If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say

[Shen]

Almost all of the time on these threads (and in the fitness world in general), people tend to be really supportive. They ask *you* want *your* goals are, and if they can't help you, they find someone who can.

 

But sometimes, people just have this superiority complex. You say you want to do cardio, they say it's a waste of time. You say you want to lift weights, they say it's unhealthy. You say you want to eat brown rice, they say you shouldn't. You say you're strict paleo, they say it's a BS diet or that you won't get enough carbs.

 

If someone is genuinely asking for opinions, then by all means people should share! And if someone is doing something wrong or potentially dangerous, of course people should chime in. But a lot of the time, people see someone who just has a different opinion or different fitness goals then them, and acts all smug and superior as if they are wrong for being different.

 

It seems to me that unless someone is starving themselves, or doing a technique improperly, or fundamentally misunderstands something, we should probably stick to constructive, positive feedback. There are lots of different opinions, and just because I want to do bodyweight exercises, doesn't mean some other guy is wrong if he wants to go running, or whatever.

 

/end rant

[SpecialSundae]

Deleted because it really isn't worth it.

[CrimsonTide2006]

I think constructive advice is fine, does not mean you have to change what you are doing. It is good to hear all sides. 

[Shen]

Totally. I am all for constructive advice. We should all watch out for each other and do our best to help. And agreed, it is good to hear all sides. I find this phenomenon most often in martial arts. The problem I have is when everybody thinks they have found the right way, and anyone who trains differently is wrong. Everybody is trying to be your coach. Instead of being supportive ('Awesome that you want to train! If you want to accomplish X you might want to try doing Y, because of Z') they are patronizing: ('Oh, you want to do X? X is stupid and it never works. You're just wasting your time. Y is the only way to get strong, and it is superior to all other forms of training because of Z.')

 

And also, sad to see you deleted your post, SpecialSundae. I would have valued your input.