Question Everything. Especially Us.
We hold educators in our industry to a pathetically low standard.
Anyone with a blue tick and big words can get away with stating anything as fact. The audience doesn't help. Very few of us have the tools to validate their statements as quickly as they make them, especially if they're blurting out technical terminology that needs translating first.
Some industry "educators" are so afraid of being interrupted during their manifesto that they won't allow anyone to ask questions until the end of their presentation. God forbid anyone gets a second to chew on the word salad being served to them, or worse, say anything about the taste.
What it looks like in class
This has consequences that are quite apparent when I'm teaching RTS courses.
Sometimes it's innocent enough. Two people with large muscles and lots of followers have told them opposite things about squat depth, and they want my thoughts. (Doesn't take long.)
Sometimes they are so confident in the 'facts' they've learned, they'll make statements during class that either contradict what we've been exploring or assume something we hadn't. (This is rather more distracting.)
One example: on several occasions across separate courses this year, I've heard some version of "how the ribcage is stacked over the pelvis affects glute engagement."
Thing is, the glutes don't attach to the ribs, so I wasn't aware of any science that showed a correlation. Even if there was, it would likely be related to other factors. If the ribcage is "flared" (their words, not mine), then the spinal extensors - that are meant to stabilize the pelvis as the glutes pull on it to shorten and extend the hip - are weakened. This would have zero effect on whether the glutes could get short. It might affect how much force the brain tells them to produce.
So I asked them: "What makes you say that?"
Frozen. Deer. Headlights.
Them: "Uh .. it just does, no?"
Me: "As in, you were told it does?"
Them: "… yes."
Me: "OK, with what substantiation?"*
Them: "…."
*I'll never ask, "by whom?" - it's not about disagreeing with a particular individual.
So, this is our call out to you. Don't be passive. Challenge ANYONE. Question EVERYTHING. Including us.
Especially us.
Bring your contentions to the next Level 1 course if you haven't attended one yet. If you're an RTS1 practitioner, raise your voice on the next quarterly check-in call.
No hard feelings. Just tough questions.