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Best Content of the Week
In this week's best article, weight-loss coach Josh Hillis admits he was wrong about the best approach to lowering the number on the scale. Changing one small habit at a time, he says, was an overreaction to popular brand-name diets, which require massive changes that few people can sustain. While the latter set people up to fail because it was too hard, he now believes his own approach was too easy. Read on to see what he now recommends.
This week's mix also includes a clever new exercise you and your clients can do at home, a fun refresher course on how your muscles retain memories, a scathing takedown of diet-industry marketing gimmicks, and much more.
— Esther Avant
Best Article
Don't Change One Small Habit at a Time. Do This Instead. -- Josh Hillis, joshhillis.com
If you're familiar with habit-based coaching, you'll know the common suggestion of working on one small habit at a time. Josh Hillis, formerly a proponent of that approach (he wrote an entire book about it), has a different suggestion: Make two plans, one for when you're motivated and one for when you're not. He says it's much better than going all-out for a short time, only to quit because it's impossible to sustain.
— Shane McLean
Best Video
Practice Pull-Ups Without a Bar? -- Meghan Callaway
This is by far the shortest video we've featured in Best Fitness Content. That's because Meghan Callaway, one of the most innovative coaches in the industry today, doesn't waste any time. She needs just 21 seconds to demonstrate a clever new way to practice pull-ups at home—without a bar.
For more from Callaway, check out this article she wrote for the PTDC:
Four Movement Patterns Your Clients Need to Master at Every Age
— Esther Avant
Best Social Media Post
Posted by Annie Miller on Monday, January 4, 2021
Our muscles don't have brains, so how does muscle memory work? Annie Miller gives us a simple, aesthetically pleasing science lesson on the often misunderstood concept. Key takeaway: Muscle memory allows us to do simple things like typing or brushing our teeth without investing cognitive effort with each key- or brush stroke. Exercise is more complex, but the idea is exactly the same.
— Christina Abbey
Best Podcast
Halo Top Ice Cream -- Aubrey Gordon and Michael Hobbes, Maintenance Phase
If you've never heard of Halo Top ice cream, don't feel bad. Neither had one of the cohosts of this terrific podcast. It also doesn't matter. Michael Hobbes uses the popular "diet" ice cream as a jumping-off point to take us behind the curtain of nutrition marketing. Just in the first few minutes, they debunk the concept of biohacking, saying it's mostly a way for men to go on a diet without describing it as such. They also talk about something few fans of extreme diets want to admit: There's no clear line between disciplined nutrition plans and eating disorders.
— Mike Howard
More Great Fitness Content
10 Straight-Up Wrong Things People Still Believe About Fitness and Nutrition in 2021 -- Kevin Mullins, The PTDC
Overwhelmed and Burned Out? Here's How to Reduce Your Mental Load -- Chris Cooper, Personal Care for Personal Trainers
Three Ways to Help You Get Your Point Across -- Brett Bartholomew
How to Think About Goals and Resolutions for 2021 -- Mike Howard
Michael and Mark's Lessons Learned in 2020 -- Michael Keeler and Mark Fisher, Business for Unicorns
