Editorial for an article in the November issue of Men’s Journal entitled

I really enjoyed Daniel Duane’s article. He made some great points and delivered some great advice. Basically, you don’t need fancy stuff to get fit. We’re actually born with everything we need. I encourage you all to read it. However, again he’s no different than anyone else. He’s marketing his article and didn’t want to point the finger at the real culprit.

The real culprit is the public, consumer or in this case, the reader; not the gym, the trainer or the person selling you the membership. If the public takes no interest in their own health then they won’t know the difference between the right exercise to perform, whether the article Dan wrote had merit or whether a trainer was good or not.

Why is the consumer so disconnected that they have to be entertained for the lousy 45 minutes to an hour they spend in the gym? Do they watch TV when working, driving or having sex? Why is their health any less important? Why do they continue to buy the same “snake oil” promises over and over again? You can’t get in shape in just 15 minutes a day. In fact, you can’t do anything worthwhile in 15 minutes.

Dan doesn’t want to say it, but here’s why? Because in general, the consumer is lazy, overloaded with no time from all the bad decisions they’ve made, poor nutrition choices from lack of planning and again laziness, poor financial planning made worse from the excessive amount of children they shouldn’t have had, time wasted from watching useless TV like Dancing with the Stars, American Idol and any reality show in existence, plus, they’re being held with “kid gloves” by celebrity doctors (that in most part know less than a personal trainer and doctors go to school for 10 years, and, are just as intent on marketing themselves) that parking further away from the grocery store will help them get in shape. I can’t see how carrying Doritos or hotdogs a little further to the car is going to get you in shape. How much lower can they lower the bench mark for health and fitness?

In essence, for whatever reason, health and fitness is not the publics’ priority. There is nothing more important than your health. No matter what financial or family responsibilities you might have, a person’s health must be integrated into those responsibilities. If not, you’re lazy, an idiot or just in denial. These poorly planned life-choices are affecting the standard of living we currently have and the future of this country as a whole. My intentions are positive and being nice doesn’t seem to be getting us anywhere. Sorry to sound so callous but, sometimes “tough love” is necessary to kick some people in the rear end. Think of an alcoholic. Do you keep making excuses for them and applaud them when they’re just a little drunk? At some point you have to get tough and take the alcohol away. When you do, it ain’t going to be pretty.

Since it’s not politically correct to tell someone they’re lazy, unmotivated, uncreative and fairly dumb (enough statistics prove that unhealthy people have a lower IQ) the public will just keep buying the same crapola year after year. Until we stop making excuses, or rewarding mediocre decisions and results, it will never get better. Not everyone gets an A in school. You have to earn it.

It’s time we stop pointing the finger at equipment or fitness professionals. There are good doctors and bad doctors, good lawyers and bad lawyers. The consumer needs to learn the difference on how to choose between good equipment or a good trainer. The public needs to be held accountable for their own mediocrity. Daniel, by the way, 10% body fat for a male is not inhuman. Restraint is a sign of humanity. Stop eating so much.

It’s not up to you or I to force feed people information on their own well-being. It’s up the individual to watch, read and educate themselves regarding their own bodies and what works for them.

I’m sorry Daniel that you had bad experiences with your trainer, but if you had educated yourself a little prior to hiring them, you might have known the difference. In any event, it doesn’t take a lot of common sense to know that squatting on a ball will only help if you’re going to be in the circus. You wouldn’t want to shoot a cannon standing on a piece of ice would you?