I received an email from a young man on the
subject of stretching, a classic case of humans choosing conformity over
thinking. The email went like this:
“Recently I purchased your Legacy book. The book is full
of training gold, especially important information is about stretching.
You should spread the truth about stretching. I can`t believe how everybody is
wrong with this dynamic stretching B.S. Static stretching rules. I´m more
flexible than ever, feel great, and it does transfer to dynamic motions.” [i]
I was really impressed that this young man
sought to gain a personal experience about stretching prior to reaching a
conclusion. He thought for himself, in the face of dogma to the contrary, and
reached a conclusion contrary to the dogmatic teaching.
As for spreading the ‘truth’ about
stretching, that’s what i have been doing for nearly 40 years now.
The challenge is most people don’t want to think independently. The famous
Dr. Albert Swcheitzer when asked in about 1952 reached the same conclusion. Earl Nightingale tells this story in his 1956
audio ‘The Strangest Secret’. (A must listen to!)
Here is the transcript:
“Some years ago, the late Nobel prize-winning Dr. Albert
Schweitzer was asked by a reporter, “Doctor, what’s wrong with men today?” The
great doctor was silent a moment, and then he said, “Men simply don’t
think!” [ii]
Now as far as the truth or wrong, I tend to
avoid these words where possible. To ignore the value of static stretching and
replace it with dynamic stretching - or to leave your static stretching
till after the workouts. These are mistakes.
However I understand how static stretching is
promoted, and I understand most people are more committed to conformity than
fulfilling their potential.
I have watched many of those who have
achieved marketed position of influence in this industry promote their values
on stretching. I know personally that the minority of these influencers
who actually train don’t stretch, and never have. To acknowledge they have missed the point in
training as regards stretching is not going to happen in their lifetimes.
And the influencers who don’t train have no chance of knowing personally the
best alternatives or combinations.
As for conformity, I again refer to the best
selling (in the true sense of the word, not in the way current industry
marketers use it) for one of the best comments on conformity:
“Rollo May, the distinguished psychiatrist, wrote a
wonderful book called Man’s Search for Himself, and in this book he says:
“The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice … it is
conformity.” And there you have the reason for so many failures. Conformity and
people acting like everyone else, without knowing why or where they are
going.” [iii]
[Imagine if referencing and crediting were
the norm in this industry? wouldn’t that be amazing! instead of this
encouragement to lie, cheat, steal and plagiarize…]
Now concepts are promoted with great dogma,
which is why I have historically encouraged people to challenge and ignore the
dogma:
“Not only are you taught with a degree
of dogma in formal education, you are often taught not to think –
rather to accept ‘this is the way’. Certain informal education
teaches you to think for yourself (as we do at KSI) or teaches you a
different perspective to the one you were taught to dogmatically adopt in
your formal education. Exposure to this can cause some initial unease.” [iv]
I don’t suggest knowing the truth, however I
have reached conclusions and encourage others to do the same, even if they are
contrary to the dominant paradigms:
“I don’t know about truth, but I can say that blind
and dogmatic teaching of this by personal trainers and others
has contributed to some serious misconceptions…” [v]
My
strong recommend has been to:
“Resist the
temptation in program design to conform to mainstream paradigms simply for the
sake of conforming, no matter how dogmatically they are presented, or how much
you may be ridiculed or ostracized for trusting your intuition over conformity.” [vi]
Not
to be confused of course with a thinly paraphrased paragraph that followed a
year later in an article at t-nation.com from another ‘author’….
“When designing training programs, resist
the pressure to conform to any tradition or system of
beliefs, no matter how dogmatically that tradition or those beliefs are presented, or how much you get "slammed"
for not conforming.” [vii]
My message to the young man who wrote to
me, and to you to, is have the courage to think for yourself! And if you need
help, I wrote the book ‘Barbells & Bullshit’ to help you. If nothing it
will shock you into realizing that your own conclusions will be far more
accurate and ethical and better for your than the self-serving dogma dished up
by many who seek to exert their influence for reasons other than a pure
intention to serve you. You can get this book in hard copy or e-book. If you email me at question@kingsports.net sharing your commitment to think for yourself, I would love to give you a free copy of
the e-book.
So the choice is yours – to think or to
conform. Just don’t expect the masses to be so brave!
[i] Personal communication, name
available on request, 26 April 2017
[v] King, I., 2001 (?), Q &
A, T-mag.com, Issue #10
[vi] King, I., 2005, The Way of the
Physical Preparation Coach, p. 17
[vii] xxxx 2006, xxxxx, T-mag.com, Feb
