It’s the end of the year already, and you know what that means: it’s time for some reflection.
And while I hope you’re all doing some reflecting of your own, I’d like to take a few moments of your time and look back at the successes and shortcomings of 12 Minute Athlete over this past year.
Bear with me here, guys, there’s a prize at the end!
Looking back at 2013
12 Minute Athlete has been around for a little over a year already, can you believe it?
I’m incredibly humbled by the response I’ve had since the very first time I told anyone about 12 Minute Athlete in October 2012. Since then, the site has grown to over 140,000 page views a month and nearly 64,000 unique visitors. Over 8,000 people subscribe to get 12 Minute Athlete updates, and we’ve reached over 26,000 Google+ followers and nearly 2,000 Facebook likes.
Oh, and we launched an iPhone app! Not bad, right?
So. Freaking. Cool.
Seriously. Thank you guys. Thank you for doing the workouts, for making me laugh with your comments, for all your emails and every single app review in the iTunes Store. It all means the world to me, and feedback (good and bad) is what helps me to know that I’m on the right track and I should keep making awesome, sweaty workouts and doing my best to motivate you guys to kick some serious workout ass.
You guys rock. I’m not even kidding. Every single one of you is awesome beyond words, and I’m incredibly proud to have you as a reader.
Where we’re headed in 2014
Now here’s where I need your help.
As I hope you all know, I’m always working to make 12 Minute Athlete as awesome as possible. I want it to rock. To be the best fitness regimen/motivator/blog/app it can possibly be.
And to tell you the truth, it’s not even close to where I want it to be. I started 12 Minute Athlete with a big vision but a shoestring budget, and have been doing the best I can (yes, I currently do everything for the site/app, and other than hiring a developer to actually code the app, it’s all me). But I’ve got big plans to keep making it better and better.
Here are just a few of the things I’m focusing on this year:
- An Android app. Yes, I hear you guys! I wish it hadn’t taken so long to get this made, but since my developer basically has to create a whole new app from scratch (rather than just copying the iPhone one… I wish it were that easy), it takes a whole lot if time and money. It’s happening, just way later than I’d hoped.
- A book. Yep, this one’s still a bit of a secret, but it’s in the works. I hope to have it finished by the end of this year.
- More videos. A lot of you guys have been requesting more videos from me, and I’d like to make a big push to do this in 2014.
- More community. You guys are all so awesome, I want 12 Minute Athlete to be a place where you can interact with one another.
- A really big, exciting, secretive project. I can’t tell you guys about this one yet because I don’t know the details, but it’s going to be HUGE! Get ready for some big, exciting changes, hopefully in the first half of this next year.
What do you want from 12 Minute Athlete?
So what would you like me to focus on this year? I want to know what you think!
Do you want more videos? If so, what do you want from them?
More comprehensive workout programs? A shorter one? A travel one? What else?
More reader stories/interaction? If so, what would you want from these?
A forum so you guys could motivate each other? If so, what do you like in forums and what keeps you going back to them?
More gear? What kind?
More recipes?
More app updates? If so, what would you want different?
Something else entirely?
Whatever your thoughts, I want to hear from you! Send me an email at [email protected]. Be sure to include something like ‘2013 thoughts’ in the subject line so I don’t accidentally miss your email.
And thank you.
Seriously. 12 Minute Athlete couldn’t have made it this far without you guys. You are superstars, every single one of you.
Your fellow athlete,
Krista
PS. Thanks for sticking with me! It’s time to give away some shirts, woohoo!
If you have a story about 12 Minute Athlete has made a difference in your life and would be willing to give a testimonial for 12 Minute Athlete, send me an email at [email protected] with the subject ‘reader story’. I’ll send a free 12 Minute Athlete t-shirt or tank top (your choice) to my top 5 favorite responses!
Love you articles.. Of course love your workouts… please keep them coming.
What about monthly challenges… Pulll up challenge, pistol challenge, hand stand push up etc.
Thanks… have a great Christmas break!
Love that idea, it’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while now. Thanks for the feedback!
You give me so many great tools! Lost 30 lbs sunce August and 12-Munute Athlete has played a big role in that success. Keep it coming!! Happy New Year!
Wow, that’s fantastic Greta! Congratulations!
Krista,
I love your site and your great motivational commentary. Is there a chance you could introduce a section/series for those just entering these high-intensity intervals at a beginner level. You’ve done a few modifications of exercises in the past, but I’d like to work on headstands/handstands this year and would love to know where to start and how to progress.
Keep up the fantastic work!
I agree, there needs to be more beginner introductory info regarding the workouts and specific exercises. I’ll keep working on more of those this year – starting with headstands! In the meantime, feel free to email me with any questions about exercise progressions.
I love your workouts! I just started a month ago, and yeah, I slacked off over the holidays. However, as a 50 year young lady, I love your HONESTY about the work necessary to do the hard stuff (pull-ups and handstands especially) and your step-by-step articles to make progress. I am working toward that first pull-up! I have done a handstand at the wall–briefly, but I have to totally psych myself to do even that. So please, keep all us beginners in mind and keep telling us it is doable. There are so many personal trainers, blogs, et cetera that just don’t get us beginners. They are everywhere They seem to find it more exciting to show their own amazing abilities, which can be demoralizing for those of us still struggling to get through a 30 second round even marginally! I need your ENCOURAGEMENT and I need you to keep keeping it real.
Thank you Amber! That’s so wonderful you even attempted a handstand AND are working on your pull ups. Even just a couple of years ago I couldn’t even imagine doing either of those exercises – so I will certainly do my best to keep beginners in mind. Please let me know if you ever have any questions or if there are specific exercises you’d like to see broken down into progressions. And keep working hard!
LOVE your site! You’ve done amazing work, and I can’t wait until the Android app comes out. I especially appreciate all of the exercises modified for beginners. I would love to see some sort of forum, a community where we can motivate each other and talk about fitting workouts into busy schedules and getting back on the workout horse, or how we modify things if we lack equipment, etc.
Thanks for the feedback Shirah! I’m glad you think a forum would be cool – I do too! Hopefully that will be up and running in the first part of the year.
I only discovered your site a couple of months ago so didn’t know how new it was. I am thrilled to be a follower in your first year. I’ll be able to say I was following you “back when”! Love this site so much. I’ll echo what some of the others have said. I really appreciate the step by step instructions for the really hard moves like handstand pushups and pull-ups and bridges. I can’t do any of those yet but I am working on the steps which makes me feel like I am making progress. I love the short videos, love your recipes and commentary every few days. I really couldn’t imagine how it could be better! Keep up the great work. I am one very appreciative fan!
Thank you Julie! I’m so glad to hear you like the progressions – I’ll definitely keep doing more of those this year. In the meantime, keep working at those exercises – they are really tough but with time and practice I know you’ll get them 🙂
Thanks for the “how to do a pull up” I’m working on it 🙂
Awesome Morgan!
I just discovered your site this morning! I am THRILLED to have found someone like minded and motivational. I can’t stop reading your articles. They are so well written. I have not signed up for your program…yet…as I still have 6 months left of my crossfit membership. I get bored with the crossfit when there are too many Olympic lifting days. Sigh. I will keep reading your blog over the next few months and see if I think I can hack exercising alone in the future. You seem so supportive I just might be able to do it. Thanks for your sharing your passion for fitness!
Yay I’m so happy to hear that! CrossFit certainly has a lot of good things about it, but I wasn’t into the Olympic lifting part of it either. Feel free to let me know if you ever have any questions or need an extra boost of motivation 🙂
I showed my husband your website and he liked it. He does not crossfit and wants to get in shape. Soooo….he signed up for your program! I am so excited for him. I will keep you posted. Right now I have 3 goals for myself: pistol, bridge & handstand push-up. I was practicing the bridge yesterday with your tips. Wow, it is hard!!!! Keep your posts coming. You are having a morning coffee☕️ with me right now