The team discusses how to avoid the dogma that is so pervasive in the fitness industry.

The Episode: Avoiding Damaging Dogma In Order To Become A More Complete Professional

As with many industries, the fitness world is filled with sub-sectors, echo chambers, and dogma. The problem is that falling into a specific lane and never leaving it can result in a weaker service to your clients, and a less-rounded practice around training. There are a few strategies that can minimize the negative effects of this human tendency, and keep you and your knowledge base challenged and growing. Tune in to hear our suggestions and thoughts on how to keep an open mind and embrace different perspectives.

In This Episode

Pitfalls of the fitness industry around dogma and bias [0:13:53]
Dealing with dogmatic clients [0:19:10]
Embracing disagreement and learning from other perspectives [0:21:36]
Drawing the line between being dogmatic and polarizing [0:28:23]
Signs and signals of dogma within your philosophy [0:31:37]
The tension between nuance, transparency, and building a platform [0:35:01]

“The best solution is almost never the solution you used last week.” — Jonathan Goodman

The Pervasiveness of Dogma

There are so many solutions out there, and applying the same solution to many different situations is usually not the best idea. In order to provide a great service to clients, you need a range of wisdom and how to deal with specific people and circumstances. We all fall into schools of thought and need to be aware of that tendency, while a certain level of bias is unavoidable, it is necessary to at least try to avoid rampant dogma. The other side of this coin is that you will encounter clients who have their own dogma too!

Learning and an Open Mind

We should all be going out of our way to learn from intelligent people with opposing views. We can all miss parts of the picture, so seek out situations and people that challenge you! Aiming to develop particular solutions to particular cases is a great way to balance the need for systems with an individual philosophy to different clients. This means balancing your best methods with an open-minded attitude to gaining new ones.

Ways to Combat Your Own Bias

Strong reactive feelings are often a sign of dogma, so we recommend noticing these and taking a pause to consider where these feelings may stem from. The world of health and fitness is fundamentally science-based, and the scientific approach is inquisitive above all else. Embody that in your own journey and fight against the tendency to avoid nuance and transparency!

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