It seems that each year as the landscape of fitness grows wider, the accepted standards of quality drop lower. Lost in translation seems to be the fact that we are in a business that should be based on real, evolving expertise, result-earned trust, and truth-telling customer service.
The beginnings of the fitness industry long predate anyone reading this right now, but the simple idea of doing the best job we possibly can, all the time, and even when it requires grit and work, long predates all of it; While there are always exceptions, profit and ego have clearly taken the wheel, while progress and integrity share a carseat in the back.
Trainees: The difference is in the details, and those details are what ensure your safety, progress/ success, and longevity in physical pursuits. Learn to identify them. If your trainer seems to suck, they probably suck. If you have questions that they don’t want to answer, then find someone else to ask (A great one is “Why are we doing this?”). If they’re guessing at what you should do each day, then they’re stealing your money.
There is no “secret potion” to being truly strong and well-conditioned. If you’re doing silly, unorganized, random shit, and you actually care about being strong and capable, go train somewhere else. It doesn’t need to be here, but don’t waste your time and money with people that don’t know why they’re doing what they’re doing… or what you’re doing.
Trainers: If you’re not learning something every week (every day, even) by watching the people in your gym move, helping them make intelligent, progress-minded adjustments based on fact and experience, and experimenting on yourself in their interest, you are stealing money from people that should be spending it elsewhere. Again- it doesn’t have to be here, but it shouldn’t be with you. Your priority should be their progress.
Much of the fitness industry is accustomed to being a charlatan-filled shark tank of deception and misinformation, but simply because something is accepted and easy doesn’t mean you should contribute. Endeavor to be great at what you do, especially when it can affect real change on people, or do something else.
(This is one of those strange little articles that will never be read and wp-contentropriately digested by the people that need it most, but far worse than it not reaching its mark would be it not having its say.)