What is the mechanism by which that works.
The above is the greatest question you can ever learn.
Hello fitness industry. Aren’t we a magnificent evolving beast full of knowledge and wisdom. The answers to all of life’s ills can often be dumbed down to that of a sound bite that fits on an instagram post or an inspirational photo. ( My tongue is buried in my cheek right now )
I don’t know much about other industries, but I do wonder if they are as saturated with as much surety as the fitness / health industry. Everyone knows the answer to everything in this industry. Self proclaimed experts can be seen for as far as the eye can scroll. And if trainers don’t know the answer, well they know the answer anyway. You know what I mean?
I get a lot of trainers and clients talk to me about methods and approaches and this is all good. I love talking shop. But often the conversation goes like this
Person A – did you know that sauna’s help you burn fat?
Me : I’ve heard that before but I’m not sure how. How does that work
Person A : By raising growth hormone
Me : How? What is the mechanism by which that works?
Person A : I don’t really know but Guru X told me
Me : I see
Person A : You should get all your clients to do it!
Me : Uh huh…here…….see how many times you can bounce this ball in an hour
Person A : OKAY!!
I’m sorry but that isn’t good enough for me. That’s a celebration of hearsay and dogma. That’s how you hang witches and let your fear of going blind stop your more private endeavours..
I’ve been dogma’d in my career and it was only when strength coach Tony Boutagy finally taught me how to think critically and ask the above question did a lot of the house of cards fall. The evidence just didn’t stack up and the men and women on the soap boxes all of a sudden looked rather small and stupid because they themselves couldn’t answer the question!
What is the mechanism by which that works is the greatest question you will ever learn.
Its how you sort the truly knowledgeable from the pseudo guru’s, television chefs, bro science kings and dogmatic drug fuelled strength experts.
Apply it to any one who likes to tell you how things work. It works especially well with advice that starts with
“This is really good for detoxing……..”
“This skinny tea helps me lose weight……”
“Cholesterol is bad for your heart….”
But be careful, you will rub the dogmatic the wrong way. They’ll get annoyed that you dare question their superior intellect. Problem is, they get sprung just accepting what someone else said to them too….
A wise Driscoll once told me “the certainty of amateurs is the envy of experts”
What if you yourself cant answer the question?
My advice is to simply say “ I don’t know but I’ll find out for you” You then go find the real answer, learn something and display how humble you are and the other person doesn’t think you’re a tool.
And believe me, there’s enough tools in this shed