Be Careful

I write this in light of a recent happening to a coach with whom I’m familiar. I do not care to share details of such event, because the fact that this event happened, honestly piss me off (not to mention the fact that this event should never have happened), but I will share my thoughts about it.

BeachBody® is extremely gracious and generous to those who are absolutely passionate about fitness and sharing the love for working out because they do not require any one of those ‘sharers’ to have certifications stating that they are ‘professional’ and ‘know what they’re talking about’. “Ok so what’s so bad about that, Lisa?” Because people aren’t required to have read textbooks full of information from the tip of the iceberg and pass tests, the information that they pass along could pose a dangerous situation for some, if not many. For instance, I was perusing the P90X forums as I do from time to time. Someone asked what to do if they had back pain during Ab Ripper X. That’s it the question was actually more like “What should I do? I have leg and back pain during ab ripper.” A person came on the thread and said “Just do what you can to push through it.” This may or may not seem like an obvious answer to disregard, but to me it had an alarm going off in my head. And this is not the only reply I’ve seen like this.

Answers that offer you ‘just push through the pain’ could end up like a friend of mine had—a very serious back injury (2 herniated lumbar discs that now require surgery). He was complaining for at least a month of back pain during his runs and ab workouts, but in the meantime he continued pushing through his runs and every other workout. He finally went to the doctor who ordered an MRI and sidelined him until further notice.

Why do I say all that? If you are going through the threads, or anywhere else—facebook, myspace, anywhere--and looking for general help, you HAVE TO be careful who you accept that help from. They could share with you words that you’d follow, not knowing any different, and lead you straight to the sidelines. I don’t want to see that happen. You need to be careful where you get your advice. Some people speak from textbook knowledge and years of studied experience. Some people speak from what worked/works for them. Some people, quite blatantly, speak out their butts. Be sure you know what person you’re talking to before you take the advice to heart.