, because my gym loves to play Taylor Swift techno remixes all the time (don’t ask), I’ve resorted to bringing my own iPod and loading up my own workout playlist.  Put in the headphones, keep my head down, and take care of business.  I figured today would be a good day for me to highlight what’s on that playlist and ask you what I should add to it.

Steve’s Nerd Fitness Workout Playlist

This is what I listen to when lifting weights.  Feel free to make fun of anything in here you don’t like, as that’s what’s music is all about: making fun of others who listen to things different than you .

• AC/DC – Thunderstruck
• Against Me! – Thrash Unreal
• Brand New – Seventy Times 7
• Brand New – The Quiet Things that No One Ever Knows
• Breaking Benjamin – Simple Design
• Bush – The Chemicals Between Us
• Coheed & Cambria – A Favor House Atlantic
  
• Chemical Bros. – Block Rockin’ Beats
  
• Darude – Sandstorm
  
• Disturbed – Down With the Sickness
  
• Disturbed – Stricken
  
• DMX – What’s My Name
  
• DMX – Ruff Ryders Anthem (DJ Clue Remix)
  
• Drake – Forever (Travis Barker Remix)
  
• Dropkick Murphys – Shipping Up To Boston
  
• Eminem – Til I Collapse
  
• Flogging Molly – Drunken Lullabies
  
• Foo Fighters – Everlong
  
• Foo Fighters – Monkey Wrench
  
• Gaslight Anthem – The ’59 Sound
  
• Goldfinger – Superman
  
• Guns N’ Roses – Welcome to the Jungle
  
• Jay-Z – 99 Problems
  
• Jay-Z – Run this Town
  
• Kanye West – Stronger
  
• Kanye West – Diamonds From Sierra Leone
  
• Led Zeppelin – Immigrant Song
  
• Legend of Zelda 64 – Gerudo Valley Remix
  
• Linkin Park – Breaking the Habit
  
• Lonely Island – I’m on a Boat
  
• Metallica – Enter Sandman
• Mega Man 2 – Bubble Man Remix
• Moby – Extreme Ways (wooo Bourne Identity)
• Mortal Kombat – Mortal Kombat Final Techno
  
• My Chemical Romance – The Black Parade
  
• My Chemical Romance – Famous Last Words
  
• Nas – Hate Me Now
  
• Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit
  
• Offspring – The Kids Aren’t Alright
  
• Our Lady Peace – Innocent
  
• Outkast – Bombs Over Bagdad
  
• Puff Daddy – Victory
• Rammstein – Du Hast
• Smashing Pumpkins – Cherub Rock
  
• Stone Temple Pilots – Vasoline
  
• Story of the Year – Until the Day I Die
  
• System of a Down – Chop Suey
  
• T.I. – Live Your Life
  
• Survivor – Eye of the Tiger
  
• Weezer – Everybody Get Dangerous

There you have it – Steve’s proven formula to get pissed off and pumped up: some generic angst-y alt rock and hip hop.  What songs did I leave out?  What am I missing?  Let’s help create a cool list of songs for all readers.  Maybe when I have time I can turn it into an iMix on iTunes or something.  Only time will tell…

Now it’s your turn. What do you listen to when you work out?  Do you need happy music or angry music?

Let’s hear it!

-Steve

###

If you liked this post and you want to stick around, please sign up for the RSS Feed of Nerd Fitness or get NF posts daily via email!

photo: Notsogoodphotography

Holy crap, I’ve published 200 articles.

I’ve started three or four blogs prior to Nerd Fitness and none of them lasted longer than two weeks.  I start to learn new music for the piano or guitar when I’m only half-finished with the previous song.  I start way more stuff than I finish.  Essentially, I’ve learned that I’m a great ideas guy, and a terrible follow-through guy.  So, what the heck has kept me excited about writing a fitness blog for the past 10 months?  I think I’ve figured it out:

• I have a passion for it. I’m not a fitness expert, but rather a student of it.  The whole concept of getting stronger, living better, and ‘becoming a machine’ fascinates me.
• I enjoy writing - Luckily, I enjoy writing.  I didn’t realize this until I actually started writing.
• I’m filling a need - Everybody wants to be in better shape, but very few people actually know where to begin.  There is so much crap information out there and too many people who are just after your money.
• I really like helping people – Another thing I didn’t realize until I started getting emails from readers asking for advice.  I like helping people and seeing them turn their lives around.

Through these ten months, I’ve watched Nerd Fitness grow from an audience of two (myself and my Mom) to hundreds of subscribers and hundreds of visitors daily.  Although it’s really exciting to see these numbers climb, there are far more important things that have come from running Nerd Fitness that really make me happy.

Making Friends

Nerd Fitness is really turning into a community, and that makes me proud.  People helping each other out, sharing information, asking questions, cracking jokes, engaging in healthy debate: it’s awesome.  Here are some of the people I’ve been able to “meet” thanks to Nerd Fitness:

Brett over at Art of Manliness – After emailing Brett letting him know that I was a huge fan of his site, Brett took the time to reach out to me and stay in touch.  He’s even linked to a few of my articles through the AoM blog, which has been incredible for increasing the size of Nerd Fitness.  Brett, I’m working on that guest post for you, I promise!  Thanks again, and congrats on running such a great site.

Josh Hanagarne at World’s Strongest Librarian – Josh is my hero.  Never in a million years did I think I’d ever meet a 6’8″, incredibly strong librarian with Tourettes, but thanks to Nerd Fitness I now feel like Josh is a good friend.  It all started when Josh put out the call to write guest posts for any site that wanted one.  I emailed Josh and said “I’d love for you to write one for my site, Nerd Fitness.”  Josh emailed me back 30 seconds later with the subject line, “Best Blog Name Ever.”  Thanks Josh!  I look forward to reading his posts every day, and you should too.  Josh taught me the importance of guest posts.  This site wouldn’t be where it is now had I not stumbled across Josh’s blog months ago.

Baker over at Man vs. Debt – A few weeks back, Baker posted on his uber-sucessful blog that he was looking to get in shape.  I sent him a simple email that said I’d like to help him out in any way.  Bake emailed me back immediately asking if there was anything he could do for me.  In two emails I already feel like Baker’s a close friend.  This is also due to the fact that he writes such a personal and captivating blog that you can’t help but feel like you already know him.  I try to channel my inner Baker when writing my posts, making sure I know how to NOT suck at blogging.  He’s also been the inspiration for my “How to NOT suck” post series, which have been some of my most popular and successful.  Thanks Baker.

Mike Rickett – Mike taught my personal trainer certification class last fall.  Since then, I’ve got a chance to hang out with him for a few hours at a time every time he comes back through Atlanta to teach another class.  I learn more in those few hours than I do reading any book.  Mike is the man, and a big reason why I’ve had such a good time with this whole fitness thing.  He gets it, and I’m glad I’ve got a chance to know him.  Thanks Mike, for being my Yoda.

Jason Varley – Last night, I had a chance to meet with Jason in person.  He runs a gym over in Decatur called CoreBody, and he goes about training clients the RIGHT way.  I was put in touch with Jason through a NF reader (thanks Porter), and I could tell within 10 minutes of meeting the guy that he was the real deal.  I pride myself on being correct with my 1st assumptions of people, and I got a great vibe from Jason.  If any of you live in the Atlanta/Decatur region and you’re looking for a personal trainer/gym, this is your man.  Years of experience, incredible amounts of knowledge, and a level-headed approach to fitness.

Although the guys listed above have really helped me turn Nerd Fitness into what it is today, there are quite a few other great people that I have met along the way too.

Tyler at 344Pounds – Tyler has lost 125 pounds since January and has blogged about his journey every step of the way.  Hey big guys, if you’re ever wondering what you can accomplish if you put your mind to it, look no further than this man.  Tyler, keep kicking ass.

Steve at 265andFalling – That’s right Steve, I’m calling you out.  Why?  Because you’ve lost 15 pounds in 6 weeks and you’re rolling.  You said yourself that you’ve been down to 245 in the past only to gain it all back, so I figure a shout-out and maybe some new readers might keep you motivated.  The fate of the world rests on your shoulders.  No pressure.

-Chris McNeil at FitMenu (for being one of my first interviewees.  Thank you Chris!), Evan the Muay Thai Guy (for reading since the beginning), Jim Hodgson (for inspiring everybody, myself included), and Brandi and Adam at the Paleo Kitchen.

I have terrible organizational skills, so I’m sure I left out some very important people in these shout outs.  Please know it wasn’t intentional, but feel free to call me out on it!

People That Have Inspired Me

These are people that I don’t know yet, but have influenced me greatly through their writing.  Thanks guys, and hopefully we get to exchange emails some day.

Leo at Zen Habits – I like Leo, a lot.  Leo runs such a great, simplistic blog that has helped me declutter my own life.  I’m still struggling with working too many hours, but I will get there at some point.  Thanks Leo for running a great blog and helping so many people take the time to stop and smell the roses.  Life is too damn short to not do what you love, even if it’s just for a little bit each day.

Jason Ferruggia – Jason writes one HELL of a blog.  He tells it exactly how it is.  This post (some swears, just a heads up) he wrote the other day is one of the best articles I have read all year.  Read it.  Now. Although Jason is a Yankees fan, I’d still like to get to know him.  I think his approach to training is awesome, especially considering that he’s a Vegan.  You don’t see many Vegans that look like him.

Craig Ballantyne - Craig is an inspiration to anybody in the fitness world these days.  Although he has quite a few programs available for sale online, Craig gives away more free content than anybody out there.  Just youtube “Craig Ballantyne” and see for yourself.  Thanks Craig for giving away so much awesome content.

Chris Guillebeau – Chris is the reason I’ve taken my current approach to Nerd Fitness – write well, give away as much as you can, and the rest will work itself out.  Chris has created some phenomenal products to help people escape a 9-5 boring life, but he also writes great blogs on a weekly basis.  Chris, I’ll be picking up your “Frequent Flyer Master” e-book soon!

The Future of Nerd Fitness

So far, I’ve made approximately $0 for the 1000 hours I’ve pumped into this site.  I’m okay with this.  Eventually I hope to make a decent living through Nerd Fitness, but I had planned on spending years and years before anything serious started rolling in, so I’m right on schedule.

I plan on following Chris Guillebeau’s approach and creating products that will provide way more value than I actually charge for them.  I’ve realized in the majority of the emails that I’ve received that most people really just want to be told exactly what to do, so these products will be day-by-day guides on what to eat, exactly what exercises to do, and how to do them.    Personally, I hate “4 payments of 29.99″ and “BUY NOW” and “GET RESULTS FAST,” so the stuff I put together won’t have any of that stuff.

I’ll continue writing great content (well, I hope it’s great) for free every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  Exciting times are coming for Nerd Fitness, so get ready!  I’ve met some great people through these first 200 posts.  I can’t wait to see who I meet with the next 200.

Thank You

Lastly, I want to say thanks to all of you readers.  It’s your emails that keep me staying up way too late at night writing posts.  It’s your comments that make me happy to get up early and reply.  Hearing your success stories motivate me to write better and find ways to help more people.  All I ask is that you pass this website along to your friends if you think it would help them in any way.

Let me know what I can do to keep you coming back.

-Steve

###

If you haven’t already done so, download my free E-Book, “A Newbie’s Guide to Fitness,” and If you like what you see, please sign up for the RSS Feed of Nerd Fitness or get NF posts daily via email.

photo from: JonRawlinson

I had planned on writing a different article for today, but my plans for yesterday afternoon got all jacked up.

With my article post half-finished, I headed over to Smith’s Olde Bar to check out a band a friend of mine had recommended: Scythian.  Well, turns out that the doors were at 8; and there was an opening act, which meant the actual band didn’t come on until 10pm.  Two hours and fifteen minutes later, my hands were sore from clapping and my feet sore from jumping up and down.  Scythian put on one of the best live shows I have seen in quite a while.  Check out their tour schedule and GO SEE THEM: kick-ass Irish music, dueling fiddles, incredible stage presence, and they all seemed like pretty cool guys too.  Back to last night: I didn’t get home until close to 1AM, and after watching It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (a must), I went to bed.

So, rather than haphazardly slap together the rest of that post this morning, I decided to instead pass along some articles and websites that I found interesting:

Modern Man’s a Wimp (thanks NF reader Alan!) – According to Australian anthropologist Peter McCalister, turns out we’re all a bunch of wimps…and due to continuing modern convenience we’re becoming the worst generation that has ever lived.  Suck.  Here’s a few examples at you:

• Roman legions completed more than one-and-a-half marathons a day carrying more than half their body weight in equipment.
• Athens employed 30,000 rowers who could all exceed the achievements of modern oarsmen.
• Australian aboriginals threw a hardwood spear 110 meters or more (the current world javelin record is 98.48).

Is Barefoot Running Better For You? – Another reason I didn’t get a chance to finish my post yesterday is because I was too busy getting lost in this particular article and the 9 pages of comments that follow.  Although I don’t necessarily agree with the author here, I think she does a relatively decent job of presenting both sides of the barefoot vs. shoes argument.  However, I think her arguments for discussing why heel-toe running is faster than mid-strike or front foot strike running are pretty unfounded and her “example” isn’t very convincing.  What I wanted to draw more attention to is the comments.  Read a page or two and you’ll get quite a few laughs.  Comments, with a few exceptions, break down into three classifications:

• People who immediately discount barefoot running, calling it stupid and ridiculous and dangerous…these people have never tried barefoot running
• Barefoot runners who present story after story about how their injuries disappeared after ditching their shoes.
• Probably 100 comments who talk about ‘broken glass, dog crap, rocks, and needles’ that apparently litter EVERY STREET IN AMERICA which makes barefoot running impossible (these are also people who have never tried it).  I don’t know what kind of streets these people run on, but I look down when I run, there’s not a lot of stuff to avoid, and if there is…I just don’t step on it.  I wear Vibram FiveFingers shoes to simulate barefoot running while also protecting my feet.

What I got out of this article is that practically EVERYBODY who has tried barefoot running (or running in Vibrams) loves it, and anybody who hasn’t is quite vocal about how stupid it is.  Don’t knock it til you try it folks!

How to Gain Weight and Build Muscle while on the Paleo Diet – This is for you hard gainers (like myself) trying to maintain a healthy diet while bulking up and putting on weight.  Mark Sisson over at the Primal Blueprint runs a great site for Paleo Diet eaters.

Run Tellman Run! - This dude is running from New York to California…barefoot.  He’s doing it to raise awareness (and money) to fight teenage homelessness (not to fight homeless teenagers, that wouldn’t be helpful).  He’s through most of Pennsylvania, but still has a LONG way to go.  You can track the guy’s progress, make donations, and see if he actually makes it all the way.

I Am Endorphin Dude, See Me Run! - I met Tony through Evan (the Muay Thai guy), and I loved his inspirational story.  I won’t steal most of his thunder, but back in April Tony thought he was having a heart attack, and decided to change his life around.  He just finished a half-marathon and then a 10k a few weeks later.  Tony’s dropped 50 pounds, took 12 inches off of his waist line, and now wants to help others.  Tony will be doing a interview for our site shortly, but I want to throw a shout out to the man and say congrats for finishing his most recent races!

Ong Bak 2 - NF reader Chris passed this “review” of Tony Jaa’s Ong Bak 2.  I NEED to see this movie after reading this from the review: “By the time we hit the half-hour mark he’s fought a samurai, wrestled a crocodile, and killed a vampire. Also: elephant surfing.” For an even funnier review, check out this article on Cracked that refers to the film as “action porn evolved.”

Metrocket – Metrocket is a website/blog run by my roommate Evan, who happens to be one hell of a developer.  He recently partnered with PollStar (the concert site) to develop a kick-ass iPhone App that will tell you when any music act is coming to town, where they’re playing, and how to get there.  Check out the site, download the app here (it’s free), and then go check out some live music in your area.

Happy Friday everybody! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do this weekend.

-Steve

Paying homage to one of the greatest games of all-time, I decided I should be linking to all the articles from the past week that caught my eye.  Most of them will be related to leveling up your life, diet, and fitness, but I’ll throw a few in there that might surprise ya.  This is the first one of these, so hopefully you guys get some value out of this and I can keep doing it:

Get Bigger Muscles by Walking? – Yeah you read that right.  Find out why you might be overdoing it in the gym and trying too hard to lose the weight.  I think this is a fantastic article, and lines right up with my belief that exercise is really only like 20% of the battle when it comes to building muscle or losing weight.

The Stupidity of Smart Choices Food Labels - Did you know that Fruit Loops and Lucky Charms are considered “smart choices” for breakfast these days?  Apparently a bunch of food companies and dietiticians and politicians came together to develop this Smart Choice Food Label so people can recognize what is healthy for them.  There are so many things wrong with this program it’s ridiculous, but Vin over at Natural Bias does an amazing job of fully explaining why this is the dumbest thing ever.

29 Ways to Make a New Habit - Whether it’s giving up smoking, soda, junk food, Leo Babauta at Zen Habits has come up with 29 ways for you to break old habits and instead follow new ones.  Leo is the man, and he runs a great site if you’re not already one of his 129,000 subscribers.

How to Level Up – Here’s an interesting blog by Chris Brogan that compares video games to an improved life.  It’s pretty much a Nerd Fitness article that I had nothing to do with, and one I wish I had written.

Why does OJ taste bad after you brush your teeth? – Nothing to do with fitness, but intriguing nonetheless.  I love OJ, and I’ve always wondered.

Happy Friday everybody, I’m off to Birmingham tonight and then Nashville tomorrow.  Only 5 more days until the launch of the Nerd Fitness e-book, “A Newbie’s Guide to Fitness”!

-Steve

If you liked this post, please sign up for the RSS Feed of Nerd Fitness or get NF posts daily via email!