Why Do the Research?

I recently attended an awesome seminar on Fascia by Tom Myers, author of Anatomy Trains. If you are unfamiliar, Fascia is the connective tissue that weaves its way through your body, connecting everything into one cohesive unit (according to current theory on the subject). It’s a fascinating topic and I very much enjoyed reading Anatomy Trains, so if you are interested I can highly recommend it. At the end of 4 hours of hearing about Fascia an audience member asked a question – “How can I apply this information to my next training session.  What are the key takeaways that I can bring immediately into practice?” Tom, after a little fumbling, very bravely attempting to give a short bullet point list of the things that could be immediately applied.  After which he remarked with a laugh “Thanks a lot, you’ve reduced my four hour lecture to a list of three items I could’ve rattled off in two minutes…”

This exchange really brought something to the forefront of my mind which I have felt, but not consciously framed in words; making immediate and sweeping changes to your program because you’ve now discovered a new secret is not the point of doing research in fitness. The purpose of reading and learning is to expand your field of vision so that you can guide yourself through the maze to your goal.

As an example, I have a client who is the stiffest, slowest changing person I have ever worked with (physically). When I first started working on deadlifting with him I literally thought to myself “this is NEVER going to happen.” The most difficult thing was that he just didn’t react the way other clients did. I almost thought he was beyond my abilities to help, but just when I thought there was no hope he did begin to change and slowly but surely good results came. He is however still one of my biggest projects because although he has come a long way, I’d like to see him go even further and believe me, it’s slow going.

During the Fascia workshop one of the points that Tom Myers made to us was that the stiffness of Fascia is genetic. He had everyone in the room bend their wrist to 90 degrees and then try to bring their thumbs to their forearms – I think this is a game that used to get played at school recess. A few people in the room could bring their thumbs easily all the way down, the rest of us could not. Tom’s explanation was that people who lived in colder climates developed genetically stiffer Fascia. This stiffness created more friction, keeping the body warmer in the cold.  Those who lived in warmer climates developed less rigid Fascia, reducing friction and keeping the body cooler.

Returning to my client, I had this moment of “aha! you’re just one of the people who has genetically stiffer fascia and it seems to me that maybe you are even on the stiffer side of that whole spectrum.” So what does that change in my training? Nothing. It merely helps me to understand and confirm something which I had observed and sensed -some people are simply stiffer and slower to change than others. Now I know that isn’t really much of a revelation, but it is very different to observe something than it is to have it rationally and scientifically substantiated. This new knowledge has given me a frame of reference to attach my experience to, rather than just have it be some nebulous feeling or observation that I can’t quite bring into focus.

That’s the point of doing all of the research attached to fitness. The basic movements and routines have been pretty well established and once you have filtered out the crap, there aren’t a lot of radical changes left to make.  However, making your knowledge base ever deeper and broader gives you a much larger context to opperate in. You look at things from a standpoint which allows you to make better choices with the confidence you need to see them through.

I think it is very important that trainers, clients, and workout enthusiasts take learning about fitness to a higher level. Looking at the latest mass building workout or super hero body routine in a fitness magazine or on a website isn’t fitness research. There are no bulletpoint secrets to Hollywood bodies. What really leads to success is having a deep understanding of the subject from all its many aspects. This is what lets you work through each individual’s unique situation and always make sure that the steps they are taking lead forward, not backwards. That’s why attending a four hour lecture on Fascia may not have changed anything in my programs, but it did change something about me as a trainer.