Wow! What a year!
There is a lot to talk about this year, but to avoid the conversation returning to that one particular virus, let's look back at the 5 top Rockmanfitness posts to see what I have written that you, my dear Rockmanfithead, connected with.
First, let's start with some stats.
This year Rockmanfitness was viewed by more than 300 unique visitors. That's a whole school's worth of people reading my contemplations on fitness and health, what a humbling number of people to reach!
As well as reaching family, friends and clients here in Melbourne, Australia, there were also rockmanfitness fans around the world.
In order of most to least fans: Australia, United states, United Kingdom, Pakistan, Canada, Uganda, Argentina, Italy and many others with small viewer numbers.
10 AM
Was the most popular time of day to read the posts. This was followed by 9am, 5am and 4am. You obviously like to start the day in the right headspace! Although, I'm going to assume this was carried by my international viewers too, unless I have a lot of fans who are early risers.
Okay, on to the top 5 posts of the year.
In this post I cover the 3 factors that are present in every successful weight loss diet. If you are looking to stick to a weight loss goal or even are just curious about the workings of a successful diet, this is the article for you. This article also includes my tips on how to alter these 3 factors to your own desires.
4. How to beat the lockdown lack of motivation ... again?
This one came out in August of 2020, but with the tumultuous year that was 2021, this post still resonates with so many of you that it got into the top viewed blog posts 2 years in a row! This post provides 5 proven tips to beat the lack of motivation that comes with being stuck in lockdown - again. Following these tips ensures your day will be a productive one and not another 24 hours spent refreshing tiktok for cat videos. Apathy is the enemy!
Finally, we got some research comparing the popular diets to each other! This post breaks down a scientific review of the current literature on diets such as ketogenic, paleo, mediterranean, intermittent fasting and even gluten-free. While there are a lot of results to discuss, the main take away from this post is that while each diet has their own benefits and negatives, there is no single ideal diet for everyone. Buuut statistically speaking the Mediterranean diet is number 1... Read the article to find what sounds appealing to you, give it a go and keep what works for you!
If you've ever wanted to know what it's like to try a restrictive diet but didn't want to deal with the shunning from family and friends, have no fear for I have been through the ordeal for you! That's right, I cut out sugar from my diet, in what I believe to be a healthy way and found out I actually kind of liked it? In this article I explain my approach, what worked and what didn't, and what to expect when trying a similar approach (hint: your family, your friends and your partner will all laugh at you for trying this, but they're just jealous of your strong will, trust me). A great read for anyone who can relate to the struggles of being on a diet.
And finally, the top post of 2021...
Half instruction manual - half book review, this article provides the basics of bulking (gaining muscle mass). With this article under your belt, you'll be able to understand what strategies will work for bulking and what strategies are bogus. Dan John is a veteran of the industry and his approach towards bulking not only makes a lot of sense, but is also quite simple. As well as learning the basic science behind bulking, Dan John also provides a lot of practical tips to help you achieve this goal, most of which, I still use to this day. Whenever I get clients asking about putting on size or bulking up, this is the article I point them towards. Do yourself a favour and chuck it a read so you can advise your calorie-deficient friends.
Bonus posts
In addition to the Dan John book article, Volume for muscle size covers a 61 page scientific review on the ideal volume for putting on muscle. So if you need more reading on bulking or even just looking good, this post breaks it down into very digestible language (compared to the 61 page bible!)
This year was also the first time I received a sponsor (and therefore earned any kind of money) off this blog venture of mine! Although the sponsor didn't ship to Australia, I was still payed for the shoutout and this spawned a surprisingly heartfelt speech about doing what you love. No, I don't know where that came from either. Regardless, you can check out that post at Born tough and doing what you love
Looking Forwards
Wow, I really can't believe I'm already writing up this year's review. Time is just flying by at the moment. As I write this, I've only got 6 months left in my Master's degree in Clinical Exercise Physiology, at which point I will be working with clinical populations at who knows where. Studying has given me so many great ideas and facts on exercise that I want to share with you but I just haven't had time. Writing blogs has been especially difficult this year due to the added workload of studying a Master's degree, but also due to the constant tug of war between the lockdown lack of motivation and the social activities when things opened up. I didn't quite hit the goal I set of a blog post every 2 weeks this year, especially during busy times in the trimester, and then I completely dropped off when things opened up at the end of the year.
Regardless, I've been enjoying the feedback and conversations that these posts start with friends, family and clients, as well as the opportunities it opens up such as the sponsorship or the overseas fans. Sometimes it's good to challenge yourself and fail :)
Therefore, I've decided to continue with this venture into 2022! Going forwards the aim will be to increase my presence on social media @dantharockman on Instagram and to maintain a steady stream of blogs, at least once a month.
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Thank you for reading this far, here's to another year of Rockmanfitness!