How To Get a 1-Up On Everyone Else

I'm sure you already know this, but the general education most people receive is pretty shit.

The school system just isn't very helpful.

They teach you math and tell you that you won't always have a calculator (remember those days?), so you better learn long division!

Beyond basic education and test-taking, the school system doesn't really prepare you for real life.

If it did, I wouldn't have weighed 127 pounds in the first grade without any knowledge of nutrition.

My parents didn't know about it, either, which is why I ballooned up to 244lbs as a teenager.

The default education doesn't cover essential life skills like nutrition or finances.

No one learns how to do their taxes in school!

Most people, including myself, learn these things the hard way.

(For a less hard way, check out the Balanced Body Blueprint to gain the ability to work out wherever, with anything.)

A big learning experience for me was fitness.

I had no idea what was happening, and gym class was no help.

They'd just divide us into teams for sports or have us do push-ups for the presidential fitness exam.

(I think the last president who could do a push-up was Teddy Roosevelt.)

Unless you go out of your way, you're not going to learn what you need to succeed in life.

In my case, I had to educate myself about fitness.

And after losing a lot of weight, I became a personal trainer.

I went through the National Academy of Sports Medicine certification, thinking all that information would be useful.

In reality, only about one page of the textbook was helpful when I started working at Blink Fitness.

I felt almost as lost as if I had never studied the textbook.

In real life, the detailed knowledge about periodization and the difference between strength and power is only useful for certain clients, not the average person who hires a personal trainer.

The NASM textbook didn't guide me on how to handle clients with basic fitness goals.

My first 11 months as a trainer were absolutely embarassing.

I was treating my clients like bodybuilding clients, focusing on specific muscle groups without understanding why that wasn’t ideal.

I got no support from the gym; they just told me to go out and find clients.

It wasn't until I moved to Equinox that I really started learning useful things.

Equinox provided insane educational opportunities, though I wasn't a fan of their management style.

They brought in experts and offered workshops that forced us to learn specific things.

This environment encouraged me to pursue further education on my own.

If you stick with the default education, it's only somewhat helpful.

You have to take your education into your own hands.

The default system is designed to funnel you into roles where you either make money for someone else or give your money away.

If you want useful knowledge, you have to seek it out yourself.

Science and fitness knowledge can change, which is the whole point of science.

If you haven't updated your knowledge on a subject in 15 years, much of what you know might be outdated or wrong.

You owe it to yourself to stay informed, especially if you care about fitness or any other subject.

If you're looking for real education, take it into your own hands.

Or stay dumb.

Feel free to reply back with any questions.

Okay, bye!