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As you may have noticed, the posting schedule here has slowed down. I’d just like to give everybody a heads up on the schedule and what to expect going forward. Posts will continue at a slower schedule.

Original Plan: This website was originally intended to be much more than a blog about training. The original plan involved working together with a partner to program a website that is interactive and helps like-minded individuals to meet up and train together. Hence the name “World Fitness NETWORK“.

To make a long story short, the programmer’s side of things never really materialized. Everything you see at this website is all what I’ve been able to create personally.

Financial plan: The purpose of this site was to attract people to the website who are interested in training and building muscle. Once people arrive, they see the other features and begin using them, and making enough money for me to stay alive depended on some of the features that we would charge money for. I think the original plan is still viable, but I’m not much of a programmer and would need years to learn the needed skills.

The plan going forward: A blog is a great marketing tool, but not if you don’t have anything to market. Since the original plan was to charge money for those features, and since those features never came into existence, blogging will not be a way for me to create income… at least not enough to do anything with. So…

That means making money other ways. I’m working alot lately, training regularly, and blogging less than before. I like blogging though. There are still many points of training worth writing about, so this blog will continue, but on slower schedule.

You can probably expect the blog to be updated once every 1-2 weeks. I know that’s lot less than the 2+ times a week that I was able to do before, but that’s what I can manage.

Do I feel bad? Not really. I mean, it is free content. Kinda hard to beat free ya know. But I’ll still be putting stuff up from time to time, and will be putting up a link to access the archives soon.

But between the different training blogs out there, you should be able to find enough good stuff to keep you busy. Here are the other blogs about training/bodybuilding I’m aware of:

1. Stronglifts.com - Mehdi’s blog with a strong emphasis on the strength side of training. Probably the most similar blog to this one.
2. Laurensfitness.com - In depth info with some emphasis on anatomy and therapy.
3. Musclehack.com - Focuses on the diet side of bodybuilding. Not a bad idea, since you won’t get very far without having your diet in place.

These last 4 months have been a wild ride, both for my personal life and for this website. World Fitness Network officially kicked off just over 4 months ago with it’s first article. The first month or two were very slow, with some very basic articles as a base for beginners.

The website has grown steadily over the last few months and well over 1,000 of you are now subscribed. Thanks to all those who return regularly as active readers.

How I ended up here:

I worked for a CPA firm for a while out of college. Every day was long… working 8 am to 11 pm during the busy season (3 months) and often until 9 pm the rest of the year. Very little time for family, weight training, etc.

WFN officially began in late October 2007. It started with a simple website that I slowly built for 2 hours a night after work each day. Those hours were tough, but exciting. My background with various internet-related jobs during college was a big help. Combined with many years of successes and failures in the gym and years of reading, and I was ready to make a site to help out others.

But why?

I dunno, but I just didn’t like the idea of going to work every day to make other people rich. I prefer to do what I enjoy and possibly even make enough to support myself while doing it.

While I’m no expert on success and becoming rich, here are a few things that I have come to believe about financial success.

1. You won’t get rich working for someone else: Some people can get rich by working for other people, but it’s not likely. Maybe if you become a star or work your way to the top of a big company. But the problem is that the company you work for wasn’t designed to make you rich. It was built to enrich the person who made the company. They will pay you just enough to keep you happy and working to make more money for them.

2. True wealth comes from equity: This basically means that rich people are rich because they own something. They might have investments (stock, real estate), or often they own a business. They do not think in terms of working a certain number of hours for each paycheck, but rather doing something out of the ordinary that can grow faster than the regular salary increase of 5% per year.

3. Rich people often start a business: Rich people devise a system that works for them. Instead of working on a project for a week that earns $1,000 dollars, a rich person might instead hire another person to do the work for $800 and keep the left over $200. Hire 30 workers under that arrangement and setup a good system (manage it well), and you’ll make much more money. Become an entrepreneur, make wise investments, and see opportunities for exponential growth.

4. Don’t do it just for the money: You might not make money for a while, and if you do, it might not be great at first. Four out of five businesses fail, but the key is to experiment and see what works well. Don’t fear failure.

I’m no expert on getting rich (especially since I’m not rich), but all those accounting and finance classes in college have allowed me to see how true wealth is created. Read books like Rich Dad Poor Dad. It will open your mind to a new way of thinking.

I’ll look forward to the upcoming months. Plenty more content is on the way related to building muscle and losing fat. Thanks again.

I spend a lot of time each week reading books about weight training, but there sure is a lot of great info online as well.

The good thing about the internet: Information is free

The bad thing about the internet: Good information takes forever to find.

I guess sometimes you get what you pay for. If you’re not paying the money, you usually have to pay with your time to find the good stuff online. Here are a few readings that I came across this last week.

Straight to the Bar: Mark Rippetoe coaches the Overhead Press. A great YouTube video featuring strength coach Mark Rippetoe coaching the overhead press. Take some pointers from the video and make sure you follow them.

Stronglifts: The stronglifts 5×5 e-book. Great free resource with in-depth info on the most important exercises you should be doing.

Eugenization: Cholesterol is necessary… For building muscle. I know that a lot of people have been saying that saturated fat and cholesterol actually have health benefits. This article says you’ll need cholesterol to build muscle. Is cholesterol really a pre-cursor to testosterone? I’ll have to read more on the subject.

Stronger & Fitter: Why you shouldn’t read women’s magazines. I know, most of you are thinking “I shouldn’t read women’s magazines because I’m not a woman”. This article applies just as much to men’s magazines though, because you’ll be fed a lot of the same crap in those magazines. This is a good read.

Home Calisthenics: What are Calisthenics? A website about how to do body weight exercises at home. Especially useful if you’re traveling and don’t have access to a gym.

The Muscle Building Blog: Resting for Growth. You’ve just started with weight training and you want to work as hard as possible for maximum growth. But is all that extra work really going to help you?

Bradley Simpson: What is More Important, Exercise or Nutrition? If you’ve read the e-book I recently wrote, you’ll agree with what this article has to say. A good diet with a bad training program isn’t as bad as a terrible diet with a great training program.

I’ve been preparing an e-book over the last 5-6 weeks to help the readers of World Fitness Network achieve their goals. The e-book is entitled “3 Months to New You”. It’s a 90 day program to help you change your body type. It will help you do the following:

• Change the way you look and feel
• Become stronger/ build muscle
• Lose fat
• Strengthen your bones and joints
• Get you eating back on track
• Find new energy in your life through lifting weights and eating right

In addition, 3 Months to a New You provides you with a workout plan and schedule that you can fit into your normal life without having to spend your whole life in the gym. The exercise program is designed to help you achieve the following goals:

• Build a base of muscle and strength as quickly as possible
• Lose fat through an increased metabolism
• See results by training 3 times per week
• Avoid overtraining
• Learn proper technique on the most important exercises
• Transition smoothly into an intermediate training routine
• Learn how to eat properly and prepare six small meals a day
• And much more…

Why you should get on the program: The purpose of this e-book and program is to help you to change your body type. You would have to spend countless hours researching to learn how to combine cardio, weight lifting, and eating to get the results you want. You’d have to prepare grocery lists and find dozens of recipes.

3 Months to a New You takes away all the tough planning. It tells you what exercises to do and what to eat for 3 months so that you can hit the ground running. It includes recipes for your daily meals and even a grocery list of what you’ll need to buy to get started.

If you’re already going to the gym and ready for a more intermediate program, that’s fine too. An intermediate training routine is included to help keep you moving.

How to download: 3 Months to a New You can be downloaded for free after you subscribe to the World Fitness Network RSS feed.

1. Subscribe: Click here to subscribe to the RSS Feed. You will have to enter a valid email address into the email field.

2. Confirm: Log into your email account and follow the link in the confirmation email. Once your account has been confirmed, you will receive free articles from World Fitness Network each week.

3. Download: The next time an article is placed online at WorldFitnessNetwork.com, you’ll receive an email with the newest content included. At the bottom of the email you will see a link that says “Free e-book: 3 Months to a New You”. Click this link to download your ebook. Once the e-book has been downloaded, save a copy to your desktop and close your browser for best performance.

Can I just subscribe through an RSS reader? Yes.

Format: This free e-book is 50+ pages about how to change your body type and your lifestyle. You are required to have the Adobe Reader to view the e-book which you can download for free by clicking here. Total file size is about 1.5 Megabytes.

Simply click here and follow the steps above to obtain your free copy and get started today.

Image Credit: Jurvetson

This is a little break from the usual flow of exercise-related posts.

I sat in my living room and looked at the Christmas tree and thought about all of the commercialism that we are bombarded with every year. Maybe it’s a little cliché to say this, but I hope we can remember the true meaning of Christmas.

The holiday spirit is all about turning your mind away from yourself and looking towards others. If you do it with the right frame of mind, you will quickly discover that helping those around you also brings joy to yourself.

I’m sure you’ve already gone out and either made or purchased your Christmas gifts and they are sitting under a tree, just waiting to be opened. In another week or so you will be thinking of your New Year’s resolutions for the upcoming year.

Take just a moment this Christmas and think about those around you and how you can help them to make progress as well. That could mean deciding to bring someone else to the gym with you after the holidays, or maybe it means just giving some encouragement to them.

Whatever you do, just try to help someone else’s life become better. Make a little plan today so that your upcoming New Year’s resolutions will do something more than just help yourself. Help another person to discover the joys of working out and going to the gym. Who knows, it might just turn out to be the effective and long-lasting gift you could give.

After all — ‘Tis better to give than to receive.

World Fitness Network went online approximately 6-7 weeks ago. I spent the first couple weeks writing some very basic articles that absolute beginners can read when they arrive at the site. I began working on getting the word out about this blog shortly thereafter.

Since that time, WFN has seen a steady increase in RSS subscriptions and visitors. Just within the past 30 days, WFN saw more than 30,000 page views for an average of higher than 1,000 page views per day.

Individuals have come to the website from every state in the US & Canada as well as significant visitors from Australia and Western Europe. The greatest number of people arriving seems to have come from California, with more than 1,500 visitors.

RSS subscriber numbers have also jumped from 5 to 100. I’m very excited that WFN is slowly beginning to gain some momentum.

Here’s what to expect in the coming months:

• Training tips to improve your workouts
• In-depth coverage of the most important exercises
• Getting the right mentality for what works and avoiding all the hype
• How to eat better and keep yourself from getting fat
• I’m currently working on an ebook about how to transform your body type. It will discuss topics such doing simple things that will change your life, in-depth coverage on weight lifting principles, and proper eating.

Please contact me or leave comments below with any of the following:

• Topics you would like me write about here
• Questions that you might have
• Suggestions to improve the site
• Any other relevant input you might have

I’m looking forward to the upcoming months and what they will bring. I’ll be devoting my full-time efforts to World Fitness Network and making it a better resource for its readers.

Special thanks to the readers who have found this website and continued to return. Your support and encouragement have helped to keep me going and feel energized each day.

Image Credit: Dehwang

Stronglifts.com has recently released a new ebook about strength training and living a healthy lifestyle with the right attitude. You can get the Stronglifts 5×5 ebook by signing up for the Stronglifts.com RSS feed and then downloading it here.

Who this ebook is for: This ebook is for anyone who is trying to build strength, add muscle, and lose fat.

I tend to write about lifting weights to look and feel a certain way, and physical strength is a side benefit of training. This ebook, however, focuses on first developing physical strength and power, and looking good is then the natural side effect. It’s a subtle difference that this ebook is tailored for, but the underlying principles are the same.

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