Thursday, December 17, 2009
Affiliate Links in Begin2Dig. What and Why are They?
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I've been mulling over the use of affiliate links on the b2d blog, and 
that i may be assuming knowledge of a convention within the blog readership that is not as well known or understood as i might have thought. Generally speaking, when folks have little images on their sites to stuff they promote, if someone makes a purchase of an item via that link, the person who hosts that link gets a commission on the sale. Commissions can range from a percentage per purchase to a percentage only after you make a certain minimum in a period. For instance, one place where i've had links only pays if you make X a month in commissions. I never do. Alas. But i still like the stuff, and the links let me track if anyone's taken me up on that suggestion. Which sometimes is the only feedback a person gets.
Choosing to Affiliate. Anyone can become an affiliate for just about anything, and that's fine and dandy. Take a look for the term "affiliate" on anyone's site to see if they offer that kind of program. At B2D, however, i haven't affiliated to any product i don't use or haven't evaluated repeatedly and found worth telling folks about.
Assumptions around Links. My concern is that recently i heard someone refer to this practice of using affiliate links as "sneaky" and i was, to use a british expression, gob smacked, and kinda upset: would b2d readers think i had been pulling a fast one with the ads on my site, or the links to products in some posts? I know i've been pretty explicit in some posts about how commissions work, but i don't do it every time i mention a product. What's the solution?
So i thought the best way to address this point is to create this post to say something about the products i talk about when they do have affiliate links associated with them.
ANd oh - what's an affiliate link - just to leave no stone unturned? In my experience it's one of two things: it is either a link to the usual web site with a particular code in it that maps back to the affiliate, or it's a link to a specific affiliate site that logs the transaction and then redirects the person to the website product page.
Affiliate Link Policy: i get emails to become an affiliate for lots of stuff quite regularly. Nothing wrong with that. But if the product isn't something i've used and can recommend, and fits the b2d zone, i ignore it.
Review Policy for Affiliate links:
First, let me preface this by saying not everything i review has an affiliate link with it. The most popular posts on the site are about vibram five fingers and p90x. No affiliate links. I promote stuff like Escalating Density Training all the time. No affliliate connection. I hope that goes some way to suggesting that i promote stuff i feel worth taking the time to write about whether i have the potential to make anything back from it or not.
If i review something on my site and use an affiliate link, it's because i can give it a positive review because i use it, or i've found good results with it when i use it with others. I've gotten to the place now where i get asked to review things, and if i can't give stuff a good review i just don't. I don't get paid to write anything here, and as some folks might note from the detail i put into things, some of these reviews take considerable time to craft.
So *if* i can endorse the object i review, and give a fair review to it, and there's an affiliate program, i'll get an affiliate link and use it. You will not find something on this site that has not been part of a descriptive post featuring it. Some folks will go so far as sometimes to ask me explicitly if i have an affiliate link, cuz they'd like to support the work on b2d; others have made a point to tell me they've purchased something with my affiliate link, because they appreciate the review quality. That's always nice - but it's also lead me again to think this link convention may be more clear than it is.
Integrity. Now i suppose someone might feel a bit jaundiced by this potential benefit from a
review: how pure a review is this if i stand to get money from it? That's a fair question: there's bias in everything, and if folks did not know about the affiliate linking thing - something i had thought was clear - then they may feel they are being lead - though i would hope the content of any review is such that it's clear why i'm promoting something, and that enough detail is offered to be able to make an INFORMED decision about whether the thing is for you or not.
The context may also be relevant here. For example: there's an add for z-health products on this site, and links to their stuff. If you look at my credentials, it's pretty clear this is stuff i use regularly for myself and with the folks i coach, so my bias, such that it is, is also pretty clear, but the goal here is to make these connexions completely unambiguous. And really, based on how much i've written about z for example and how much i've personally invested in certifications, relative to what the actual commissions are (easy for anyone to check), i would starve if i relied on these links for an income. No, i'd be dead. As much and all as i'd like it to be different, b2d has a pretty small readership compared with some of my blogeagues - you can check that too, on the blog by the no. of folks who grok b2d, the feedburner subscribers numbers and the sitemeter count since b2d started.
The thing is, i value and respect this readership. Folks have decided to let b2d take a slice of their decision making time when they figure out what stuff they want to read in a day. that's not nothing; that's dam significant. And so, so what if b2d is a pretty niche blog! if the whole affiliate linking thing hasn't been clear, i want it to be clear, so there's no sense of any hanky or remotest panky at b2d.
Bias Protection: Guarantees. If someone's getting money from something, they're getting money from something, and it's fair to say that that might make a difference to their review. This is why research papers site the sources of their funding, so that can be taken into consideration when adjudicating the methodology of a study. There's a great chocolate milk as energy drink study which has support from the dairy industry in the US. Now you could say that that's bias BUT people with nothing to do with dairy have reviewed it prior to publication and said ya, wow, really strong methodology there. Now others may always say, i don't care how clean that methodology looked: if you're funded by dairy you're tainted. The same may apply to a blog: i don't care how detailed that review looks, if you might get something from a sale of that thing, i'm off. And you know what? That's ok. Of course it is. Full disclosure means a person has the grounds to make that decision or not. And i'd rather have folks be happy to visit b2d cause this is all clear than there's ambiguity where i thought there was clarity.
At that point it gets to a question of mediatus radix: consider the source. Is there trust there, such that the review, despite the possibility of recompense, seems fair?
As a safety net around this question, with any of the stuff i've endorsed, something i also haven't made explicit, is that there's also a guarantee that if you don't find what's on the label is what's in the tin, you get your money back from the source. If that's not part of the terms, i don't support it.
Does that Help? As said, i was really wow'd when someone said they found my site just to be about making money - not that there's anything wrong with that a priori and it would be wrong to say i don't enjoy getting any commissions that come from the ads: money is money.The other day i got 3.99 as my monthly commission on Gymboss, and i'm thrilled. Some other soul will now have a happier VWC experience because of that. But that's rather secondary to b2d's mission. There are way better ways to make money than writing a two part series on what is delayed onset muscle sourceness, a literature review; or how are supplements certified, or how to move your hips to get better stability for one's press.
But as said, the main important thing here is that these transactions have seemed pretty transparent. So i guess what concerned me is that i do put a lot of time into the material i present, whether product or research reviews, and have thought of it as fair and above board, and so if there's any glimmer of that not being so, i want to nip it in the budd, and hope this post might have helped to do that, so that if you continue to read b2d, it's cuz you know what's what and have confidence in that what.
Thanks for reading. Tweet Follow @begin2dig
that i may be assuming knowledge of a convention within the blog readership that is not as well known or understood as i might have thought. Generally speaking, when folks have little images on their sites to stuff they promote, if someone makes a purchase of an item via that link, the person who hosts that link gets a commission on the sale. Commissions can range from a percentage per purchase to a percentage only after you make a certain minimum in a period. For instance, one place where i've had links only pays if you make X a month in commissions. I never do. Alas. But i still like the stuff, and the links let me track if anyone's taken me up on that suggestion. Which sometimes is the only feedback a person gets.Choosing to Affiliate. Anyone can become an affiliate for just about anything, and that's fine and dandy. Take a look for the term "affiliate" on anyone's site to see if they offer that kind of program. At B2D, however, i haven't affiliated to any product i don't use or haven't evaluated repeatedly and found worth telling folks about.
Assumptions around Links. My concern is that recently i heard someone refer to this practice of using affiliate links as "sneaky" and i was, to use a british expression, gob smacked, and kinda upset: would b2d readers think i had been pulling a fast one with the ads on my site, or the links to products in some posts? I know i've been pretty explicit in some posts about how commissions work, but i don't do it every time i mention a product. What's the solution?
So i thought the best way to address this point is to create this post to say something about the products i talk about when they do have affiliate links associated with them.
ANd oh - what's an affiliate link - just to leave no stone unturned? In my experience it's one of two things: it is either a link to the usual web site with a particular code in it that maps back to the affiliate, or it's a link to a specific affiliate site that logs the transaction and then redirects the person to the website product page.
Affiliate Link Policy: i get emails to become an affiliate for lots of stuff quite regularly. Nothing wrong with that. But if the product isn't something i've used and can recommend, and fits the b2d zone, i ignore it.
Review Policy for Affiliate links:
First, let me preface this by saying not everything i review has an affiliate link with it. The most popular posts on the site are about vibram five fingers and p90x. No affiliate links. I promote stuff like Escalating Density Training all the time. No affliliate connection. I hope that goes some way to suggesting that i promote stuff i feel worth taking the time to write about whether i have the potential to make anything back from it or not.
If i review something on my site and use an affiliate link, it's because i can give it a positive review because i use it, or i've found good results with it when i use it with others. I've gotten to the place now where i get asked to review things, and if i can't give stuff a good review i just don't. I don't get paid to write anything here, and as some folks might note from the detail i put into things, some of these reviews take considerable time to craft.
So *if* i can endorse the object i review, and give a fair review to it, and there's an affiliate program, i'll get an affiliate link and use it. You will not find something on this site that has not been part of a descriptive post featuring it. Some folks will go so far as sometimes to ask me explicitly if i have an affiliate link, cuz they'd like to support the work on b2d; others have made a point to tell me they've purchased something with my affiliate link, because they appreciate the review quality. That's always nice - but it's also lead me again to think this link convention may be more clear than it is.
Integrity. Now i suppose someone might feel a bit jaundiced by this potential benefit from a
review: how pure a review is this if i stand to get money from it? That's a fair question: there's bias in everything, and if folks did not know about the affiliate linking thing - something i had thought was clear - then they may feel they are being lead - though i would hope the content of any review is such that it's clear why i'm promoting something, and that enough detail is offered to be able to make an INFORMED decision about whether the thing is for you or not.The context may also be relevant here. For example: there's an add for z-health products on this site, and links to their stuff. If you look at my credentials, it's pretty clear this is stuff i use regularly for myself and with the folks i coach, so my bias, such that it is, is also pretty clear, but the goal here is to make these connexions completely unambiguous. And really, based on how much i've written about z for example and how much i've personally invested in certifications, relative to what the actual commissions are (easy for anyone to check), i would starve if i relied on these links for an income. No, i'd be dead. As much and all as i'd like it to be different, b2d has a pretty small readership compared with some of my blogeagues - you can check that too, on the blog by the no. of folks who grok b2d, the feedburner subscribers numbers and the sitemeter count since b2d started.
The thing is, i value and respect this readership. Folks have decided to let b2d take a slice of their decision making time when they figure out what stuff they want to read in a day. that's not nothing; that's dam significant. And so, so what if b2d is a pretty niche blog! if the whole affiliate linking thing hasn't been clear, i want it to be clear, so there's no sense of any hanky or remotest panky at b2d.
Bias Protection: Guarantees. If someone's getting money from something, they're getting money from something, and it's fair to say that that might make a difference to their review. This is why research papers site the sources of their funding, so that can be taken into consideration when adjudicating the methodology of a study. There's a great chocolate milk as energy drink study which has support from the dairy industry in the US. Now you could say that that's bias BUT people with nothing to do with dairy have reviewed it prior to publication and said ya, wow, really strong methodology there. Now others may always say, i don't care how clean that methodology looked: if you're funded by dairy you're tainted. The same may apply to a blog: i don't care how detailed that review looks, if you might get something from a sale of that thing, i'm off. And you know what? That's ok. Of course it is. Full disclosure means a person has the grounds to make that decision or not. And i'd rather have folks be happy to visit b2d cause this is all clear than there's ambiguity where i thought there was clarity.
At that point it gets to a question of mediatus radix: consider the source. Is there trust there, such that the review, despite the possibility of recompense, seems fair?
As a safety net around this question, with any of the stuff i've endorsed, something i also haven't made explicit, is that there's also a guarantee that if you don't find what's on the label is what's in the tin, you get your money back from the source. If that's not part of the terms, i don't support it.
Does that Help? As said, i was really wow'd when someone said they found my site just to be about making money - not that there's anything wrong with that a priori and it would be wrong to say i don't enjoy getting any commissions that come from the ads: money is money.The other day i got 3.99 as my monthly commission on Gymboss, and i'm thrilled. Some other soul will now have a happier VWC experience because of that. But that's rather secondary to b2d's mission. There are way better ways to make money than writing a two part series on what is delayed onset muscle sourceness, a literature review; or how are supplements certified, or how to move your hips to get better stability for one's press.
But as said, the main important thing here is that these transactions have seemed pretty transparent. So i guess what concerned me is that i do put a lot of time into the material i present, whether product or research reviews, and have thought of it as fair and above board, and so if there's any glimmer of that not being so, i want to nip it in the budd, and hope this post might have helped to do that, so that if you continue to read b2d, it's cuz you know what's what and have confidence in that what.
Thanks for reading. Tweet Follow @begin2dig
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Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Lean Eating Progam: Human Support is KEY for Good Eating Big Sig Part of Diet Success
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The holidays usually mean food, unusual eating, making body composition goals 
seemingly risk slipping further away. If achieving such goals has been important to you, or for someone you love, and a trial to date, a simple question may be, despite the difficulty of actioning what to do, do you feel firmly that you know how to achieve your body comp goals and/or how long that process will take? Or if you want to help someone undertaking this process, do you know how?
If you're not 100% sure, you may want to connect with the Lean Eating program, or gift it to someone you love. Here's why: knowledge and human support make the difference for real and lasting diet success. Yesterday i offered a pointer to what real people look like who have made real progress on body comp goals
as a result of two things:
For folks who either have willing folks but without the knowledge (or potentially not great knowledge beyond their own experience) or have great knowledge but lack support - may even be in an environment that will be somewhat resistant to change, well, there are programs that offer this. The one program i know of, and trust, and where as i posted yesterday you can see the kinds of real people results that occur, is Precision Nutritions.
I'm bothering to post about this program again because the Lean Eating Program is about to get ramped up again (last summer's review here), and, as before ,there's a waiting list to get into it. They're opening up an early pre-sign up to get on the next list for the new year (you know, when we all get a little sensitive about post beast/feast effects)
Here's a quote from one of the people who did the program, and wrote about their experience on my first post about the Lean Eating Program
Here's the Executive Summary of the program:
6 months of coaching - en direct, from wherever you are right now, to get to where you want to go. Plus, beyond that regular personal coaching, there is a huge network of passionate people to support your success ( a place where i like to hang out, actually, because of the great expertise there - athletes, trainers, coaches, folks with doctorates in all areas of well being - and all incredibly nice. I can't get over this: folks are so NICE).
Anyway, i hope if you know someone who you think might benefit from this approach, you might encourage them to put their name on the waiting list. Something just for your well being (or theirs) for the New Year. And you ARE worth it.
THis just isn't one of those 12 weeks is all it takes to change oh, everything, to get results type approaches. A six month/26 weeks space is realistic NOT just to get on some kind of diet, but to get one with the type of habit changes that may be needed to support building up practices that support progress. Really, its' so not about the food. Food is good and important, and we learn an awful lot about it with PN, but more than anything else the PN approach is about habits. We know how challenging it can be to change existing habits, especially about something as loaded as food.
Which brings me back to support and coaching. Especially if you or someone you know has been yo-yo'ing around dieting with whatever approach, here's time to think about the fact there's nothing wrong with you; we are wired in certain ways with respect to food, and it takes effort and support and knowledge to rewire these habits. Changing habits isn't inate knowledge, either. Understanding this - that it's not us the eaters who are screwed up - is half the battle; getting knowledge but also the support and good guidance on retuning and building up knowledgeful habits for what will work FOR THE LONG TERM for us, is a key part of the other.
Vote Your Support. If you'd like to show support for those real people who have participated in the Body Comp Competition of the Lean Eating Challenge, please vote for your faves here:
Related Posts
Tweet Follow @begin2dig
seemingly risk slipping further away. If achieving such goals has been important to you, or for someone you love, and a trial to date, a simple question may be, despite the difficulty of actioning what to do, do you feel firmly that you know how to achieve your body comp goals and/or how long that process will take? Or if you want to help someone undertaking this process, do you know how?If you're not 100% sure, you may want to connect with the Lean Eating program, or gift it to someone you love. Here's why: knowledge and human support make the difference for real and lasting diet success. Yesterday i offered a pointer to what real people look like who have made real progress on body comp goals
as a result of two things:
- great nutrition practice info and
- great support.
A few months ago we ran a survey of a sample of Precision Nutrition members. We asked them a number of different questions, some of which were to ascertain their level of fitness, some of which were to test their nutritional knowledge, and some of which were to determine their access to mentorship and social support.DO you have the Support You'll Need? It may be that you may have a fabulous community or at least a few important people in your world who can provide great info and super support for your goals in nutrition. Way to go. THose people all need seasonal cards.The results were fascinating.
We wanted to know how much of an impact mentorship and social support actually have on a person’s ability to reach their physique goals.
So we asked people to rate their happiness with their own physique on a scale from 1 to 5, like so:
- Extremely unhappy – I’m nowhere near my goal and I doubt I can make it.
- Unhappy – I’m far from my goal but I’m willing to do something about it.
- Ambivalent – I’m working toward my goal but I’ve got a ways to go.
- Happy – I’m close to my goal and making progress.
- Extremely Happy – I’ve achieved my goal and I’m working on maintenance now.
We then looked only at the people who answered [5. Extremely Happy] in order to measure the impact of various factors on their success.
What stood out immediately was the fact that there wasn’t a significant difference in nutritional knowledge between the people who had achieved their goals (the 5’s) and the people who were still working on it (the 3’s and 4’s).
The people who achieved their goals knew their stuff (you have to, of course – success is not an accident), but so did many of the “in progress” people. In other words, you need to understand nutrition science – but it isn’t enough to get in great shape.
But then we looked at the response to this question:
“Have you ever had regular mentorship from someone who was in the exact shape you wanted to be in?”
Note: In this context, regular mentorship is defined as constructive and impartial feedback and direction, on a near-daily basis, for a continuous period of at least 3 months.
And check this out:
77% of the 5’s said “Yes” (37 out of 48)
Only 17% of the 3’s and 4’s said “Yes”
And less than 5% of the 1’s and 2’s said “Yes”
That’s a remarkable difference! Think about what that means for a second: you need to know a lot about exercise and nutrition, that’s true; but most of all, you need to find someone who’s where you want to be, and lean on them for help
For folks who either have willing folks but without the knowledge (or potentially not great knowledge beyond their own experience) or have great knowledge but lack support - may even be in an environment that will be somewhat resistant to change, well, there are programs that offer this. The one program i know of, and trust, and where as i posted yesterday you can see the kinds of real people results that occur, is Precision Nutritions.
I'm bothering to post about this program again because the Lean Eating Program is about to get ramped up again (last summer's review here), and, as before ,there's a waiting list to get into it. They're opening up an early pre-sign up to get on the next list for the new year (you know, when we all get a little sensitive about post beast/feast effects)
Here's a quote from one of the people who did the program, and wrote about their experience on my first post about the Lean Eating Program
I joined the program to get thru tax season without gaining another 15 pounds! I go from working 40 hours a week to 76 (avg) for 2.5 months during tax season. Usually, I put nutrition and training on hold. "I'm too busy."
The LEP taught me how to get organized, prioritize, and keep on track. Working 76 hours per week, I still had the time to train 5 hours per week, plus make all of my own meals and take them with me each day. I went from a tight size 8 to a loose size 4. :) And during the process, I was happy about it. (Training makes me feel good, and eating PN style gives me energy. Great combination!)
Tax season this year was much easier on my family. I was happy and energetic, instead of wiped out and irritable. :)
Here's the Executive Summary of the program:
- Group coaching program for women who want to become lean, fit and healthy the PN way
- 6 month duration
- Taught by world-class nutrition instructor
- All resources online and downloadable, 24/7
- Private support forum with guaranteed responses
- Daily instruction, weekly seminars
- Monitored action tasks and assignments
- Results guaranteed: 100% satisfaction or the course is free
- Plus, win $10,000 if you achieve the best transformation in the group
6 months of coaching - en direct, from wherever you are right now, to get to where you want to go. Plus, beyond that regular personal coaching, there is a huge network of passionate people to support your success ( a place where i like to hang out, actually, because of the great expertise there - athletes, trainers, coaches, folks with doctorates in all areas of well being - and all incredibly nice. I can't get over this: folks are so NICE).
Anyway, i hope if you know someone who you think might benefit from this approach, you might encourage them to put their name on the waiting list. Something just for your well being (or theirs) for the New Year. And you ARE worth it.
THis just isn't one of those 12 weeks is all it takes to change oh, everything, to get results type approaches. A six month/26 weeks space is realistic NOT just to get on some kind of diet, but to get one with the type of habit changes that may be needed to support building up practices that support progress. Really, its' so not about the food. Food is good and important, and we learn an awful lot about it with PN, but more than anything else the PN approach is about habits. We know how challenging it can be to change existing habits, especially about something as loaded as food.
Which brings me back to support and coaching. Especially if you or someone you know has been yo-yo'ing around dieting with whatever approach, here's time to think about the fact there's nothing wrong with you; we are wired in certain ways with respect to food, and it takes effort and support and knowledge to rewire these habits. Changing habits isn't inate knowledge, either. Understanding this - that it's not us the eaters who are screwed up - is half the battle; getting knowledge but also the support and good guidance on retuning and building up knowledgeful habits for what will work FOR THE LONG TERM for us, is a key part of the other.
Vote Your Support. If you'd like to show support for those real people who have participated in the Body Comp Competition of the Lean Eating Challenge, please vote for your faves here:
Related Posts
Tweet Follow @begin2dig
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Fitness Geek Gift Book Recommendations
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Time for thinking Presents Thoughts. If the shops are driving you crazy, you can always have a gift sent to your favorite Fitness Geek through the miracle of the internet. Here's a couple of book recommendations you may wish to consider:
Pain & Change. If your fitness geek suffers from chronic pain, besides putting a card under the tree to say you're giving them a session with a z-health trainer (here's a list), consider helping them get a model of what's going on with chronic pain. A fabulous book in this regard is David Butler's Explain Pain.
This is a great plain-language, illustrated text on what we know about the neurology of pain, what's going on when pain goes from acute to chronic, and most particularly, what are strategies for getting a real handle on one's chronic pain to reduce it.
No surprise, movement is discussed
as a great way to help actually rewire the nervous system which can get a bit screwed up (described further in this post on chronic back pain). But the main thing this book offers is a model of the pain process: how pain is perceived by the nervous system, translated by the brain as pain or not, and how we can work with that knowledge to turn down the volume on pain.
If you know your geek really enjoys this area of research, another book that's interesting is The Body has a Mind of Its Own
Again, this book is looking at our neurology in terms of how we are plastic people: we adapt constantly. By getting a handle on that plasticity, we can begin to work with that more directly for our well-being.
Another one in this space - that shows great examples of this plasticity in
action is the Brain the Changes Itself. This book got me totally jazzed about how we are always adapting. In particular it inspired me to look into the work going on at Posit Science that's helped kids and now the elderly to reclaim their brains. That's only one example of the work that's described that's been looking at everything from stroke rehab to dyslexia to autism to supposed senility.
Aside: Elder Brain Care And that reminds me, this is not a book, but if you do have elders whom you care about, and where they or you or both of you sense that mental acuity, hearing, related, seems to be deteriorating, please consider looking into Posit Science's products yourself.
There's a great online evaluation that's just listening to tones/patterns that you can sit down and do with your elder or ask them to do on their own to give them a baseline of what their perceptual age seems to be.
The brain tools that are part of the programs are like games that the participant plays that rebuild perceptual and conceptual accuity. It is amazing it's so effective. The design is not like the brain games stuff that we see on hand helds. This stuff has been evaluated a LOT to check real results. The packages are a couple hundred bucks, but when we think about the costs of assisted living/care, and just quality of life, they pay for themselves over and over.
FOOD & Change
Sometimes for some people, food is as painful to contemplate as an ongoing ache. If there's one thing you can do for these folks is give them an e-book that
de-stresses the cooking, food-making process. RD Georgie Fear's DIG IN really does this in spades. The recipes are simple, delictious, tasty, and totally lean-eating friendly so no worries on over-dosing calories for the food geek.
The book is overviewed here, with indicative recipes also provided, and a list of any utensils actually needed, and an interview with the author linked in. What's not to like.
Oh and the book is cheap, too, AND you can have it now via instant download, or you can have it sent to someone really easily for that on time delivery - either download or physical copy. The pics are fab.
Perhaps you yourself are a fitness geek, and someone you love is actually having a hard time with getting their eating to a place where they're getting the body comp results they want. Maybe because you're already pretty fit, you're not sure how to help them. No kidding. Diet change work can be frought. Now i'm a long time fan of Precision Nutrition, and there's a free e-book way you can offer your special person a way to check it out, just click here.
A related approach that it diet-free by Martha Beck, simply focuses on working through stages of change. As Beck argues, a lot of dieting goes crazy not cuz people lack discipline but because we don't have great strategies (a) to plan for what usually is CHANGE to the way we do something like the conditions under which we eat and (b) we don't therefore know how to plan for success.
Beck's 4 Day Win: the Way to Thinner Piece is a fab and engaging workthrough and work book for eating change that if practiced (and she makes the practice be whatever is absolutely doable for the person reading the book - so it's YOU driven and based) that it's guarenteed to help get that person to a Happy Place - whatever diet you choose. It's so not about the food, but about what we do, and this book helps support those processes of doing change.
Patterns & Change & Opportunity
And just for fun? I've written about it before in the context of the Perfect Rep Quest, but Michael
Gladwell's book Outliers brings together a whole whack of work well known within sociology but not so well known beyond that takes on the story of the Loan Great Individual. Gladwell does a pretty convincing job to demonstrate that no genius on the scene has emerged without - besides being smart/talented - having put in their 10 thousand hours of work in their field. That's a powerful fact. Even in music - the great and talented there - there is evidence of the ten thousand hours.
Gladwell unpacks how to get to these ten thousand hours before others sometimes means pretty special access to the resources and opportunities to enable this 10k of time, or by some standards, literally being born early enough in a season to have the right development in place by the time a selection is made for say a sports team.
Some have argued against these points saying pishaw there are too geniuses - not everyone who plugs in 10k hours at something is brilliant.
This may be true, but the corollorary is not. Indeed, the point remains that even with native talent, without putting in the time with attention and will but the time nonetheless, a person just doesn't get to carnegie hall.
Why is this a fitness geek book selection? Am i just showing a bias for a canadian author? As i wrote about last year, the role of the rep towards the perfect rep is no small thing. The PR lift may be as much about form as it is about strength, eh? If strength is a skill then a lot of practice with attention will be a good thing.
Real Fitness Books for Fitness Geeks.
If you're interested in more traditional lifting and muscle and related books (and other necessities) for your fitness geek, i proposed a whole bunch in last year's fitness geek giving guide. They can all be found in this post. I hope you enjoy, and can use these tips to shop faster and spend more real time with the fitness geeks you love.
All the best of the season to you!
mc Tweet Follow @begin2dig
Pain & Change. If your fitness geek suffers from chronic pain, besides putting a card under the tree to say you're giving them a session with a z-health trainer (here's a list), consider helping them get a model of what's going on with chronic pain. A fabulous book in this regard is David Butler's Explain Pain.
This is a great plain-language, illustrated text on what we know about the neurology of pain, what's going on when pain goes from acute to chronic, and most particularly, what are strategies for getting a real handle on one's chronic pain to reduce it.
No surprise, movement is discussed
as a great way to help actually rewire the nervous system which can get a bit screwed up (described further in this post on chronic back pain). But the main thing this book offers is a model of the pain process: how pain is perceived by the nervous system, translated by the brain as pain or not, and how we can work with that knowledge to turn down the volume on pain.If you know your geek really enjoys this area of research, another book that's interesting is The Body has a Mind of Its Own
Again, this book is looking at our neurology in terms of how we are plastic people: we adapt constantly. By getting a handle on that plasticity, we can begin to work with that more directly for our well-being.
Another one in this space - that shows great examples of this plasticity in
action is the Brain the Changes Itself. This book got me totally jazzed about how we are always adapting. In particular it inspired me to look into the work going on at Posit Science that's helped kids and now the elderly to reclaim their brains. That's only one example of the work that's described that's been looking at everything from stroke rehab to dyslexia to autism to supposed senility.Aside: Elder Brain Care And that reminds me, this is not a book, but if you do have elders whom you care about, and where they or you or both of you sense that mental acuity, hearing, related, seems to be deteriorating, please consider looking into Posit Science's products yourself.
There's a great online evaluation that's just listening to tones/patterns that you can sit down and do with your elder or ask them to do on their own to give them a baseline of what their perceptual age seems to be.
The brain tools that are part of the programs are like games that the participant plays that rebuild perceptual and conceptual accuity. It is amazing it's so effective. The design is not like the brain games stuff that we see on hand helds. This stuff has been evaluated a LOT to check real results. The packages are a couple hundred bucks, but when we think about the costs of assisted living/care, and just quality of life, they pay for themselves over and over.
FOOD & Change
Sometimes for some people, food is as painful to contemplate as an ongoing ache. If there's one thing you can do for these folks is give them an e-book that
de-stresses the cooking, food-making process. RD Georgie Fear's DIG IN really does this in spades. The recipes are simple, delictious, tasty, and totally lean-eating friendly so no worries on over-dosing calories for the food geek.The book is overviewed here, with indicative recipes also provided, and a list of any utensils actually needed, and an interview with the author linked in. What's not to like.
Oh and the book is cheap, too, AND you can have it now via instant download, or you can have it sent to someone really easily for that on time delivery - either download or physical copy. The pics are fab.
Perhaps you yourself are a fitness geek, and someone you love is actually having a hard time with getting their eating to a place where they're getting the body comp results they want. Maybe because you're already pretty fit, you're not sure how to help them. No kidding. Diet change work can be frought. Now i'm a long time fan of Precision Nutrition, and there's a free e-book way you can offer your special person a way to check it out, just click here.
A related approach that it diet-free by Martha Beck, simply focuses on working through stages of change. As Beck argues, a lot of dieting goes crazy not cuz people lack discipline but because we don't have great strategies (a) to plan for what usually is CHANGE to the way we do something like the conditions under which we eat and (b) we don't therefore know how to plan for success.Beck's 4 Day Win: the Way to Thinner Piece is a fab and engaging workthrough and work book for eating change that if practiced (and she makes the practice be whatever is absolutely doable for the person reading the book - so it's YOU driven and based) that it's guarenteed to help get that person to a Happy Place - whatever diet you choose. It's so not about the food, but about what we do, and this book helps support those processes of doing change.
Patterns & Change & Opportunity
And just for fun? I've written about it before in the context of the Perfect Rep Quest, but Michael
Gladwell's book Outliers brings together a whole whack of work well known within sociology but not so well known beyond that takes on the story of the Loan Great Individual. Gladwell does a pretty convincing job to demonstrate that no genius on the scene has emerged without - besides being smart/talented - having put in their 10 thousand hours of work in their field. That's a powerful fact. Even in music - the great and talented there - there is evidence of the ten thousand hours.Gladwell unpacks how to get to these ten thousand hours before others sometimes means pretty special access to the resources and opportunities to enable this 10k of time, or by some standards, literally being born early enough in a season to have the right development in place by the time a selection is made for say a sports team.
Some have argued against these points saying pishaw there are too geniuses - not everyone who plugs in 10k hours at something is brilliant.
This may be true, but the corollorary is not. Indeed, the point remains that even with native talent, without putting in the time with attention and will but the time nonetheless, a person just doesn't get to carnegie hall.
Why is this a fitness geek book selection? Am i just showing a bias for a canadian author? As i wrote about last year, the role of the rep towards the perfect rep is no small thing. The PR lift may be as much about form as it is about strength, eh? If strength is a skill then a lot of practice with attention will be a good thing.
Real Fitness Books for Fitness Geeks.
If you're interested in more traditional lifting and muscle and related books (and other necessities) for your fitness geek, i proposed a whole bunch in last year's fitness geek giving guide. They can all be found in this post. I hope you enjoy, and can use these tips to shop faster and spend more real time with the fitness geeks you love.All the best of the season to you!
mc Tweet Follow @begin2dig
Real People Making Real Changes with Real Support
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A lot of us have pretty direct experience of what it takes to transform our bods. Calling it "losing weight" doesn't seem to do the cost of the experience justice. Two things known to help this process (besides good quality information about how food works in our bodies) is
The above bits are two parts of why i've been keen on precision nutrition (PN review) as a great platform to support the change process. Change after all is actually painful: we rewire our brains, and that takes effort, so getting support is a big deal. Getting quality support even bigger.
Anyway, here's an opportunity to take a look at some folks who have put themselves out there within a lean eating challenge for body transformations program with PN called Lean Eating - there's a waiting list for this program, and it's one i wrote about back in the summer if you'd like to take a peak - especially at the comments from folks who have been on it and had that support and direction for their progress.
The photos of the finalists have just been posted online.
Whether you're looking to kick off a body transformation of your own. Or whether you're in the process of accomplishing an awesome transformation, the photos are sure to provide
some serious motivation:
Plus, if you have a second, feel free to vote for your favorites. Your vote helps determine who walks away with $20,000.
The thing i really like about this particular transformation presentation is that these are real people showing real results and offer a great reality check about what any of us can expect from just getting on board with good nutrition practices. Real, not airbrushed.
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- good models where we can see someone like us has done what we want to achieve and
- support from people going through this process who may be a wee bit further along than ourselves.
The above bits are two parts of why i've been keen on precision nutrition (PN review) as a great platform to support the change process. Change after all is actually painful: we rewire our brains, and that takes effort, so getting support is a big deal. Getting quality support even bigger.
Anyway, here's an opportunity to take a look at some folks who have put themselves out there within a lean eating challenge for body transformations program with PN called Lean Eating - there's a waiting list for this program, and it's one i wrote about back in the summer if you'd like to take a peak - especially at the comments from folks who have been on it and had that support and direction for their progress.
The photos of the finalists have just been posted online.
Whether you're looking to kick off a body transformation of your own. Or whether you're in the process of accomplishing an awesome transformation, the photos are sure to providesome serious motivation:
Plus, if you have a second, feel free to vote for your favorites. Your vote helps determine who walks away with $20,000.
The thing i really like about this particular transformation presentation is that these are real people showing real results and offer a great reality check about what any of us can expect from just getting on board with good nutrition practices. Real, not airbrushed.Related Posts
- Support for Human Support in Body Comp success stories
- habits and eating: change is pain and how to address that
- PN package notes
- exercise without diet dosn't equal weight loss.
- Georgie Fear and the Dig In (PN hip) Lean Eating Cook Book overview
Monday, December 14, 2009
Pelvis Power: getting the hip joint in hip drive for increased power and position strength
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A lot of folks have been told in order to add power to the hip extension in a deadlift or kettlebell swing, snatch or squat to squeeze their butt at the top, tense the glutes, etc etc. Physiologically, kinetically, it seems we get more power if we focus on the other side of the pelvis - anterior rather than posterior. Rather than thinking about the butt tightening, think about the hips rotating out. Allow me to explain.
But first, a bit of context: this tip was demo'd for me by Z-Health Master Trainer & RKC Lou McGovern of Essential Strength when Lou was helping me to hone my rather dire longboarding skills. Let me also say that Lou is a fabulous trainer. If you want to get better and ANYTHING you are doing with movement, and happen to be anywhere around San Diego, seek him out. You will be well recompensed for your efforts.
Ok Second to the point at hand, as Lou asked me "where are the hips?"
If you (as i did) pointed to your thighs, we have to think deeper. The joint where the femur connects to the pelvis is well inside the leg, rather a handspan out from the crotch to the joint.
The idea is to think about this joint and consciously turn the thigh out (externally rotate).
If you put your hand on that area of your leg, and do this motion, you can feel the hip joint move.
At the same time you do this, you'll aslo feel your glute muscles tense as well.In contrast, you can clench your butt without engaging the hips.
Cranking Up the Strength. Which is stronger? Butt clenching or Hip Joint Out?
Lou demonstrated the difference between these two positions by having me stand in neutral stance, putting my arms straight out in front of me.
He then asked me just to clench my butt, and from there he pressed down on my outstretched arms. Which came down.
He then asked me to reset my arms and this time think about rotating my hips out. He then tried to push down on my arms again. They were much stronger this time (they didn't get shoved down).
Echoes in Powerlifting Cues? In a quick exhange about this tip with Pavel, Pavel asked if this were the same idea as powerlifters "screwing their feet into the floor." Lou said, yes, it's just thinking about the other end of the movement, too, in a bone ryhthm way (see this post on the viking push press for a bit more on bone rhythm).
In other words, in the screwing the feet into the floor in a squat, one plants the feet, let's say parallel to each other, and rotates out against the foot plant. In the hip turn, now we're thinking about not just the feet turning out but the hip (the top of the leg, really) as well.
aside: This approach of rotating out against a fixed point seems similar to how Pavel describes the hand/arm position for the one arm push up in Power to the People.
Trying it Out. If you give this move a go when swinging a KB or deadlifting or squatting, you may find the move is stronger, smoother, easier. Personally i find on the squat this coordinated move makes it easier to keep my knees where they're supposed to be. Likewise on the top of the swing, if i think about turning my hips out, i don't have to think about driving the hips forward or "snapping" them - the snap happens as a result of the hip movement.
Conceptually. I like this approach: the concept of the hip snap, while i've been doing it for the swing and snatch in particular, has felt like Something We Just Do to get the hips forward. With the notion of rolling the hips out, which results in the pelvic thrust AND the glute contraction and pelvic muscles getting worked too, it seems to simplify the "what to do" meaning there's less to check on the move check list - at least for me. Your mileage may vary.
Likewise, at least for me, what Lou has brought to what is perhaps a set of well known hip tropes for many lifters is to really think about *what do we mean by the hips?" Just that simple point of really gettting WHERE that joint actually IS in the movement has been huge. The "hip" seems so amorphous. What is that, now that i think about it (or thought about it then). But by actually getting at the notion of the joint and the joint action, things open up. It makes all the metaphors of feet screwing and hip thrusting and butt clenching kinda happen. That's what makes a great coach for someone, is that that person can connect in a meaningful way a good mental model for the athlete. Thanks Lou.
Give it a Go? If you want to try this, please by all means try the arms out, butt clench, and then arms out hips rotate front/out with someone pressing down on the arms to feel the difference. IF no one is around to test this, simply try this move with your squat or swing and see what you think. Let me know.
UPDATE:
Many thanks to Ken Froese at the DD Forum for pointing out this vid of Lou talking about spinning out the hips in the context of an overhead kb press. A key point in the vid (and it's so CLEAR after it's explained, like duh) is that it locks out the hip hinge part of a lift (like the clean with a kb) so that, with the hinge gone, there's a really stable platform - less give. That's yet one more reason this technique is so potent. Here's Lou:
Related Posts
But first, a bit of context: this tip was demo'd for me by Z-Health Master Trainer & RKC Lou McGovern of Essential Strength when Lou was helping me to hone my rather dire longboarding skills. Let me also say that Lou is a fabulous trainer. If you want to get better and ANYTHING you are doing with movement, and happen to be anywhere around San Diego, seek him out. You will be well recompensed for your efforts.
Ok Second to the point at hand, as Lou asked me "where are the hips?"If you (as i did) pointed to your thighs, we have to think deeper. The joint where the femur connects to the pelvis is well inside the leg, rather a handspan out from the crotch to the joint.
The idea is to think about this joint and consciously turn the thigh out (externally rotate).
If you put your hand on that area of your leg, and do this motion, you can feel the hip joint move.
At the same time you do this, you'll aslo feel your glute muscles tense as well.In contrast, you can clench your butt without engaging the hips.
Cranking Up the Strength. Which is stronger? Butt clenching or Hip Joint Out?
Lou demonstrated the difference between these two positions by having me stand in neutral stance, putting my arms straight out in front of me.
He then asked me just to clench my butt, and from there he pressed down on my outstretched arms. Which came down.
He then asked me to reset my arms and this time think about rotating my hips out. He then tried to push down on my arms again. They were much stronger this time (they didn't get shoved down).
Echoes in Powerlifting Cues? In a quick exhange about this tip with Pavel, Pavel asked if this were the same idea as powerlifters "screwing their feet into the floor." Lou said, yes, it's just thinking about the other end of the movement, too, in a bone ryhthm way (see this post on the viking push press for a bit more on bone rhythm).
In other words, in the screwing the feet into the floor in a squat, one plants the feet, let's say parallel to each other, and rotates out against the foot plant. In the hip turn, now we're thinking about not just the feet turning out but the hip (the top of the leg, really) as well.
aside: This approach of rotating out against a fixed point seems similar to how Pavel describes the hand/arm position for the one arm push up in Power to the People.
Trying it Out. If you give this move a go when swinging a KB or deadlifting or squatting, you may find the move is stronger, smoother, easier. Personally i find on the squat this coordinated move makes it easier to keep my knees where they're supposed to be. Likewise on the top of the swing, if i think about turning my hips out, i don't have to think about driving the hips forward or "snapping" them - the snap happens as a result of the hip movement.
Conceptually. I like this approach: the concept of the hip snap, while i've been doing it for the swing and snatch in particular, has felt like Something We Just Do to get the hips forward. With the notion of rolling the hips out, which results in the pelvic thrust AND the glute contraction and pelvic muscles getting worked too, it seems to simplify the "what to do" meaning there's less to check on the move check list - at least for me. Your mileage may vary.
Likewise, at least for me, what Lou has brought to what is perhaps a set of well known hip tropes for many lifters is to really think about *what do we mean by the hips?" Just that simple point of really gettting WHERE that joint actually IS in the movement has been huge. The "hip" seems so amorphous. What is that, now that i think about it (or thought about it then). But by actually getting at the notion of the joint and the joint action, things open up. It makes all the metaphors of feet screwing and hip thrusting and butt clenching kinda happen. That's what makes a great coach for someone, is that that person can connect in a meaningful way a good mental model for the athlete. Thanks Lou.
Give it a Go? If you want to try this, please by all means try the arms out, butt clench, and then arms out hips rotate front/out with someone pressing down on the arms to feel the difference. IF no one is around to test this, simply try this move with your squat or swing and see what you think. Let me know.
UPDATE:
Many thanks to Ken Froese at the DD Forum for pointing out this vid of Lou talking about spinning out the hips in the context of an overhead kb press. A key point in the vid (and it's so CLEAR after it's explained, like duh) is that it locks out the hip hinge part of a lift (like the clean with a kb) so that, with the hinge gone, there's a really stable platform - less give. That's yet one more reason this technique is so potent. Here's Lou:
Related Posts
- Kettlebell Front Squat and the Perfect Rep
- Arthrokinetic Reflex
- Deadlift Resources
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