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timlord
timlord Posts: 158
in Health and Weight Loss
Folks, do yourself a favor. Before looking into any program, or taking any advice from people on fitness forums, see if they are qualified to give advice. If I want to get fitness help for my 74 year old mother, I am not going to listen to a body builder, a PX90 fanatic, and she sure as heck cannot do Crossfit. Ask your self this question: when someone puts the tag "expert" by their name, what qualifies this? Because they work out? A "certificate" saying expert (which any of us can buy online)? Again, if you drive a nice car, are you going to take your Vette to the guy on the corner because he "works on cars?" And when it breaks down, and it will (been there), who is to blame. ASK anyone throwing advice out how they know. Ask about their education, and experience. Don't short yourself: seek out a real pro in any field to get professional results. This is common sense. And, yes, I do believe the best fitness educators are those with a master degree of education or more, hence the word MASTER.
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  • timlord
    timlord Posts: 158
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    ps EVEN BOB AND JILLIAN....
  • myukniewicz
    myukniewicz Posts: 906 Member
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    fantastic advice tim :)
    thank you for posting this, i think it really needed to be said.

    ★Melissa
  • Hernandezedw
    Hernandezedw Posts: 284
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    I know someone with a masters degree. Doesn't do his job very well. Seems to me it doesn't mean much.
  • Harkins86
    Harkins86 Posts: 58 Member
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    Definately. I think the same for nutritional advice. There are too many people on here encouraging others to dangerously low amounts. They might have good intentions, but they often make it worse by giving ignorant opinions not based in facts! Get advice from people that know what they are talking about and only take the support from those that don't :D
  • Harkins86
    Harkins86 Posts: 58 Member
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    I know someone with a masters degree. Doesn't do his job very well. Seems to me it doesn't mean much.

    Out of interest a masters in what? I have a masters in Chemistry and I am very good at it :smile:
  • Hernandezedw
    Hernandezedw Posts: 284
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    Another thing I want to mention. I've noticed people come here for info when it can be researched. I've got a feeling the people looking for advice on here, don't really care to look into someone's background to verify their qualifications. Everyone wants a quick fix. At least I haven't seen too many questions an amateur can't answer. But your advice is well needed for those asking questions about medical conditions.
  • Kelly_Wilson1990
    Kelly_Wilson1990 Posts: 3,245 Member
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    Just because you have Master's degree does not make you an expert. My dad does not have any degrees but has years of experience as a heavy duty equipment mechanic. Companies fight to have him work for them because his is so good at what he does. Sometimes experience can be a better than any degree. Personally, I think you need a combination of both.
  • Hernandezedw
    Hernandezedw Posts: 284
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    I know someone with a masters degree. Doesn't do his job very well. Seems to me it doesn't mean much.

    Out of interest a masters in what? I have a masters in Chemistry and I am very good at it :smile:

    IT field.
  • Hernandezedw
    Hernandezedw Posts: 284
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    Just because you have Master's degree does not make you an expert. My dad does not have any degrees but has years of experience as a heavy duty equipment mechanic. Companies fight to have him work for them because his is so good at what he does. Sometimes experience can be a better than any degree. Personally, I think you need a combination of both.

    Unfortunately you can't count on experience either. I find the best person to go to is someone that actually loves the topic you are questioning. They are the ones actually doing research and keeping up with new information.
  • timlord
    timlord Posts: 158
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    thanks...
  • timlord
    timlord Posts: 158
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    I believe master degree, 34 y exp, and a doc candidate in fitness puts someone right up there
    but experience is good too
    you need to know human anatomy physiology, biomechanics and be educated in training from age 10 to 90
  • timlord
    timlord Posts: 158
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    BS in fitness health MA in fitness and biomechanics, doctoral candidate in sports performance psychology
    and a master degree should be in a FITNESS RELATED FIELD
  • timlord
    timlord Posts: 158
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    cool on the bench, but also try the NFL combine standard: how many times can you bench 225 pounds? that is a greater indicator of pure strength good luck!
  • timlord
    timlord Posts: 158
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    BS MA doc of Psyd SPP
    fitness anatomy and health
    taught public schools for 20 years in my subject area
    and , sorry, people here should search for top notch advice
  • Fochizzy
    Fochizzy Posts: 505 Member
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    You also have to be careful though, sometimes people with Personal Training knowledge decide to try to talk to you about your diet. I have a lot of truly bizarre dietary concerns and when I tried to tell my Trainer she was not qualified to adjust my diet since she has no offical nutrition training and I have a complex unusual set of problems, she got really annoyed. To be fair try to explain that I cannot eat read meat for allergy reasons, and that I inefficently digest Carbohydrates so I earnest need more than other people sometimes just comes off as, I wanna eat bread.
  • Hernandezedw
    Hernandezedw Posts: 284
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    @timlord - I don't doubt your qualifications. I doubt most people's. Someone with that many degrees and experience can probably be trusted. But seeing as you've taught in public schools, you probably know you can't trust everyone with a degree. Kind of like the pot head I used to play poker with at the bar. She is a teacher. I'm just glad I don't have kids in her class.
  • Hernandezedw
    Hernandezedw Posts: 284
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    You also have to be careful though, sometimes people with Personal Training knowledge decide to try to talk to you about your diet. I have a lot of truly bizarre dietary concerns and when I tried to tell my Trainer she was not qualified to adjust my diet since she has no offical nutrition training and I have a complex unusual set of problems, she got really annoyed. To be fair try to explain that I cannot eat read meat for allergy reasons, and that I inefficently digest Carbohydrates so I earnest need more than other people sometimes just comes off as, I wanna eat bread.

    Bread is good with butter. So delicious. Though I think it may just be the butter.
  • jabbogurl
    jabbogurl Posts: 193
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    No offense, that's great that you have that kind of background :flowerforyou: , but I don't really see the purpose of posting just to say that. This is a community where people are sharing their experiences. I rarely see anyone give advice on something that should be only asked to a professional. Or, when they do ask those questions, people are very quick to point them in the right direction, stating, ask your doctor, nutritionist...etc. As another poster said, for the most part, the questions are fairly general and I think the people are looking for others who had a similar experience. For example, the most I see is questions on running, preparing for you first 5K, to eat or not to eat back exercise calories and the importance of stretching.
  • kklindsey
    kklindsey Posts: 382 Member
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    I think if you have a real medical issue you should go to an expert. I also think there are way too many personal trainers out there that really don' t know what they are doing. I have tons of people ask me how to lose weight since I lost so much and have kept it off. I never tell people what they should do, I tell them what has worked for me and that they need to find what works for them. If anyone on here asks someone else what to do and follows it to a tee without doing their own research or ever questioning that would be silly. And I am not saying you don't have the qualifications you say you do but c'mon, this is the internet. I can tell you I am 5'11" weigfh 135, live in Hollywood and used to date the Brad Pitt, how do you know if I am lying or not?
  • natskedat
    natskedat Posts: 570 Member
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    I think a mix of experience and formal education is important when dispensing advice. Tim is more qualified than me, but I am still qualified. If I am not qualified to answer a question, I do not answer it. If someone asks me a question specifically, and I am not qualified to answer it, I defer the question to someone who is.

    In short, my years of exeperience in sports and fitness qualify me to answer many questions in the fitness and nutrition field. My formal education has taught me how much I still have to learn. In the times where I am faced with how much I don't know, I find trusted sources in the fitness and nutrition fields for clarification.

    And I really don't believe a master's degree is the MOST important qualification. I'd consult a parent with a similar experience in child rearing before I'd consult a non-parent who has a master's in Early Child Development. In many cases, experience trumps book knowledge.

    Great post! Thanks Tim!

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