Posture, Fascia, Pain and Other Manipulations

Every new discovery in this industry arrives with a queue of instant experts. The latest is a newly described structure called the interstitium. In reality, scientists haven't determined what it does, whether it needs changing, how you'd change it, whether it's even an organ, or whether it's relevant to us at all. About the only thing established is that you should stay hydrated for it to work efficiently.

That hasn't stopped people claiming they knew it existed all along, that they'd already found it and named it something else, that they're "ahead of science" — and, naturally, that this somehow validates every other technique they sell.

The same script, different topic

It's ludicrous, but it's a pattern. Here's the sort of thing experts gravitate to and then tell you, without a flicker of doubt, is the thing that matters:

• You must perform postural assessments on your clients.
• Fascia integrity should be your focus.
• Pain science means you have to talk about the biopsychosocial model.
• Biomechanics are everything.
• Biomechanics are irrelevant.
• Everyone should lift.
• Aerobic training is awful for you.
• Aerobic training is very good for you.
• Don't eat meat. Only eat meat.

I could go on. The question that never seems to get asked is a simple one: why?

Who owns the questions

One of my biggest frustrations is that we've stopped asking the questions that actually matter to our clients — and so we've stopped answering them too.

The reason is straightforward: the power in this industry sits with big companies, not with the gym-floor trainer or the client.

Look at the conventions. The lectures are sponsored, and the sponsors are equipment or education companies. The organisers are usually equipment or education companies as well. The net result is that the industry narrative gets steered by the biggest businesses, and the real questions get buried. Move to social media and the same sponsorship money simply follows the influencers.

Even the journals aren't neutral. One of the most cited in our field is owned by the NSCA, which naturally focuses on strength-and-conditioning solutions. Presentations at IHRSA and IDEA are frequently delivered by people sponsored to present on a company's equipment — rarely by the person who designed the product for a specific result.

How we change it

My goal is to get trainers into the industry who can:

• Ask the questions that represent the clients they actually work with.
• Ask questions specific enough to lead to real research, viewed with unbiased eyes.
• Find answers from reputable sources, based on the balance of evidence — not one paper or one guru.
• Change their minds as better research or better debate comes along.
• Be an active part of a community of trainers who help each other answer questions.
• Apply the biopsychosocial model through storytelling, good biomechanical eyes and the ability to apply research.
• Coach and adapt, both within a session and in their planning.
• Stay resilient to the latest fad and scam.

"But don't you back equipment?"

Fair question — and yes, we do. I've personally written course content on the CMT and the GRIPR for Escape Fitness. Anyone who's been on the course will notice the approach is different straight away.

I coined the term Rule the Tool for the FASTER courses, and I stand by it: the choice of resistance, and how it's applied, should be the trainer's decision based on the client's goal — not the manufacturer's. On a FASTER tool-based course you're first taught movement and training systems grounded in the research behind coaching, skill development and performance. Then you're shown applications most tools underserve. Only then do you use the equipment itself, learning whether you actually need it to reach your client's goal. Last of all, we show how and why FASTER likes the product.

In conclusion

The goal should always be to deliver the result your client asked for, within your scope of practice, using science-backed techniques and systems. To do that, let your client dictate your narrative, your research, and eventually — as you settle into a niche — your marketing and your brand.