One Point Of View
First of all, I obviously mean a metaphorical vacuum where we have access to a very limited scope and understanding. And I can literally see that with so many average gym goers. In particular, those who have never worked with a personal trainer have the most trouble thinking outside the box.
Specifically gym bros. You know gym bros…they’re either former highschool/college athletes and/or social media fitness aficionados to name a couple. And I can always tell because first: their form and technique are all over the place. Second: most get extremely defensive and dismissive when approached by PT.
And this isn’t just an issue with form and technique, but also beliefs about training methods and nutrition. The problem with this is that when there are enough people like this in a gym it becomes a typical case of the blind leading the blind.
It ends up being a bunch of people tell each other that what they are doing is the right thing. And only qualified people from the outside can look in and see how problematic that is. For example, if I’m looking at myself in the mirror doing a squat that I learned from watching a YouTube/instagram clip, my only reference is going to be what is reflected by at me. I’m going to notice what I notice, from whatever angle I happen to be looking at the mirror. And if I’m looking from the front, I won’t see either sides, and I won’t see that back. I won’t be able to notice how my body is moving in time and space except from the sagittal plane.
But what’s the problem with that?
I’m Good Because I Say I’m Good
When doing an instructional video, even the best coaches will be able to fit only a limited amount of information. And for most people, that information and coaching cues may not be enough, or may not work for them. Instructional videos can be very helpful, but they don’t capture all the needs of the person. They give general advice that every should try and follow, but miss the nuances that come with doing an exercise. And the more complex the exercise the more nuances there are.
So I show up to the gym with my mental checklist that I rehearsed from watching a video or reading a book or whatever. I start doing squats, and I try to check off every point that the video/article told me to check off. By my standards, I’m doing great! I’m a good squatter…So why is that personal trainer coming to tell me about my chest falling forward too much? Or my back heels coming off the ground during my descent? Or my shifting the weight more to one side vs. the other?
When I have approached people in past to try and offer advice, about something I’m fully qualified to offer advice on, I would get dismissed with a “I’m good thanks”. Or “I can’t afford training”. The second point may be true for some, but the first one is unlikely. Like…Bro I can see you struggling! It’s even worse when it’s usually a pair of guys, and you can tell they watched the same videos or read the same article. Their coaching cues amount to check off the tips from the videos. But they’re unable to see the deeper issues that hold them back. And here’s a hint, with most guys in particular, it’s that they’re using too much weight!
One Training Method To Rule Them All!
There is no one training method that is superior to others…except for weightlifting! ok just kidding…but seriously, it’s not unheard of for a body builder to train like an olympic weightlifter, or a powerlifter. It’s also not uncommon for a sprint athlete or a long distance runner to train like a body builder. What is common is that the most successful people will follow one training method, while also making room in the programming for other methods.
There are a few reasons that people, whether average gym goers or athletes should follow different training methods. It obviously adds some variety and fun to training. And it also gives people a break from what can seem like monotonous exercise routines. There are other reasons for sure, and this is just to get an idea of why it’s important to expand one’s viewpoint around exercise and training.
A Little Periodization Goes A Long Way
Every good personal trainer/fitness pro is familiar with the concept of periodization. At least to some degree to understand that training methods must be modified to account for the body’s adaptation. Some of the ways we account for adaptation is changing the rep scheme, changing tempo, the exercise order, rest time etc. Even the kind of grip has an impact on a person’s ability to break through plateaus. So the list goes on. And we do this for more than just adaptation and breaking through plateaus. We do it because it makes training more fun, and allows the person to become more familiar with what they are capable of.
The low and dirty on periodization and adaptation is that whenever we try a new training protocol, the body gets a shock (for lack of a better term). And it’s perfectly normal for a person to initially notice a drop in performance. The magic happens when we ease off the protocols for a week or two. This is referred to as a de-load phase. Basically, the body has a chance to recover and rebuild and come back stronger.
In a sense I want to sympathize with people that complain about not making progress. But I also can’t help but be a little frustrated when I see them day in day out doing the same exact thing. I’ve had people tell me that they are failing to achieve a certain goal, knowing for a fact that it’s because they don’t know much about training methodologies.
The other part to it is that some people are hell bent on training in one specific way. For some it’s strictly body building protocol, others it’s HIIT, and other’s it’s Group Ex Classes. And I personally think all of those methods are great! But at they same time, if one is looking for specific results from training, then proper programming is the way to go.
Nutrition, Diets, It’s Simple…But Also Not
One of the other things I typically hear people talking about is what they’re eating. And look out, if someone is on some new fad diet, whether it’s Vegan, Keto, Low Carb, Intermittent Fasting (IF), they’re sure to tell everyone about how magical it is. Unless they understand the fine print that is, which is: Everyone has different needs when it comes to nutrition.
It’s as simple as: The right diet for you may not be the right one for someone else. Some people thrive well with IF, others crash horribly on it. Some do really well following a Keto, while others quickly fall off it (me) because they do better with more carbs in their diet. In short it doesn’t matter which what your diet is as long as the person is getting adequate nutrition.
Where some people get hung up is trying to figure what macros are right for them. So for gym bros who are mostly concerned with building muscle, they will prioritize protein over other macronutrients. But this can also become problematic because they may be missing out on the carbs and fats that will help them along the way. They also seem to have many misconceptions about “bulking” and “cutting”.
But again, this is where living in a vacuum can again be detrimental. The number of times that I’ve heard people exchanging diet tips and making unqualified suggestions to each other is staggering. And it’s always the people with no formal training whatsoever. They may have read an article or a book, or watched a Netflix documentary. While the most qualified dieticians and nutrition experts will tell you that they specialize in one thing really well and have general knowledge in other areas. Most of the time the experts will defer and refer to other experts! So how is it that some dude at the gym with no formal training is qualified to give you advice on nutrition just because he is big, or shredded or lifts a lot of weight?!
Closing Thoughts
My issue in this post is mainly that when you put people in a room and they start talking about things they have no experience or qualifications talking about, you end up with a disaster. When it gets really bad, those people will actually start doubting and ridiculing the experts on any given topic.
In some cases it’s harmless in that it simply means that people won’t make the progress they want to make. In other cases in can be very harmful because it reinforces false narratives and beliefs, and perpetuates egocentric and circular ways of thinking i.e. “I’m right because this doc/book/article is right, and because I’m stating what it is rightly stating”.
When we don’t participate in opportunities that challenge our beliefs, or push us to question those beliefs, we inherently thrive inside a vacuum. Which is really not thriving at all. We grow up in a bubble. And whatever is inside the bubble dictates what “good growth” is supposed to be.
I remember one of my clients whose wife was convinced that meat was the worst thing tell me that she was ready to debate me and prove me wrong about everything. Every couple of weeks he would tell me that she’s read an article, or saw something on the internet that’s going to basically burry me. I find this both funny but extremely frustrating, that a person with no qualification and little to no experience about a subject wanting to debate someone who has both the lived experience as well as the training and qualifications. Alas…the Ego is a powerful figment.