We plan on doing a regular series here on TC Agenda to highlight up and coming entrepreneurs in the Twin Cities area that are in the midst of launching new business ideas and startups.
We hope to provide a fresh take and some insight on just how talented and creative people are in the area.
Up first in our series is budding entrepreneur Ryan Bucki, a former University of Minnesota MBA alumni and founder of FitnessInformant.com, a website platform dedicated to fitness education. I sat down with him and asked him a few questions:
Brian: Hi Ryan, so tell us a little about yourself and why you started Fitness Informant.
Ryan: Thanks for having me. As a teenager I was drastically overweight. I remember I had to get a physical to play football freshman year. I was 14 years old. The scale read 220lbs. I was 5’6″. Fat. That was an eye opener for me.
I had a dream of pursuing a career in professional wrestling. Once I started on that path of pursuing that dream I started to find passion in the weight room. In that passion I discovered more about fitness and nutrition in general. I also learned a lot about proper supplementation.
Fast-forward to October 2016 when I decided to start FitnessInformant.com. I started FI because I saw what was happening in the fitness industry. So-called “experts” on social media were offering terrible advice on workout routines and diets. Even more terrible than that advice, was the advice people were handing out about supplementation online. I know that there is a lot of information in the fitness and sports nutrition industry. Most of it based on nothing else but an opinion. That’s where FI comes in.
I started FI to be the fitness educational platform for those seeking honest, trustworthy fitness and supplement information and advice. People work too hard to earn their money to be duped into buying a non-effective training program or an under dosed supplement.
Brian: Very cool, so what’s your workout and nutrition regimen like on a daily basis?
Ryan: I am a strong believer in you should always practice what you preach. Many of the fitness platforms out there are ran by individuals who don’t exercise, eat right or know anything about supplements. They are ran by people looking to earn a quick buck. They generate content, most of it inaccurate, to generate traffic to dupe them into buying something on their website.
I live a life of fitness. I workout 6-days a week and rest on the 7th (sounds familiar, right?)
My week starts in the gym with biceps and triceps. I kick it into high gear with a heavy leg day WednesdayI workout my chest and shoulders. Thursday is a big back day. On Friday I do a second day of legs. Legs are the largest muscle group in your body, they deserve to be worked twice. Saturday is an ancillary day. I will either lift my chest and shoulders again or hit a second back day. I am more of your bodybuilder-type. I don’t do much cardio, if any, and focus in on lifting heavy and using unique lifts and angles to work the under developed area of my muscles.
Nutrition is more important than the exercise itself. You’ve probably heard the saying, “abs are made in the kitchen.” They are not wrong. I work a 40-hour a week job on-top-of running Fitness Informant. I pre-make all my meals for the week on Sunday. I like the five by five method. Eat five meals before . I will each breakfast/pre-workout meal at . This is usually 6-whole eggs or a bowl of high carb cereal (I use this as energy when I lift).
Then post-workout, around I will drink a protein shake and eat some oatmeal for meal #2. At I will eat another meal, consisting of chicken, rice and vegetables. At 12:00pm I will technically eat my lunch. This is typically a cut of beef or a fish, with sweet potatoes and another vegetable. I will then eat again at 2:00pm. This is essentially the same meal as my 10:00am meal. That is my fifth meal before 5:00pm.
Shortly after 5:00pm I will eat my dinner. Which muscle group I am lifting that day in the gym determines my dinner. This is usually a beef/chicken/steak dish with sweet potatoes and veggies. Prior to bedtime I will drink either a casein shake or do some cottage cheese and a protein peanut butter ball to feed me while I sleep. I get a minimum of 7 meals in per day.
Brian: Now that’s dedication. So what will people find on fitnessinformant.com to help them with their fitness goals?
Ryan: FitnessInformant.com will be your fitness educational platform for all things relating to fitness and sports nutrition. We have a knowledgeable staff of writers who, like me, practice what they preach.
We cover educational topics in the world of fitness, write workout routines and diet plans, post fitness industry and sports nutrition industry news and provide honest, trustworthy reviews on supplements available in the marketplace today.
We are not influenced by outsiders, only by the desire to provide you information that you can use to help you achieve your goals.
Brian: What are your goals for the future with the Fitness Informant brand?
Ryan: That’s a loaded question really, as I have so many ideas for the brand. The ultimate goal is to create the go-to brand in the world of fitness and sports nutrition for honest, trustworthy information. As I mentioned earlier, there are a lot of platforms out there currently. Most of them are garbage. Some of them are really good, but really good in only one area.
We want to be your one-stop-spot for all things fitness. We plan to continue our community by offering more customized workout routines and diet plans.
Down the line we might dive into the world of sports nutrition, but we’d have to ensure that we had a value proposition or point of differentiation because that market is highly saturated already. If I can help one person make a decision today to pursue fitness as a means of improving their overall health, then I have done my job.
Brian: Awesome – so where can our readers find you?
Ryan: Head on over to fitnessinformant.com to check out all of our articles, workout tips, and supplementation guides. You can follow us on snapchat @fitinformant for regular workout tips and healthy recipes as well as check us out on Facebook for updates.
Brian: Thanks Ryan, best of luck to you and Fitness Informant in the future.
Until next week….
