Resources and Tools for Strength and Fitness

     I may not be able to lift at the moment, but I've spent a lot of my adult life trying different approaches to strength and fitness. I've encountered my fair share of gimmicks, spent countless hours on useless information, studied, adapted, and become more and more selective about my resources and tools. As a result, despite the fact that I've been on the couch for months preparing then recovering from a surgery and now gearing up for another, more serious surgery, I still look like a guy who works out. I did not accomplish that completely on my own. The resources listed below are what I have found to be the most useful. Nobody asked me to include them in any content and I'm not being paid for these spots - I legitimately recommend these.

     For calorie tracking, weight loss troubleshooting, and time saved on spreadsheets and paper journals, I recommend: MacroFactor. The UI, tools available, and customization put it way ahead of my opinion of MyFitnessPal and other apps. I'm not gonna hate on you if you use MyFitnessPal, but I definitely think MacroFactor is worth a try for anyone tracking their calories.

     For powerlifting content like explanations of different programs, form recommendations, equipment explanations, critiques, and entertainment, I recommend these two YouTube channels: Alexander Bromley and Alan Thrall. What I like about both of these channels is their adherence to the basics; they don't get all wrapped up in fads or BS equipment.

     For tracking training sessions, I really enjoy both of these apps: Boostcamp and Strong. I used Strong for a really long time when I was designing my own workouts. Eventually, life got busier and I wanted to use other people's programs more to save me some time and mental energy during that season of life, so I switched to Boostcamp. I love the adjustments that get done in Boostcamp as well as the variety of programs that are included. If you're still rocking the spreadsheet or paper and pencil, I say it's worth it to give these a try.

     Another thing I'll recommend that hasn't been featured much and is maligned by many who think a rise of a proverbial Skynet is looming, is a good LLM for quick research or time-saving tasks related to your nutrition. There's a big caveat to this - you need to have a solid foundation of knowledge in nutrition so you can catch if the LLM throws you some weird info based on a shaky source. I recently tested using Claude to generate a spreadsheet meal plan for me including certain foods I like, a minimum protein number, a minimum fiber number, and a desired calorie level. It took a couple quick back-and-forths to get the meal plan just how I wanted it, but it saved me mental energy and time and I think that holds value. I can throw the meals Claude helped me build into MacroFactor and be off to the races in no time.