[The Best] Ending the Calories-In, Calories-Out Debate, and More

Want to put great fitness content on our radar? Post on Facebook and include #PTDCBestSubmission.

Best Content of the Week

This week’s content gets to the crux of what we do professionally as coaches and personally as athletes and fitness enthusiasts.

As coaches, we need to understand energy balance to deliver the results our clients want, while also helping them enjoy the process. And as lifters and gym rats, we need to leverage our energy and manage fatigue.

We cover all those topics, along with financial guidance for fitness pros, a fun podcast about why we play, and a searing look at what we really mean when we talk about becoming “our best self.”

— Esther Avant

Best Article

Clearing Up the Calories-In, Calories-Out Confusion — Danny Lennon, Sigma Nutrition

Most clients come to us because they want to lose weight. That’s why it’s so important for us to understand energy balance—a complex, nuanced topic that, too often, is framed as a “debate” over calories in vs. calories out.

A topic with this many moving parts requires a deep and serious treatment, which Danny Lennon delivers. Strap yourself in for the most comprehensive article you’ll ever read on the factors that determine fat loss and weight gain. By the end, you’ll never again give credence to the idea that calories don’t matter.

— Shane McLean

Best Video

Deliver Great Results — Pat Rigsby

In this three-minute snippet from a two-part series on his 2021 fitness industry predictions, Pat Rigsby shares the perfect description of our jobs as trainers: “Deliver the results the client wants through an experience they’re going to enjoy.” If you have 25 minutes, it’s worth watching his full presentation.

— Esther Avant

Best Social Media Post

Posted by John Rusin on Tuesday, November 3, 2020

Keeping up with your fitness this year was no small feat. Gyms shut down. Dumbbells were sold at astronomical prices (and good luck finding kettlebells at any price). Once we got back into the gym, training while masked presented a new challenge. So it’s no surprise that our new normal is far more stressful than the old normal. And with stress comes fatigue. That’s what John Rusin covers in this post, offering four methods to work through fatigue without making it worse by compromising your recovery.

— Christina Abbey

Best Podcast

Being More Formidable in Life — Andrew Coates with guest Derek Wilcox, Lift Free and Diet Hard

In this rambling and enlightening discussion, Derek Wilcox and Andrew Coates cover a lot of territory, from dealing with the nervous energy of competition to channeling your efforts in the gym into formidability in other parts of your life.

— Mike Howard

Tired of training clients at 5 a.m.?

We all have to pay our dues. For many fitness pros, that means training clients or teaching classes or opening your gym long before the sun comes up.

But if you’ve been paying those dues for years on end, maybe it’s time for a change. Time to try something different. Time to consider another way to make a living while still doing what you love.

That’s why we created the Online Trainer Academy.

Since 2016, we’ve helped thousands of personal trainers, nutrition coaches, and gym owners—serious, passionate fitness professionals like you—launch online training businesses.

They all have one thing in common: What they were doing before wasn’t working for them.

They needed a change, and their Online Trainer Academy Level 1 Certification gave them the knowledge and skills to make it happen.

Already training clients online? If you make more than $1,000 a month from online coaching, and looking for a more scalable business model, you may be a better fit for the Online Trainer Academy Level 2.

Or maybe you want help getting your own fitness back on track? If so, we can help. Click here to learn more about Online Trainer Coaching—the world’s first online training program specifically designed for fitness and nutrition professionals.

The Author

Esther Avant is a certified personal trainer, nutrition coach, sports nutritionist, pre- and postnatal coach, mom, and military wife who coaches women online. As the owner of Esther Avant Wellness Coaching and founder of the Gone For Good weight-loss program, she specializes in helping women lose weight and keep it off without another diet or gym challenge. You can find her at her website, on Instagram, and on Facebook.