20 Must-Read Fitness Sites for 2012

Welcome to the new year. I decided to start it off by helping you set up your RSS reader with 20 must-read fitness sites for 2012. Here is my list that fires me up, keeps me informed, and inspires me to live boldly, burn more fat, and keep building muscle to enjoy all life has to offer.

I had a very difficult time trying to decide how to organize this list. Who should I list first? How should I group them? I know, I’m such a geek. Well the more I thought about the resources I’ve enjoyed the more I realized there are four groups: the academics, the beasts, the crew, and the internet marketeers. Here is how the 20 must-read fitness sites for 2012 break-down into those groups.

The Academics – Must-Read Fitness Sites for 2012

#1 – Eric Cressey

Eric Cressey is the president and co-founder of Cressey Performance. He lives, eats, and breaths strength and conditioning. What initially drew me to Eric’s site was his solid foundation in research and proven science applied to fitness. His site is filled with excellent information, you can trust.

#2 – JCD Fitness

JC Deen combines solid research with a fun sense of humor – a combination that I’ve grown to enjoy. His site, JCDFitness, has the tag-line a no-bs approach to looking great naked and that really is a perfect way to describe JC’s content. He dishes out no BS, just straight to the point solid advice. Every once in a while there’s a bit of bro-science mixed in for good measure.

#3 – Alan Aragon

Alan’s tag-line is the science of ultimate fitness – that mixture of science and fitness again. Perfect. Alan is renowned for digging deep into emerging research to understand the bleeding edge of the science of fitness. He has public articles and also has a monthly research review. Great resources to stay abreast of the current research.

#4 – Mike Boyle’s Strength Coach

Michael Boyle is a name that pops up in just about any search related to strength and conditioning. His site Strength Coach.Com is a great source for practical ways to improve your performance through training, solid research-based training. Mike’s site has great written content, but also includes links to content both in podcast and video formats. A must-read fitness site for 2012.

#5 – Lean Gains

Martin Berkhan has earned a reputation is the go-to-guy on getting lean and building lean muscle. He is a strong advocate of intermittent fasting and bringing solid research to light; debunking crap science. His posts may be infrequent, but when they come they are solid. Take time to digest Martin’s content, start intermittent fasting, and add his site to your list of must-read fitness sites for 2012.

#6 – Body Recomposition

Lyle McDonald is the author of Body Recomposition. Like the others in this group Lyle is an excellent source for scientific, fact-based information for fat loss, muscle gain, and improved performance. He digs deep and doesn’t shy away from using scientific terms, so you have been warned. But don’t let those details scare you away. Body Recomposition is a site worth taking time to read, understand, and apply.

#7 – Tony Gentilcore

I love Tony’s site which is named simply, Tony Gentilcore.com. He, like JC Deen, mixes sound science with a wry sense of humor. His site’s tag-line is because heavy things won’t lift themselves. Just the tag-line is enough to know fitness will be approached with a sense of humor. That said, Tony is one of the co-founders of Cressey Performance. His site is always fun to ready. Often I go away wearing a huge smile and armed with new things to try in the gym. Subscribe to his RSS as a must-read fitness site for 2012.

The Beasts – Must-Read Fitness Sites for 2012

I have had a few people actually call me a beast, but these guys earn that title in my book. They train with some extreme intensity and ratchet things up a few notches. If you want to let your inner beast out, dig into these sites on my list of must-read fitness sites for 2012.

#8 – The Strength Shop

Matt Wichlinski is the owner of The Strength Shop and is the responsible for the namesake of this group. Matt is a beast, but a beast that can coach. What an awesome combo! I first ran across Matt when I was doing my first search into Bulgarian Training Bags, but have gone back again and again. His latest tutorial on muscle-ups is the best I have seen anywhere. Dig into Matt’s stuff and train like a beast.

#9 – Jason Ferruggia

Jason Ferruggia - Renegade Strength and Conditioning

Jason Ferruggia is an inspiring beast. He is just raw to the core, but there is something about it that I like. He is serious about training and training hard, but manages to do it with an intensity and positive attitude that is down right contagious. He’s been there – struggling or succeeding. He’s here to help you make 2012 your best year. Add him to your list of must-read fitness sites for 2012 and bring it.

#10 – Ross Training

Ross Enamait trains fighters full-time. His site Ross Training is full of awesome high intensity workouts, inspiration, and just all out beast-mode training. I think you’ll agree that his training style is among the most intense that you’ll find.

#11 – Diesel Strength and Conditioning

Smitty from Diesel Strength and Conditioning

Diesel Strength and Conditioning is a site from Jim Smith who has been called one of the “most innovated strength coaches” in the industry. I mean really – tricep extensions with chains! You’ll love Smitty’s site and innovative workout ideas.

The Crew – Must-Read Fitness Sites for 2012

Dare I Say, “My Peers”, this group of fitness fanatics contains a group that I think of as my peers, my crew. We share a deep fanaticism around fitness and living healthy. We also are delving deep into this whole internet, social media thing, as a way to share our passion, connect with others, and make a difference however we can. It has been great to share inspiration, tips, and encouragement with this crew. Take note of these fun and growing sites.

#12 – Loving Fit

Tatianna has found her passion in fitness. Her blog started about the same time as Cube Dweller Fitness. It has been fun to explore WordPress, Videos, and how all this technology can be applied to helping people transform their lives. Her workouts are intense intervals that are mostly bodyweight exercises. Give one of them a try and see if you can keep up; she will work you hard.

#13 – Bloom To Fit

Bloom to Fit is another blog that has been blooming along with my site. It is run by Srdjan (as he says, “I know, where are the vowels, right?”). It didn’t take long to realize that we took a very similar approach to fitness. We discovered that we are both engineers by training, so we can’t help it. We need to research, analyze, and identify patterns that deliver efficient and effective results. Tune into Bloom to Fit as another must-read fitness site for 2012.

#14 – Relative Strength Advantage

Relative Strength Advantage is a site run by Yavor and is about living life in a lean, athletic, fit body. I first ran into Yavor’s site while searching for training tips on doing pullups. From that initial run I’ve been back over and over. His training comes from research and practical experience running a personal training gym in Bulgaria.

#15 – Crank Training

Mike Whitfield runs Crank Training. He and I met while he was launching his Workout Finishers program. Did you catch the interviews with Mike, part 1 and part 2? He has a great personal transformation story of his own. By getting into fitness he changed his life and has since been involved in helping others do the same.

#16 – Fitness B&W

At some level I think many of us wish more things in life were just black and white. That same sentiment is obvious in Kevin’s work on the site. He aims to make fitness crystal clear. He is a desk-jockey like many of us, who is also married and has a house of kids to chase. Too often we encounter a time when our kids out run, out last, out … whatever us. Kevin said that one day he looked in the mirror and thought “Yikes, I need to get back in shape”. Have you been there? Add Fitness B&W to your must-read fitness sites for 2012 list and see how practical fitness can make a big difference in how you look and feel.

#17 – Fitness Overhaul

Kelly Ulm created Fitness Overhaul to help us 30- or 40-somethings make real changes in their life. As we get older how we train needs to adapt. We can’t just keep going at it hard. His site tracks his journey that just hits so close to home with the realities of trying to find time for fitness in a busy life.

The Internet Marketeers – Must-Read Fitness Sites for 2012

Combining fitness and the internet is a huge niche. Here are a few people that I’ve enjoyed reading as the internet marketeers in the industry. They produce some great must-read fitness information and should definitely be included in your 2012 reading.

#18 – Craig Ballantyne

Where do you start with someone like Craig Ballantyne? I ran across his information years ago while searching for different bodyweight exercises to do. If you really want to jump start your fitness and your outlook on life, take two steps:

Turbulence Training – sign up for Craig’s monthly program and get fresh workouts that will help you burn fat and build muscle. He is constantly digging into new ways to efficiently and effectively workout. His current effort is understanding and applying our metabolic system to our fitness. You will start seeing more about metabolic resistance training from him and other; just realize it started with Craig.
Early To Rise – join Craig and the crew at Early to Rise for content that will shift your mindset and set a practical path towards financial independence through internet marketing.

Watch, read, and implement what Craig has put together. Definitely a must-read for fitness sites in 2012.

#19 – Fitness Black Book

Rusty Moore took notes from Craig Ballantyne and put them into practice with Fitness Black Book back in 2007. Yes that’s right back in 2007. Not only is his site a great source for fitness tips, but he also spends time helping people learn how to get into the internet marketing business as well. Win on both topics!

#20 – The Rise To The Top

David Site Garland - The Rise To The Top

David Siteman Garland’s site The Rise To The Top isn’t really a fitness site, but … it is getting there. Okay that’s a stretch, but take time to tune into David’s interviews. He talks to people who have made it in different fields. He has also gone through a fitness transformation himself that has him “talking fitness” from time to time. Fun content all the time. While it might not be specific to the fitness industry he still closes out the list of must-read fitness sites of 2012.