It’s me.
Hi.
I’m the problem, it’s me.
I’ve broken the first rule of blogging.
Actually, I’m not sure there are any rules regarding blogging. It would be even harder to imagine that there’s a first rule.
But it's hard to believe that someone who is good at blogging would say “Hey Dan, you know what you should do with your blog on health and fitness? You should start it with off-beat musical references for four weeks in a row!”
Yet, here I am.
Plus my 12 year old niece loves Taylor Swift (just as everyone’s 12 year old niece loves Taylor Swift) and if the fact that I just quoted Taylor to my loyal readership here gives me some much needed cred at our family Hanukkah party next week, I’m all for it.
And , for full disclosure, while I do enjoy “Anti-Hero”, “Midnights” is not my favorite Tay Tay album. That honor is reserved for “1989” for those of you keeping score at home.
No. The reason I started where I started is that for the vast majority of these blogs I point the finger at you. What you’ve been doing wrong.
Whether it’s your inability to commit, your commitment to the wrong things, your upside down mindset when it comes to what is truly important in your health and training and a whole host of other problems, nitpicks and pet peeves that I’ve been more than happy to discuss here at length.
And I still stand by those things. But, as the saying goes, when you point the finger at someone there are three pointing back at you.
So I’m here to tell you - just as Robin Williams repeatedly told Matt Damon in that gut-wrenching scene in Good Will Hunting - it’s not your fault.
At least, not entirely your fault.
Because for years and decades and perhaps centuries you have been fed a load of bullshit.
You’ve taken group fitness classes that only broker on fatigue rather than honest-to-God results and proven methods.
You’ve been told that something called “muscle confusion” is the only way to stimulate growth.
You’ve been told that your favorite athlete took this proprietary supplement formula and that is how you achieve greatness.
You’ve been told that weights make you bulky. That you should be ashamed of muscle and strength. Hell, that you should be ashamed of making your fitness a priority at all.
You’ve been told that cardio is the way. That you need to train for 4 hours per day. That you need to train for 20 minutes a week.
You’ve been turned inside out, wrung dry and have gotten so confused over what works, what makes sense and what will actually lead you to your goals that you’ve either hopped from gym-to-gym faster than the Easter bunny on Good Friday or have just thrown your hands up and quit all together.
And it’s my fault.
Or, at the very least, it’s the fitness industry’s fault. And since I’m certainly part of the machine I have to take some blame.
Because, somehow, even with all my ranting and raving about the importance of resistance training and progressive overload and systematic programming and sharing research about what supplements work and which ones are bullshit and the need for training partners and everything else I go on about on a weekly basis, things in the industry still aren’t where they need to be.
And this is really a shame. Because while it certainly hurts you, it hurts us as well.
Many people will not put their faith in fitness not because of the effort or the cost but rather because they’ve been burned too many times. They’ve spent the time and the money and the effort and just didn’t get anywhere. And I completely understand their frustration.
The truth is, when things work, people go. They spend the time, the money and the effort because their health and wellness are of high, high value to them. So many people would do what it takes if they just had some confidence in the fact that it would work.
We have to do better. We have to stop selling people bullshit that doesn’t work because it’s easy to package and market and execute and looks good on a powerpoint presentation to potential investors.
We need to take this seriously.
We need to do what works.
So I will continue to call out the bullshit and give you the best information I possibly can in the hopes that I, that we, can continue to turn this ship around and hold up our side of the bargain.
To quote another teen pop legend, Jules Winfield at the end of Pulp Fiction, “I’m trying Ringo. I’m tryin’ real hard to be the shepherd.”
I'd love to hear about the craziest fitness class or training program you've ever done. I'm equally happy to hear what your favorite Taylor Swift song is (correct answer: "You Belong With Me"). Just hit reply and let me know. It's reassuring to know that you are out there reading and I answer every email.