🏆Top Posts of 2021-#1 🏆
Who should be the most skeptical person in the fitness world? The fitness client.
It’s unfortunate that it has to be that way today, but it is.
The same way processed foods in the center aisle of the grocery store should be considered guilty until proven innocent (an unfortunate, but real situation), the fitness client must be skeptical of all the different claims they here.
Why does the fitness client need to be so skeptical?
Put simply, because there’s so much BS out in the fitness world today.
Fitness companies trying to convince people that whatever new machine they’ve invented is the best thing since sliced bread and is going to get the buyer fit super quick.
Nutrition companies and authors selling 14-day cleanses and 21-day reboots that all too often get people suckered in but don’t create any lasting change.
Supplement companies trying to convince the general population that they need to take CBD oil, or whatever else is the flavor of the day to be fit and healthy.
These companies are incentivized monetarily to sell a product to someone and ideally keep them coming back for more long-term.
This unfortunately leads to the sellers sometimes becoming blind to fact that they are selling something unnecessary and perhaps counterproductive to make money.
In the face of all this, the fitness client needs to constantly be on their guard about BS claims that may come from a fitness company, a fitness coach, a nutrition company, or a supplement company.
🏆Top Posts of 2021-#5🏆
Should Doritos and Pepsi be outlawed?
When it comes to the discussion surrounding public health and its relation to liberty there are two competing positions that pull in opposite directions.
Position 1-We know for a fact that things like Doritos and Pepsi are unequivocally unhealthy. Not only do they not contribute anything to our health they are actively harmful to our health.
Position 2-At the same tim, we have a fundamental belief that in a free democratic society people should be able to do what they choose so long as they are not harming others.
What makes this issue so tricky is what role the government should play (if any!) in regulating self-harm for adults.
It’s one thing to say kids under the age of 18 should legally not be allowed to have cigarettes or alcohol because they have not reached the age where they can truly make informed decisions.
Similarly, we can make very compelling cases for outlawing smoking in bars and restaurants because it actively harms others who are not choosing to smoke.
But should the government be allowed to make laws or tax adults above the age of 18 who freely choose to smoke, drink, eat Doritos, etc. even if it just causes them self-harm and not harm to others?
What do you think? Should the government outlaw Doritos and Pepsi? Let us know in the comments.
You can find the link to our podcast on all major podcast platforms with our link in bio.
🏆Top Posts of 2021-#6🏆
Are you a recovering believer in CrossFit?
Top 10 Posts of 2021: #10
What’s the quickest way to change human behavior? Change beliefs.
Now, of course, that’s easier said than done, and it can go in a good direction or a bad direction.
The entire plot of the movie Inception was about how hard it is to change someone’s beliefs even if you have a device that grants you access to their minds!
But that being said, change in beliefs allows a speed of change far more rapid than anything available in the animal kingdom.
On the evolutionary scale:
-the pure genetic code takes a long time to change
-epigenetics takes a medium amount of time to change
-changes to our microbiome happen much quicker
-but perhaps the fastest change of all can occur with changes in belief
Now, of course, just because beliefs CAN change way more quickly than the others doesn’t mean that they DO.
Very often even if your own beliefs change about something there can be resistance from others.
But change in our beliefs can directly change our behavior far more quickly than changes at the biological level
-if you suddenly believe that eating healthy fat won’t make you fat that will change your dietary habits very quickly
-if you suddenly believe strength training won’t make you bulky that will change your exercise habits
-if you stop believing that you’ll “sleep when you’re dead” and start believing in the restorative power of sleep that will change your sleep practices.
Can you think of any instances in your life where your belief changed your behavior? Let us know in the comments.
You can find the link to our podcast on all major platforms at our link in bio.
Is the fitness coach’s job just to create a program based on whatever intentions the fitness client has?
Let’s say a fitness client comes in with the following intentions:
-They want to be 5% body fat
-They want to bench double their bodyweight
-They want to go to the CrossFit Games next year
Is it a fitness coach’s role to uncritically accept whatever the client’s intentions are and make a program based on those intentions?
Put simply, no.
It is not a coach’s role to uncritically accept whatever intentions the client has in fitness and program for those.
It is a very important part of the coach’s role to critically evaluate those intentions and have a discussion with the client about whether those intentions are appropriate for them at this time or not.
They should also be having a discussion about the pluses, minuses, and unknowns of those intentions.
Now obviously, it’s a delicate dance here, and the coach shouldn’t impose their intentions or their will on the client without any regard to what the client wants.
But at the same time, it is not the role of the coach to just program uncritically for whatever intentions the client has without having a discussion around whether those intentions are appropriate or not.
What role do you think the fitness coach should play when it comes to shifting a client’s intentions?
Let us know in the comments.
Why is the fitness world today obsessed with pain and suffering?
You hear it in odd sayings like “no pain, no gain”, “pain is beauty” or “that’s not me sweating, it’s my body crying”
Where does this obsession come from?
According to @jfitzopex a lot of that attitude comes from certain people in the fitness collective who think most of us are:
-weak
-lazy
-unconscious (metaphorically speaking)
And the only way to wake us up and strengthen ourselves as a culture is to shock the system with things like:
-Navy seal workouts for the general population
-workouts that leave you dead on the floor
-pushing way past your limits in every workout
There are so many problems with this approach to fitness among them:
-It leads to injury and it’s unsustainable
-Most people need basic strength work and aerobic work for health and longevity
-It’s a very pessimistic view of other people that doesn’t tell the full picture
Of course, not everyone in the health and fitness world is obsessed with pain and suffering, but this is a huge aspect of fitness culture today.
What do you think? Why is fitness culture today with pain and suffering? Let us know in the comments.
What do your fitness clients value?
Do they care about:
-having more social media followers as a result of their fitness
-spending more quality time outdoors with their family
-having six pack abs
All of these and many more are different possible answers to the question: What do you value?
It’s extremely important to get clear with your fitness clients, and yourself, about what you value.
Why?
Because when values aren’t in sync there is misalignment and conflict.
For example if:
-the client’s values aren’t in line with their training program
-the coach’s and client’s values are in direct opposition with one another
-the coach think the client should value something that they don’t
Then you will almost inevitably get conflict at some point.
So, both at the beginning of getting to know a client, but also repeatedly throughout the coach/client journey you have to ask
-what do you value?
-why do you value it?
-is our program and/or your behaviors in line with what you value.
Do you ask your fitness clients what they value? Let us know in the comments.
Why do we value certain things the way we do?
When we say we want to:
-run a marathon
-squat 300lbs
-own a particular car
-have 10,000 instagram followers
what is it that makes us care about those things specifically?
Is it the things themselves, like the car, or the actions themselves, like running the marathon?
Or
Is it the way those things make us feel?
More often than not it’s the way these things make us feel.
There’s nothing intrinsic to a car or to running a marathon that is worth pursuing, rather we only pursue them because they make us feel:
-happy
-powerful
-accomplished
Etc.
Furthermore, one person may feel super accomplished by running a marathon while another person thinks that has absolutely nothing to do with happiness or success.
Next time you’re pursuing something in your life ask yourself why you’re pursuing it. Is it the thing itself that’s worth it or is it a certain feeling it will lead to? If a feeling, what feeling are you shooting?
Why do you think we value things the way that we do? Let us know in the comments.
Are you ever so overwhelmed with information that you become skeptical about everything?
This can happen to both health clients and health coaches.
On the one hand having as much easy access to information as we do is one of the greatest accomplishments in human history.
But at the same time would anyone seriously look at the world today and say that as a result we’re more united, informed, and wise as a result of this access to information? Probably not.
There are a lot of factors that go into that discrepancy, but one of the big ones that many of us experience today is information overload.
What is someone looking to improve their health and wellness supposed to do when the log on to YouTube and they see:
-this doctor tell them veganism is the way, the light, and the truth
-this other doctor say no, keto is the best and only way to eat for everyone
-then there’s yet another doctor saying you should eat carnivore (only meat) and no vegetables.
Now multiply that times a thousand different opinions and you get the idea.
Sometimes this information overload can lead to an unfortunate skepticism. It’s unfortunate because the person essentially gives up on finding any truth because they’re so overwhelmed by all the competing options that they think none is better than any other.
This can even happen to health and fitness coaches who are well educated and good critical thinkers. There are lots of topics today where one super well-respected coach says “do this” and another super well-respected coach says “don’t do this”.
While skepticism can be healthy, we need to work to avoid unfortunate skepticism as a result of information overload. While it can be tempting to say no position is better than any other as a result of information overload, that’s simply not true.
What’s the difference between occasionally being skeptical and being a true skeptic?
There’s definitely an important difference that can take skepticism from being a useful tool in daily life to something unhelpful.
As @jfitzopex mentions in the video he has become skeptical about a number of things within fitness because of his experience with them. These would include being skeptical of ideas like
-The group model of fitness is the best model
-High intensity, mixed modal, functional fitness (i.e., CrossFit and things like it) is the best way for most people to be healthy and live a long life.
-The idea that intensity is more important than volume
Being skeptical here is a useful corrective that allows us to see past the marketing hype and closer to the truth in fitness.
But there’s a big difference between occasionally being skeptical and being a true skeptic. A true skeptic would doubt most things even with sufficient evidence. What would true skepticism look like in fitness:
-no method of strength training is better than any other no matter the context
-no method of aerobic training is better than any other no matter the context
-neither group nor individualizing training is better than the other no matter the context.
This type of skepticism can start to be pernicious and too much whereas occasionally being skeptical can be helpful.
Can skepticism be a healthy attitude to take? Yes.
Skepticism is a healthy and helpful attitude that we can and should adopt in certain instances, unlike dogmatism, where it’s very hard to find a legitimate and healthy use for it.
Humans have a natural propensity to believe things way too easily, and skepticism can be a helpful tool to guard against that.
It can be especially useful in the health and fitness industry where problematic claims are really abundant like:
-6 pack abs NOW!
-Doctors don’t want you to know about this one food that fixes digestion
-Bro-science
In these cases, and many others, being skeptical and adopting the maxim “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence” can be super useful.
The idea here is something like “Your claim very well might be true, but until and unless I see sufficient evidence I’m withholding belief”
If we think of belief like a see-saw with one extreme being dogmatism and the other extreme being absolute skepticism, proper belief (the middle in between the two extremes) is probably closer to skepticism than dogmatism.
Why? Again, because of our natural propensity to easily believe things without sufficient evidence.
What do you think? Is skepticism a healthy attitude to take? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments.
