Netterville Fitness

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

The Soap Box

I make a habit of throwing up some rather tough rhetoric around here about what I see as shoddy training, lack of professionalism, bullsh*t fitness programs, hack products etc. I’ve also taken a little heat from time to time in regards to some very big very popular training programs out there.

The field of athletic training for every day clients has gotten really crowded really fast. Terms like “general preparedness," “metabolic conditioning” and “tactical conditioning” are being thrown around by every trainer and their uncle, even if they’ve never gained anything more than a thinly veiled gym specific certification. Gyms, workout dvds, weight loss systems...the bandwagon is getting pretty damn crowded these days.

Frankly it’s insulting to a seasoned professional and it’s dangerous to the client.

If your coach / trainer is lumping you in with the rest of their training clientele, shoveling the same workouts into your program that she/he gave the 3 before you, you need to take another look at what you’re paying for. The problem with so much of this flashy new wave of “athletic” training that’s shot up around the globe is that so many people pushing this kind of training are lumping all their clients and all their clients’ goals into one big pot. They ignore individual needs and wants, covering it over with a blanket statement about general fitness and performance.

How in hell does a random workout handed down from on high to the general masses recognize you and the specific goals you have as an individual? When that workout happens to roll back around, where is the systematic intensification of variables other than just trying to do it faster? Where is the program design that adapts that workout to your specific areas of need exposed thr first time around?

I'll get off the box now.