I recently finished writing the CrossFit Victoria Manifesto. It will be online when the new website is released (hopefully this month). Here is a sneak peak – this section is called “Gap”.
No matter how much we learn, there is still more to learn. The pursuit of knowledge is an admirable task. It is the kind of task that has no conceivable end. The rewards are in the journey rather than the destination. In truth, the more that one learns the further away the elusive goal of all-pervading knowledge becomes. To some this may be reason to resign themselves to ignorance. In other cases it sees people fall back on dogmatic beliefs passed on from generation to generation (or in our industry from trainer to trainer).
In our society, we see an overwhelming ignorance to the correct practices required to achieve lasting health and fitness. This level of ignorance is amazing given the apparently limitless amount of information available to the population.
As a society we tend to believe what we read in newspapers, watch on TV or hear on the radio without bothering to consider the background, education or experience of the media presenter. And thus the knowledge gap grows.
Governments, medical societies and professional training institutions are active in their delivery of misinformation to the public. These organisations are so invested in dogma that they fail to admit fault and change their stance on a wide array of topics. In the health and fitness arena this problem is further exacerbated by the piles of money earned by giants in the industry: the globo gyms, the pharmaceutical companies and many more.
Need examples? Take a look at the ‘healthy’ food pyramid that your local GP and government department provides as the benchmark nutritional guide. It might as well be upside-down. Or have a chat to someone who works at a pharmaceutical company (off the record of course) and ask them about statins and whether GPs should be prescribing them as readily as they are. We could go on.
The gap in understanding is widening. Experts are resting on their laurels. Instead of educating their clients and public at large they play their cards close to their chests. Are they afraid that someone might learn their secret? (Perhaps their only secret is that they really don’t know what they are doing and why.)
Surely there is a better way. How about in place of taking money and keeping people blissfully ignorant of the truth we start to educate the masses? How about we break down the walls that separate the truth from mere speculation and downright underhandedness?
The fitness professional has a supremely important role; she is part psychologist, part coach, part motivator, part empathetic companion. And this role is too often taken advantage of. There are countless individuals who honestly need the skills and assistance of a fitness professional. They should be able to receive fair, honest and above all successful service.
The individual must first understand their own limited knowledge. This is a substantial task. One must ask some tough questions and look hard for the answers. Sometimes they are not where expected.
When athletes become intelligent exercisers and trainers are open to any and all praise and criticism we have a situation where real results can be achieved.
