Movement Idealism in the Fitness Industry

Movement Idealism in the Fitness Industry
Ever since I started calling out accounts on my Instagram, trainers and coaches have been sending me profiles of fitness coaches spewing BS. A common theme I have noticed is a sort of movement idealism created by these trainers and then resold to consumers and clients.

This idea that, if you don’t do a particular movement by their arbitrary set standard, something terrible will happen (usually revolving around getting hurt) or that if you can’t reach their arbitrary requirements, you aren’t “allowed” to do certain activities. This is usually accompanied by a much prettier and fancier picture of that green check and red X and some sort of sale on their patented way of fixing the very problem they just created.

What if I told you these ideas where based on an overly simplistic view of movement and pain and did way more harm then good?

1. If lifting is just applying stress to the body, why do we deem some positions as dangerous in lifting but celebrate them in sport? When an extreme sports athlete lands a big jump and goes into spinal flexion, no one bats an eye, but a little spinal flexion in a deadlift and the Internet goes crazy.

2. What if I told you we, as humans, are absolutely horrible at detecting these fine movement variations we are claiming to fix? Did you know it has been shown the lumbar spine moves through a substantial amount of flexion-extension range of motion more than 35% during compound exercises like the good morning, kettlebell, swing, and squat? The lumbar spine also rotates and laterally flexes some amount during and between reps on the squat and deadlift, and we don’t detect any of it with the naked eye. [1] [2] [3]

3. When we correlate moving a certain way to pain we are grossly overestimating biomechanics role in pain and greatly underestimating the million other factors at play when we are talking about pain (check out the Resilient Training Lab podcast episode 10 with Eric Sokolowski for more on this)

Instead of thinking of movement as right and wrong, we need to start looking at movement on an individual level. What can we change to make this individual more efficient at completing the task in front of them? We teach specific techniques because they are more efficient than others; they will allow us to produce more force, go faster or further or move more weight not because one way is safe than another. 

So now we know why it is not accurate to create ideal standards for movement or arbitrary pre-requisites for movement, but why does it even matter? Why do I make such a big deal about it?

Well, because this movement idealism does more harm, then you might realize from first glance.

1. Lack of time, confidence, and lack of motivation are three of the biggest barriers to fitness, and these narratives about movement raise the barriers in each of these areas. People are already short on time and when they think they have to meet certain standards before they can even start to exercise or if they have to perform some intricate warm-up before starting to move, more often then not, they’ll just forgo the whole thing. Confidence- how are we supposed to build confidence and self-efficacy when we make people feel like they can’t move safely without a coach watching them. And motivation plays a large roll in not only starting exercise but adhering rover the long term.

2. Motivation also plays a large roll in exercise adherence, and these narratives drain three of the basic psychological needs when it comes to adherence: relatedness, competence, and autonomy. Relatedness is promoted by environments that foster respect and mutual caring. How can we foster respect and mutual caring when we spend all our time picking people apart and telling them everything wrong with them. How are we supposed to build competence when every time someone moves, we tell them it’s wrong? How are we supposed to create autonomy when people have no idea what way to move because everywhere they look, someone is telling them something different. Read more about these first two points in our previous blog post about Adherence Motivation link

3. Only 18-20% of Americans meet the minimum exercise requirements, and out of those that do a good majority of them are afraid to train hard because of these false narratives floating around the fitness industry. A majority of Americans don’t move at all, and we are over here arguing about what is the “right” and “wrong” way to move? How about we just try to get people moving in any way possible.  [4]

4. Beliefs and expectations shape our reality, and when you give people the belief that if they move in the “wrong” way, they will get hurt, it will just be that much more likely they actually get hurt.

5. Kinesiophobia is the fear of pain due to movement. While technique has been shown to have little to do with injury. Kinesiophobia has, and these narratives are a large reason why Kinesiophobia exists at all [5]. If people heard how safe exercise actually is half as much as coaches talk about “don’t do X or you’ll get hurt” (negative affectivity), would there be so much fear around movement?

6. Predatory marketing - the reason coaches love to make these movement standards is to make people feel like they need their services. Not only does this rob people of their independence and self-efficacy, but these pratfalls marketing strategies have no place in the health and fitness field. Our job is to build people up and show them all the amazing things they are capable of. Not to tear them apart and point out all their “problems” and make them feel less.

We can do better

Some things for you to think about next time you are coaching a movement. 

[1] Aasa U, Bengtsson V, Berglund L, Öhberg F. Variability of lumbar spinal alignment among power- and weightlifters during the deadlift and barbell back squat [published online ahead of print, 2019 Nov 13]. Sports Biomech. 2019;1-17. doi:10.1080/14763141.2019.1675751

[2] Kristiansen M, Rasmussen GHF, Sloth ME, Voigt M. Inter- and intra-individual variability in the kinematics of the back squat. Hum Mov Sci. 2019;67:102510. doi:10.1016/j.humov.2019.102510

[3] McGill SM, Marshall LW. Kettlebell swing, snatch, and bottoms-up carry: back and hip muscle activation, motion, and low back loads. J Strength Cond Res. 2012;26(1):16-27. doi:10.1519/JSC.0b013e31823a4063

[4] https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/exercise.htm

[5] Ishak NA, Zahari Z, Justine M. Kinesiophobia, Pain, Muscle Functions, and Functional Performances among Older Persons with Low Back Pain. Pain Res Treat. 2017;2017:3489617. doi:10.1155/2017/3489617