The Simple Web For Fitness
I give you a peek at very simple technology I use to improve my fitness.
Hi!
I’m trying something new today. I’ve punted the entire header (see the top of it here) from the post. Instead, this header section now provides 2-3 bullets about what you’ll read.
Today I’m talking about:
The contrast between web sites circa mid/late 90s and modern (today) web sites
Why I prefer simple informative information rather than styled marketing content
Asking you for your favorite simple web resources.
Tell me your thoughts on this new section. Does it work? Is it helpful? What would you do differently?
The fitness world is one of social media’s darlings.
Think about it: people exercise to be healthy, live longer, look good, feel stronger, and various other permutations. Social sites promote these goals by powering one-to-many broadcasts of advice from folks that have been there before. Experts, perhaps.
You then cold start a routine or integrate that advice into an existing process.
The discipline (fitness) and the distribution (apps, influencers) are perfect compliments in so many ways.
But some advice is a double-barreled gun. It comes with a legitimate suggestion like do this exercise this way but may also emanate from a person with no shirt and a six-pack. Or it’s someone with contour-defining spandex and a crop-top. Or from someone with various credentials next to their name.
You’re forced to consume more than just the basic information you want or need.
What everyone misses is this: the simple web has robust information and nothing extra. Unless you want to bombard you eyeballs with sculpted bodies, scripted routines, and product promotions and sponsorships. You do you, if so.
What’s the technology angle? The simple web. Let me explain.
The simple web covers the vast area of the internet that isn’t full of endless scrolling, fancy graphics, and modern web or flashy native (e.g. iOS, Android) app experiences. The simple web exudes the basics of web pages to serve and share content.
What does that look like? Have a look:
Nothing about ExRx.net screams modern. The site displays an opinionated low-tech look. But it is a functional resource packed full of exercise information, instructional videos, tips, guides, and more.
It is the single most visited website in my arsenal to confirm and research fitness topics (leaning towards weight training). I often consult specific exercises in the site’s enormous library to refresh my memory on what muscles work as primary movers vs. stabilizers.
So, suppose you want to learn how to deadlift but don’t know where to start.
ExRx.net provides a simple web page with explanatory text and embedded instructional video showing the movement pattern:
If Wikipedia is the virtual encyclopedia for the world at large, ExRx.net is the Wikipedia for the fitness and health curious.
The two sites share the simple web feel - plenty of white-space, simple dark text, plain rectangular images, and only lightly styled web-page components. Here’s a view of Wikipedia’s entry for the deadlift for comparison purposes:
I recently consulted the site after several friends asked me for workout ideas.
The questions roughly coalesced to this: what would you do if you had 20 minutes? So, I wanted to create a plan that focused on maximizing output in a short time-span.
That plan required instructions. But it’s not easy to read complicated movement details (e.g. for a deadlift) and intuitively understand what to do. It’s easier to instead show the movements and provide commentary on the side. I linked to multiple ExRx.net resources throughout my plan, choosing to highlight the basics rather than stylized and influenced videos posted on Instagram or TikTok.
The simple web seems like a good alternative to some of the themes I’ve mentioned here before. We can choose simpler informative robust resources rather than relying on social platforms for information. But only if we know about them.
What simple web resources are you using in your life? Maybe a site for recipes, maybe for new books, or for something else? I’d love to explore some of your favorites.
I use Healthi to track what I eat, but I don’t like to track my steps there.