Each Sunday, the PTDC publishes a list of the top fitness content from around the web in four different categories: Articles, Videos, Social Media Posts, and Podcasts.


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Best Content of the Week

It would be nice to have a roster full of clients with no injuries, conditions, limitations, character flaws, or demands on their time. But we all know those clients don’t exist. In the real world, we have to address issues like emotional eating, joint pain, and conditions that make weight loss more challenging. We also have to help them see the benefits of exercise beyond aesthetics. This week’s best content will help make you better at all those things.

— Esther Avant

Best Article

Is Stress Eating Messing Up Your Nutrition Goals? — Josh Hillis, GMB Fitness

Are you hungry or are you stressed? Can you explain the difference to your clients? Josh Hillis not only gets into the complexities of hunger, he offers simple infographics showing how to tell if the urge to eat is based on hunger or an emotional urge. He advocates for the importance of eating skills vs. following a diet for effective and lasting weight management.

— Shane McLean

Best Video

Wrist Pain During Push-Ups? Try This Simple Fix — Megan Gallagher, Megsquats

Powerlifter and coach Meg Gallagher is as engaging an instructor as you’ll find in the fitness industry. In this 10-minute video, she takes a potentially mundane topic like wrist pain and makes it both instructive and entertaining.

— Esther Avant

Best Social Media Post

Posted by Lauren Pak on Thursday, August 27, 2020

Most clients will come to you with short-term aesthetic goals—fat loss, muscle gain, fitting into a specific dress or pair of jeans. Your goal as a trainer is to give your clients other reasons to continue training with you. Lauren Pak offers seven, including strength gains and a sense of community.

— Christina Abbey

Best Podcast

PCOS, Ghrelin, and Training While Pregnant — Pennie Varvarides, Strong Habits Podcast

Pennie Varvarides, a personal trainer and running coach in the UK, offers a thorough rundown on why so many women with polycystic ovary syndrome struggle to lose weight. She also has practical considerations for training while pregnant.

— Mike Howard

More Great Fitness Content 

[Podcast] Getting to the Top of the Mountain — Andrew Coates with guest Matthew Ibrahim, Lift Free and Diet Hard

[Podcast] A Voice of Reason in an Unreasonable World — Jason Leenaarts with guest Dan John, Revolutionary You 

[Podcast] Brick and Mortar Gyms Aren’t Dead — Kevin Dineen with guest Pete Dupuis, Coachable

[Article] How to Adapt Workout Goals for Chronic Pain and Injury — Mariah Heller, Breaking Muscle

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.

Some now do all their coaching online. Others do a combination of in-person and online training. Still others work part-time with online clients to supplement their income from another business.

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.

If you love coaching but hate doing it on someone else’s schedule, maybe it’s time to try online training.

Consider this your wake-up call.

The Author

Dani Singer is a nationally certified personal trainer and nutrition coach based in Baltimore, Maryland. As CEO & Director of Fit2Go Personal Training, he specializes in helping busy professionals make fitness practical. Dani also serves as a fitness expert for national publications such as Reader’s Digest, Muscle & Fitness, and SHAPE Magazine. Keep up with Dani and his team on Facebook and the Fit2Go website.

Esther Avant is a certified personal trainer, nutrition 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 do-it-all women lose weight and keep it off by making exercise and nutrition fit their lifestyles, not the other way around. You can find her at www.estheravant.com, on Instagram, and on Facebook.