Obviously, NextFitness doesn’t do “canned” workouts, so your workouts are built from our expert system to match what you are doing on a specific day. And every once in a while, we miss something and a piece of audio is played at the wrong time. 

Since our system is capable of generating millions of workouts, it can be tough to pin down what’s causing a given issue, but with a bit of information, we can get it fixed really quickly.

If you notice anything wonky with your workout, don’t be shy! If you’ll let us know and make a note of:

- Your trainer’s name and your program (from your Workout Preview screen)

Today, Apple announced that they are dropping DRM from all of their music! We’ve spent three years railing against the way DRM locks you out of using your music the way you want (including with your workouts), so it’s a joyous day for NextFitness members.

Around here, we still love Amazon MP3, but if you’ve got a bunch of iTunes music, you can upgrade for 30 cents a track. To do so, click the iTunes Plus link on the left side of your iTunes Store, and upgrade your tracks, and the newly-upgraded tracks will now work with NextFitness!

One caution: If you’re like us and have purchased a lot of iTunes tracks, you could be in for some sticker shock when you realize how fast $0.30 a song adds up. As much as we’re loathe to re-buy the music we already paid for, it’s nice to have it unshackled and NextFitness compatible!

Some important updates

* Improved design and user interface
* Improved stability of the NextFitness Mixer
* New and improved feedback form - change your workouts
quicker, easier, and more reliably
* All new yoga and pilates programs from Kent Burden and
Melanie Douglass
* Brand new beginner walking program by Chris Kluge

Not to mention the hundreds of audio tweaks suggested by you
in the NextFitness Community.

We’ll continue to improve our product as long as you
keep sweating!

At some point, worrying about our health can become unhealthy in and of itself. This video speaks volumes, and it’s absolutely must-watch.

You don’t become the world’s richest man without being a bit eccentric. But this is pretty outrageous, and it’s something we never knew about Warren Buffett.

Warren Buffett is obsessed with weight. Obsessed as in OCD. He pays family members to stay within a certain BMI range, and ties weight goals to pay structures for his children.

This video is a fascinating look both at an American icon and a cautionary tale of placing too much emphasis on weight.

Image credit: Topnews.in

This cool little tool allows you to browse iTunes for the music you’d like, then get it directly from Amazon to bypass DRM. This is especially useful to Podfitness users, so I thought I would share. It’s Mac only at the moment, but the second it’s available for Windows we’ll let you know.

Browse through the iTunes Store, just as usual. Or use iTunes Genius feature to find new music.

When you find something you want, click on Get MP3 from Amazon in the iTunes Script Menu.

Advantageous mp3 takes you to the artist’s or album’s Amazon MP3 site. You can buy the music DRM-free and in better quality.

Advantageous mp3

Just because something has been proven to not kill you doesn’t mean we should be overloading on it.

If you recognize yourself in the statements below, beware. You may need to make a special effort to stick to a program. Check off any statement that sounds like it could have come out of your mouth:

“This time, I’m really going to stick to it! I mean it, I’m totally, 100% committed!”
This person sounds like she’s trying to convince herself but not really succeeding.

“I’m potentially thinking that maybe I might join this class.”
This person hasn’t really made up his mind. He’s not committed. Although he sounds very different, he’s actually an awful lot like the person who says…

“I have to start TOMORROW. No delay!”
This person is afraid that she’s going to lose her resolve. It’s probably happened to her before.

“Well, afternoons don’t work. And I can’t do mornings. I can come Tuesdays at noon, but not this Tuesday. Or next Tuesday…”
The President of the United States works out almost every day! If people really want to exercise, they find the time.

“I’ll squeeze it in at lunchtime. I can just run out between meetings.”
This person hasn’t acknowledged to himself that exercise must be its own priority, and if he doesn’t do that, it’ll always get shoved to the bottom of the to-do list. Which means it won’t happen.

“I can’t wait to start. But first, I need to buy some new clothes. And some new shoes. And a mat. And I want to read up on it, too.”
My wife is like this. She loves shopping and everything involved in the preparation stage. But once she has all the stuff she needs for yoga or rollerblading or whatever, she loses interest.

If any of these statements remind you of yourself, use it as a warning sign to re-commit yourself to sticking to your exercise plan.

But we know, deep down, this is only half true. Sure, if we all had unlimited time, many more of us would work out, but even with our compressed schedules, we find time to squeeze in other things that are important to us.

The fact is, we just need a compelling enough reason to get started. If you find the right reason, it will take you past the point where you want to quit, to the point where working out is a habit, even part of your identity.

For the affluent, hiring a personal trainer is a great way to create that reason. It’s expensive, but having someone waiting for you, on your dime, is in instant reason to be at the gym.

For the rest of us, we need to look a little harder for the reason. We love Podfitness, but we still have to have a reason to want to show up. Several of us have started boxing. It’s an unconventional, fun, and exhilarating (and sometimes exhausting) way to get fit, and it helps build a skill that requires you to up your fitness level to get better.

For some of us, it might be a pair of jeans we want to fit into. For others, it could be getting ready for wedding photos. And for a lot of us, there are health problems we know we’re in danger of that only exercise can prevent.

Whatever it is, start paying attention to your feelings to find something in your life that would get an upgrade if you start exercising now. The rest will fall into place once you find your foothold.

After the coin toss, it was decided that we’d have to change our name.*

The fact is, after 3 1/2 years, we’re no longer just a “downloadable iPod accessory”: We’ve got versions for Zune and other MP3 players, and we’re expanding into the mobile arena and other awesomely cool places that have to stay secret for now.

We think NextFitness is a good choice, it implies that our direction is way beyond iPods or podcasting, without being too much of a shock to the system (we’re not going for trite web 2.0 stuff like “fitr” or anything!). Hopefully, it is indicative that we’re bringing something entirely new to the world of fitness.

Over the next few weeks, you’ll start to see subtle and not-so-subtle changes around our product and our website. We can’t wait to show you what we have in store, and as always, we welcome your comments and input.

*We can’t confirm it was decided by coin toss; it was an educated guess on our part.