Let’s be honest – there’s very little “new” material in the industry.

In fact, what I see time and again isn’t necessarily new information.  Instead, it’s a better understanding or application of what we already know, or information that’s already readily available.

Here’s a great segment from Eric Cressey in a recent T-Nation article:

Well, some people just spend way too much time in Internet fantasy land to actually go out and train. They see what they read as everything they need to be successful, but in reality, it’s just one piece of the puzzle.

Information can help you tremendously, but only if you’re willing to work your ass off, too. So, take the experts’ advice to heart, but also go beyond the Internet to find the environment that’ll motivate you to bust your hump.

Find a good training program instead of spending countless hours trying to plan your own. Get a good training partner. Find a new gym. Get a little angry.

Even though Eric is talking about getting in the gym, his point is universally applicable.  It’s not always the fact that you need to learn more, or learn new stuff.  A huge component of getting results either as a trainer or trainee is properly applying what you already know.

Maybe it’s working harder in the gym.

Maybe it’s better application of what you already know as a trainer.

And maybe it’s getting off Twitter long enough to do anything.

What I really feel we’ll see in the next 5 years of strength and conditioning/performance enhancement/personal training is a movement to sort what we already know, organize it into something more tangible/useful, and to develop progressions/regressions that will better allow us to utilize this information with any client.

Sure, we’ll always be learning new stuff, and that’s absolutely necessary.  But don’t get so caught up in “new” that you forget about properly applying the “old.”

Stay strong

MR