"Once you think you know everything, you know nothing"

Ego drives the fitness industry. If you’re not ready to stomp your feet and make a bold claim about the right/wrong way to do something, you’re gonna have a tough time making a name for yourself. The idea of “all knowing” is something that's extremely sought after for trainers. Being able to say “I’ve read it all, I know it all, I can teach everything”. The problem with that is once you think you’ve got there, you might as well not know anything.

As a coach, trainer, athlete, gym owner, or anyone in the fitness industry period, you should look at ever single situation as a learning opportunity. I’ve preached this since I started becoming a coach, and I will preach it all through my career. I don’t care if you’re a world record lifter or someone just picking up a barbell, every time you walk into a gym you should be there to learn, to get better.

As a coach I’ve learned from some of the best in the business. I’ve also learned from curl bros, old gym rats, weekend bodybuilders, and so on. Everyone has a story, everyone has a specialty, and everyone can improve your knowledge in some way if you let them. Don’t write anyone off just because they don’t do what you do, or teach how you teach.

This is something I have been struggling with lately. I work part time at a commercial gym that, to be honest, I consider under my level of expertise. I work with a bunch of ACE and NASM fad trainers. People who think the Paleo diet is for bulking and the bench press is part of Olympic Weightlifting. I watch people read magazines on treadmills and do hundreds of crunches in between prehab exercises thinking their using muscle confusion to improve their body. During the first few weeks I nicknamed myself Mr. Overqualified, because everything I saw around me was so elementary. I blew minds with my talk of movement patters and strength training. I pissed off my coworkers when I squatted below parallel and had my clients deadlift.

I had all but written off my coworkers after seeing one of them have an elderly man squat on a bosu ball. He fell down, and she obviously had no idea what she was doing, or what to do after that. She’s been a trainer for over 10 years. It disgusted me, it put a bad taste in my mouth, it made me hate everything about mainstream fitness all over again.

Then I stopped learning.

For a couple weeks I was done. I walked into the gym scoffing at all the trainers and members. Laughing in peoples faces when they ask me what the best “legs” exercises is. “Just squat, it’s not rocket science” I would spout as a strutted off completely sure I just cemented myself as the biggest ass hole in the gym. And slowly I got to a place where I never wanted to be. I was “that guy”. The guy who knows more than you, and doesn’t give you the time of day to explain or hear you out.

It lasted all of 10 days, but it was a rough 10 days. Finally I discovered what I was doing and stopped the spiral. I sat down with a fellow trainer who is working to become a physical therapist and we swapped stories and methodologies and my faith in the fitness community was restored.

I guess this article is more of a reminder to myself to shut the fuck up, put my head down, and push to better myself in every way possible.