The difference starts and finishes with the gatekeepers that exist offline. It’s safe to assume that a fitness or nutrition book you pick up in a store has reached a minimum quality threshold. Multiple editors have looked over the book and, hopefully, it’s gone through a series of quality-control measures.

Online things are much different. Anybody can publish anything and claim it is fact. The fitness world is unregulated and a simple disclaimer stating the book is not a prescription for exercise, but simply an information source protects the creator.

The result is a lot of abysmal online fitness and nutrition ebooks. These books are rife with everything from bad editing and hard to understand advice to misguided or just plain bad advice. The most rampant culprit is claiming discovery of a magical “system” for solving a common problem that’s supposed to work faster and with less work on your part than anything ever developed.

The advantage of ebooks is they can be published more quickly and are sometimes packed with better information than a book. A writer can publish what he actually thinks in an ebook as opposed to what is marketable to the masses. They should not be ignored, but you should know what to look for when deciding to purchase an online fitness product.

9 Things to Consider When Buying a Fitness Ebook

1. Title and Subtitle

A title is usually a couple of buzz words followed by a sentence telling the reader what they will get when they buy the book. The title is meant to be a draw.

2. Author/Creator

Credibility and experience of the author are both important. They don’t need to have twenty-plus years in the industry, but they should have some successes and accomplishments if they are trying to sell you their secrets. When researching an author you’re not familiar with you should go through a couple steps. The first is to Google their name. I’ve found horror stories published in blogs on ebook authors from their previous works.

The second step is to look into the places they mention in their “as seen in” blurb. Being quoted once in an obscure article for a website allows the author to say they were seen in the publication. Contrast this when large publications only existed in print and it was difficult to get into a notable publication. What I’m saying is, these days it’s much easier to create the perception of importance. Be wary of it.

3. Why Was It Made?

What is the background of the author and why did they write the ebook? Passion always improves the quality of a product. Did the author used to be overweight themselves? Did they struggle with the problem they are solving with their book? Usually in the sales copy for the ebook they will write a blurb about themselves. Look past the emotional mind tricks that whoever wrote the sales copy is trying to employ and check into the story. How much of it do you think contributed to the creator’s reasons for writing the book?

4. What Are the Main and Accessory Components?

A 100 page ebook can sell for $47. A 150 page ebook can also sell for $47. So what many authors will do is split their book up into a series of parts and sell them as different components. The result is a bunch of different valuations raising the perceived value of the whole and making the original $47 seem like less. The question you must ask is, “What are all of the components and how many of them are necessary to your success you hope to gain from the product?”

If the product includes a manual, a series of workout templates, a nutrition guide, a macro- and micronutrient calculator, and a series of expert interviews, which of these are actually important to you? The interviews were inserted to add to the valuation of the product. All of the other components would have been included in the original book and cut into their individual parts after the fact with a valuation put on them. Only consider the parts that you need and ignore the rest when you’re deciding whether the product is worth the price. Also try to look past the absurd valuations (we’ll still make them, though) and see what is actually included.

5. Are You the Person the Book Is Suited For?

The best part about ebooks is they do not have to be mass marketed to the public. Since cost of production is low the author can create a product for a very specific audience and still make enough money to make the venture worthwhile. Generally an ebook is created for a specific audience. If that isn’t you then take a pass and find one that is.

6. Has the Program Created Real World Results?

A theory is good in theory but won’t you help you much. Unfortunately it’s hard to figure out whether testimonials are real or forged. In fact I’ve seen cases where ebook creators have been caught fabricating and even stealing others testimonials and before/after pictures for their own work. Look for professional recommendations from somebody you trust before you buy. A good author should be able to get other notable fitness professionals willing to give them a testimonial for their sales page. For the client before and after pictures or testimonials you can do one of three things:

1. Assume it’s real and trust the creator.
2. Send an email to the author and ask if there was a beta group before the product launched and get details.
3. Send an email to the author and ask to speak directly with the client who gave the testimonial.

7. Comparison to Other Established Programs

A lot of ebooks are rehashed materials with a little twist from the original developer of the system. If that’s the case it may be better to go to the original source. A perfect example of this is the huge amount of books advocating different methods of intermittent fasting. Also, if you have had good results with one type of program and want a change it’s good to find an ebook with similar theory. This way you can stick with what works but change it up a bit to keep your workouts or nutrition interesting.

8. Price

Of course don’t ignore price. For some reason a regular book is deemed expensive at $25 but an ebook is cheap at $47 and often sells for upwards of $67. Part of the reason is that ebook authors don’t expect to sell anywhere close to what a book author would sell. The other, and perhaps more truthful reason is that this is the economy that has developed. A precedent for price has been set for ebooks and that’s just the way it is.

The reality is that even $100 is cheap if the material is good. I charged upwards of $100 for a single person training session. If I were to write an ebook on a workout, it would be the equivalent of at least four weeks of workouts in addition to support materials. All you need is one good workout and a gym membership. It’s a pretty cheap investment really. The unfortunate reality is most people don’t do anything with the ebooks they buy. So $100 is expensive if that’s the case.

9. My Random Thoughts

I’ve published two books in print and four ebooks, plus done the marketing for more-than-I-can-count. My print books have done exceptionally well for self-published niche books selling upwards of 15,000 copies and hitting number one on the Amazon charts. They still haven’t been worth my time if I just look at the dollars and cents. Together they cost me over $10,000 in editing and production costs, not to mention the hundreds of hours it took to put them together. My print books act as my primary funnel. I use them to sell higher priced products and services. These include ebooks written by me or promoted by me that I get a handsome commission for.

So, in closing, the reason why ebooks are priced higher is that they are more specific and niche oriented. A simple “secret to a six pack” isn’t worth the higher price point but a “secret to a six pack for post-natal mothers” is. The author has an inside look at whatever niche they are writing for and the advice contained within the book should be specific to you. Online fitness products are of exceptional value when put together well. Learn to differentiate between the quality and the hype.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post 9 Things to Consider When Buying a Fitness Ebook appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

3 types of people read fitness blogs:

1. A very small percentage of people who read and take the time to research and absorb the information. They check references and figure out how to best use the information.
2. The next group reads fitness blogs to justify what they already do. If the author doesn’t back up their personal beliefs they immediately lose interest or worse yet, publicly denounce the article.
3. The last group is the most prevalent. They’re serial blog readers. Each week they’ll read a blog about the next best thing and do everything the article says. They’ll try the exercise and, if they’re a trainer, give it to every client or follow the program template. The next week a “better” article will come out and process repeats itself.

Blogs are one of the best sources to learn new exercises. For more advanced trainees these can be a great way to change up our routines. Problem is a new exercise isn’t learnt overnight.

This is where I come in.

I’m going to give you five steps to hack the gym. Follow these and you’ll learn any new movement quicker than ever before. If you’re a trainer use these methods on your clients. You’ll be blown away with how fast they throw down a perfect squat.

Step 1: Know What It Should Look Like

Without a vivid picture or video it’s impossible to learn. If you have a smart phone then downloads videos of the exercise onto it. Watch the video between sets. Close your eyes after watching the video and imagine yourself performing the movement. The better you’re able to pain a picture in your head the better you’ll perform.

I remember back in University I would rip pages out of Arnold’s Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding and look at them in between sets. At the time I didn’t know it but I was definitely accelerating my learning.

Step 2: Drop the Weight

Grooving movement patterns must be done with perfect form. Skills are learnt how they’re performed. This means if you perform something improperly you learn a bad habit. Keep practicing it wrong and the bad habit strengthens. Bad habits can’t be de-trained. Instead you have to learn good habits to offset the bad ones.

Drop the weight down. If you’re more worried what the other boys and girls in the gym will think of you stop reading this right now.

Step 3: Keep the Reps Low

I’ve found form inevitably breaks after 4-6 reps or 7-10 seconds. Not a lot, but enough that the exercise isn’t perfect anymore. The best example I can think of is watching a client perform the seated row who suffers from tight upper traps. The first 4-5 reps they retract their shoulder blades well with some cueing. After that the shoulders start to creep up.

I’ll admit I don’t have anything to back my theory up other than years of practice teaching clients. I postulate that this follows the creatine phosphate energy system. The minute the body starts using carbohydrates (after ~10 seconds) as a primary energy source form diminishes. My other guess is it’s a pure focus thing. After a couple reps attention seems to inevitably wander off for most.

If you agree with my earlier point that learning a new exercise must be done with perfect form then you’ll also agree that reps should be kept low. Once you’re better trained you can start pushing yourself to failure as the form will be imprinted into your nervous system.

Step 4: Break It Down to Basics

How many movements are there really? The pec major flexes, adducts, and medial-rotates. The biceps flexes at the elbow. The quads extend the knee and flex the hip. I’ll save you the rest of the list.

It’s all the same!

I don’t care if you’re doing the exercise on a ball, on one leg, with a kettlebell or suspended in the air. It’s the same movement. Whenever you read about a new exercise take a minute and break it down. You’re probably already an expert.

Step 5: Try, Fail, Fail Better

When you screw up (and you will) immediately stop and reassess. Don’t finish the set. Say you lose your balance trying out a single leg RDL (Romanian deadlift) – don’t put your hand down and finish the rep pretending nothing happened. Instead grip the floor with your toes, concentrate, and regain your balance.

The same goes for any movement. Stop at the part where you screwed up and practice that specific aspect of the movement with purpose. Close your eyes and visualize what it should look like. Stop the exercise if need be and look back at your video or picture. Fix the broken link first and plug it back in later.

I realize not many people are going to follow my advice here. You’ll stand out in the gym and people might stare. If however you do follow my advice the same people staring will still be in bad shape when you’re ripped and ready for the summer.

The post Gymhacker: 5 Steps to Learn a New Exercise Faster Than Anyone Else appeared first on Breaking Muscle.