Why You Need Fitness Advice From A Fitness Specialist

Things change. While this may not come as a surprise to you, it doesn't change the fact that although new ideas and concepts hit the marketplace, most people are happy to stay exactly where they are... Behind.

Take traditional nutritional education, for example. When I first began working as a personal trainer in 97, the business I worked for was very much into recommending what “worked”, despite the fact that standard university teachings, at the time, were completely different. This was about the time when books about the “dangers of sugar” were becoming widely published. The shelves were littered with this information. Yet, most people still thought that saturated fat was the evil culprit for all our weight gaining woes and this was all they needed to avoid in order to lose those extra kilo's of body fat.

So, being the innovative sort of fitness company that we were, we started putting our clients on restricted carbohydrate (carb) diets, just to see what outcomes would eventuate. Now, keep in mind, we weren't really experimenting. As trainers, we had already been exposed to the diets of weight-controlled athletes, like body builders who had been modifying carb and protein ratio's for many years, with great success. In my tenure as a competitive martial artist, I had also experienced the requirements of having to “make weight” for competitions... and... guess what? You guessed it. Professional athletes had known for years, if not decades, what had eluded most nutritionist and dietitians. Sugar needed to be avoided in order to lose body fat.

Again, it should come as no real surprise then, that we started achieving some amazing results with low carb, high protein diets. Before too many years had ticked over, many other personal trainers and athlete's were also seeing the amazing benefits by simply cutting their sugar intakes and increasing their protein.

The strangest thing however, was that even years and years later, nutritionist and dietitians where still being taught the old values of high carb, low fat diets. This meant that much of the medical fraternity were also giving that same outdated advice. I would hazard to guess that it took more than 10 years from the time when we started utilizing low carb diets, to when these concepts started to be taught in our universities.

Now, the reason that I bring this up, is that changes happen all over the health and fitness industry, not just with nutrition. New methods of strength conditioning, weight loss, chronic and acute rehabilitation, joint stabilization, sports performance, gait mechanics, metabolic conditioning, mobilization, fascial and stretching techniques (to name a few), are being constantly developed, adapted and changed by professionals and specialists. These people are front line and in the trenches with patients, athletes and customers. And... guess what? By the time you're told about these 'New Developments' by your doctor, they've probably already been used by professional coaches and trainers for quite a few years.

So what's my point? Simply this... Don't listen to people who's knowledge isn't specifically practiced. Much like asking your doctor about nutritional advice is probably a waste of time, so then would be asking a surgeon, chiro or a physio about the best way to exercise your knee or rehab your shoulder. Unless they've spent several hundred hours in a gym setting themselves (and some very few have), they're unlikely to know the difference between a dead lift and a squat, or even the best way to perform a push up.

The fitness industry is changing it's rules, methods and philosophies every day, much like a lot of industries are, I'm sure. If you're looking for advice in any industry, seek an expert. Someone who has immersed themselves, body and soul, into their chosen field, is constantly learning new methods and isn’t afraid to change with the times.

As I explain to our Cert 3 and Cert 4 Personal Trainer students, “Movement does one of two things, It will heal you or it will hurt you.”

Make sure you're getting the right advice for your fitness program.

Duncan Maxwell

Owner of The Energy Clinic

Head Lecturer for the Australian Institute for Personal Trainers (AIPT) in South Australia.