Open The Dialogue

While I have been one of the more silent members of the DialogueMedia team on this blog, those of you that know me, know that I am not exactly the most silent person. Working on a variety of client projects and new business opportunities as the Marketing Manager here at MWW Group somewhat prevents my participation as much as I would like. So, it is my hope that I can start more regularly posting about my many opinions surrounding social media and much more.

For those of you that do know me, I was a personal trainer while in college and have been a fitness enthusiast my entire life. In the past few years I’ve really noticed how online tools and social media has affected the fitness industry. You can now substitute many of these online tools for gym memberships, going to Weight Watcher meetings and yes, even a personal trainer. I continually go online to look for extra motivation, which is often found in the form of mobile apps and blogs for workout recommendations and diet advice. By utilizing the internet as a resource and the social media tools now available, there is no longer any excuse not to try and put a better foot forward and live a healthier lifestyle.

With mobile apps like C25K or Couch to 5K, even the most beginner can train easily for a 5K without the need of a trainer or a gym membership. The C25K, designed by Josh Clark is a great day by day, beginner’s 9 week running plan that takes you each step of the way to a 5K marathon. The  Nike + IPod app and other IPhone running apps lets you customize workouts from an iPod Touch or iPhone with added bonuses of pre-set options like time, distance, playlists and even mapping your run through Google Maps. What I find great about this app is that it lets you track your workout history, and hopefully, some major progress.

I’m loving Crossfit for their day by day strength and conditioning workouts. When I need to spice up my workouts I visit them often to grab one of their workouts of the day. Warning: they are intense but great workouts.

And if you are looking for people who are going through the same things you are, chances are there is a site for that too. Melting Momma is a great blog surrounding the issues and experiences of gastric bypass surgery and Fatbloggers.net literally describes themselves as, “a bunch of guys getting together for the purpose of supporting each other while we lose weight.” How great is that? You don’t even have to leave your house!

Like any workout, these apps, tools and groups are completely subjective. Everyone is different and I suggest that people just get online, play around and find out what works best for them.