17 Nov Three Reasons Why I Don’t Give Unsolicited Advice
By: Will Kuenzel
Even in my own gym, I don’t give out advice when it’s not been asked for in advance. It’s just bad mojo. In the gym, on Facebook, or any other social media outlet you’ll see all kinds of advice being spewed forth from supposed self-proclaim gurus. Wonder why all the really good coaches don’t give out advice at random?
[wa-wps]
1. You don’t know that particular person’s history. Everything from injury, to rehab, to part of their training season, are things that you’re not privy to. Injuries drastically change biomechanics, exercise selection, and movement efficiency until that individual is back to 100%. An individual might be doing a specific rehab protocol that when viewed from the outside, looks to be completely worthless (too light of weight, too many reps, etc.) but to the individual, it’s completely necessary. Even where they are in the training cycle can change how they train. Hypertrophy training will differ from strength training will differ from muscular endurance training. Don’t be so arrogant to think that in one brief instant you’ve figured out another person’s training history. It’s not that easy.
2. You’re only seeing a brief snap shot of time of their training. Unless you’re a real creeper and watch someone day in and day out, you’re only getting brief glimpses into their training. Again, don’t be so arrogant to think to know what another person is thinking. A quick glimpse on that day could be a deload where they’re concerned about technique and/or correcting something. It could be a quick glance as they’re trying to learn a new exercise. Just because it looks goofy at that moment doesn’t mean they need you to tell them the extent of that exercise’s history when in three more sets they’ll have it nailed. Again, brief glimpses into a training period do not give full insight. Don’t lose sight of the forest for the trees.
3. You don’t know their goals. Even in my own gym, if I see someone squatting high, I don’t correct it. Why? I don’t know what they’re trying to achieve. Maybe they’re coming back from an injury. Maybe they’re concentrating on quad movement and using something similar to the piston style squats. I don’t know. Without them asking for my advice, it is not helpful to give wrong advice. Without knowing what their particular goals are, the advice I could give could be potentially detrimental to them. I don’t know. If they need help, then they can ask and provide more info so that I can better answer the question. Otherwise, I’m not going to get involved with giving out unsolicited advice. To that extent, they might already have a coach that is giving them all the help they need, and it’s never advisable to step on the toes of someone else that might have a better idea of that particular clients wants/needs. Don’t assume you know better. You probably don’t.
The one exception to this is for safety. I will give advice in the event that I feel like it can prevent an injury. Something as simple as raising the monolift if I see someone tall squatting in the mono when it’s set too low. I will say something when someone has set up in the path of another or for general consideration of those around them. Everyone’s safety and everyone’s ability to train is my priority. If your safety or those around you is in jeopardy, then I’m going to speak up. If you’re training or the training of someone around you could potentially impede upon either’s ability to train (i.e. taking up too many machines, hanging out on the prowler lane, etc.) then I will speak up. Otherwise, you won’t find me giving unsolicited advice. Ever.
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