Fuel Your Strength: Fitness Industry B.S.

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Mar 21, 2023

Today, we’re celebrating a milestone together. This is episode 400! While this podcast has taken on several different forms over years, it has stayed true to its mission — how to help you get strong. So let’s take a look back on where we’ve been, while also looking forward to what’s to come.

To improve the narrative around fitness we need to:

Educate clients that fitness is not an aesthetic goal
Acknowledge those who have been positive influences
Understand that points of view can change
Incorporate new research while acknowledging the existing gaps in knowledge

Gauging Strength and Fitness Outside of Weight-Loss

Longtime listeners know that I want to shift the conversation away from simply weight loss and towards other markers for fitness and health. Changing the culture around this is not a simple task. I still don’t think I have the answer. However, I feel that if coaches focus on educating their clients on why this is important to expand the conversation, changes for the better will come.

I also know it’s tempting to speak the industry lingo. That’s what many clients expect to hear. Yet, if we don’t speak the truth about this, the culture and narrative will never change.

Changing the Culture Moving Forward

As you can see, there are some things that I really wish would change in the fitness industry. I’d like to see women included more in exercise science and sports research. And I have seen this shift lately. This is a good thing, but there are caveats. Since much of the research is still new, it’s important to really understand the data and its limitations to make an informed decision.

How can you help shift and improve the conversation around strength? What changes do you see happening in this industry? Leave a comment on the episode page!

In This Episode

Educating clients on the importance of different approaches to nutrition and strength [4:30]
Some of the most influential women who have inspired me [18:40]
Recognizing and embracing change [23:00]
Looking ahead at the changing landscape of nutrition and strength [28:15]

Quotes

“We as coaches have to be willing to do the education piece and constantly talk about why we’re not going to do things in this other way and why we’re doing things in this different way.” [4:50]

“Fitness is not a specific look. Fitness is how well you can perform a task; how well-suited to the task are you.” [12:08]

“If you need to make adjustments to your training because you’re not feeling it, that’s okay. But a lot of the things that we hear people talking about are just not grounded in what the collective body of research says.” [32:17]