The fitness industry is predicated on sales. We are not, and for us, sales are a side-effect of effectiveness.
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Fitness industry theory
If you think this thread is stupid, I hope you will be kind and just delete it, but I was curious what you thought. I'm quite sure you've already come to some of these conclusions, if not all.
Thoughts on why the current fitness industry and exercise science will never change on its own:
The fitness industry is... an industry. And industries stay alive by making money. Every mainstream aspect of the current fitness caste contributes to this simple reality. From the NSCA, to the run of the mill personal trainer, to the highly credentialed professors who teach that improving squat mechanics is done by squatting on bosu balls with bands wrapped around your feet, the industry takes care of, and breeds, it's own.
The fitness industry runs off of many paradigms that keep it alive, but one that holds a great deal of prevalence is that variety sells, and what actually works/makes sense/is efficient is cast aside..
People get bored all too easily. The general public has an appetite for sound bites, and the portions are only getting smaller. People are addicted to distraction. Enter the fitness industry and the "variety sells" paradigm, where quick fixes and all the colors of the rainbow shine to distract you while you exercise. It's the reason Muscle and Fitness keeps printing, it's the reason crossfit is so popular, it's the reason your personal trainer is revered like some kind of witch doctor: because "fitness" is black magic, and the voodoo man in the Grey polo shirt and slacks has the 17 different exercises and "secrets" to get you where you want to go. How many times can Muscle and Fitness write an article of curls? As many times as there are ways to do curls. Same with core work - half a billion ways to work your core by Industry Keyholder Jr.
The fitness industry is so painfully geared toward this paradigm that it defies logical conclusions that are easily made through formulaic approaches, like Starting Strength.
While it's true that strength training has gained popularity in recent years, it still falls prey to the ever-present paradigm of variety sells. "If you want to get your squat up, you need to correct your muscular imbalances and improve strength with isolation exercises, and here's 200 different ones you can perform. Come back to me with your money when you stall again and I'll take care of you." - A personal trainer.
Like other industries, the fitness industry takes paths of least resistance where it can in order to proliferate as much as possible in the most cost effective way. This is why no one actually knows how to teach the squat: because it takes too much time and doesn't fall into the variety sells category. Combine that with the general population's tendency towards distraction and easy paths, and you have a personal trainer that can easily direct a client to the nearest leg press machine. Why would anyone take the time to learn about what efficient strength training looks like, when you can make more money having people do band pull a parts and horrible form snatches for time? The factors that make a respectable strength training study are, in most cases, utterly lost on the professors that do them. The fitness industry literally breeds its own caretakers to protect itself and to uphold the money making variety sells paradigm, and no one is the wiser.
JFK said,
"The great enemy of truth is very often not the lie--deliberate, contrived and dishonest--but the myth--persistent, persuasive and unrealistic. Too often we hold fast to the cliches of our forebears. We subject all facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations. We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."
TMPHBITEU
The fitness industry is predicated on sales. We are not, and for us, sales are a side-effect of effectiveness.
Member
tfranc has got it. The other part of the story is the 'sunk cost'.
To enter the fitness industry costs money. If you have spent thousands to get a certificate and then spent extra money to learn the 'secrets' of postural correction and bought a load of Bosu balls, rubber bands, power bags, battle ropes and other gear, it can be hard to admit that you could get all the same benefits from four exercises and one piece of equipment.
No Les Mills teacher is going to tell you
"This is just a moderate cardio program with some stretching and the barbells you are using are so light that only the very weakest person will get stronger from using them. You might as well do your fives and maybe do some kind of cardio."
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Absolutely. And that's why what your organization teaches will always be straight and true/effective, and why what the mainstream industry puts out will always be muddled and mediocre at best. I'm sorry.. I know you and half the world already knows this, I just think it's really awesome. And also kinda sad maybe, because there are so many that can't get past the bullshit.Originally Posted by Mark Rippetoe
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So given that money is the root of all evil, what are the economics of a black iron gym? How many people per rack per day make straight strength training viable? What kinds of tactics would make for a profitable gym? Group sessions on a rack? More paid coaching camps for members? Smaller gyms with less overhead and more focus? Bigger gyms and more racks? Would love to hear how current SS gym owners are making things work, do they have to throw in silly bs to make things work financially?
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The witch doctor- idea is pretty much how I've come to see it. As well as the idea that there is something magical about machines.
I have a friend who is obese, and wants to get his act together. He used to be something of, if not an athlete, at least a fit person, doing martial arts and diving. Now he wants to get back to that and I volunteered to help him at the gym. He seems willing enough to do his squats and all, but he seems very sceptical about the idea that I didn't suggest the use of any machines. He asked me, why are there all these machines if they are not useful.
I told him that they are there because their use requires minimal coaching and people have come to expect them. I am worried that even though he started doing the program -- to the extent that I was able to teach him -- when left on his own (we don't see each other all that often) the PTs at his commercial monthly membership chain gym will tell him to revert to leg presses (squats destroy the knees) and pec decks. And avoid overhead work because he has had some impingement issues (not currently). I told him that correct overhead pressing helps keep the shoulder in shape, but again, the damn charlatans will be on him soon having him pull on rubber bands.
An all this for €70 per hour.
Member
Just get him strong enough for a commercial gym (which isn't much) and nobody will start bothering him. You're doing God's work man.
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Money is not the root of all evil. The love of money is the root of all evil.
TMPHBITEU
The love of power is the root of all evil.
Member
In other words, HRC is the root of all evil.
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