The Paradox of the Fitness Industry

To go deep we must go wide.

This may seem odd initially, however I think you'll find that the more we look at it, the more it holds true.

You see, the human animal can not be reduced down to a specific type of therapy or strategy.

We can not be distilled down to any domain in a vacuum. The laws that govern tissue adaption, neural processes, nutritional science, gut microbiome, etc. are all valid AND must be taken into account within the holistic environment of the human organism.

We are all of it and more. We are a holistic "mess" of intertwined physiological, chemical, emotional, spiritual factors that are all inter-dependent.

This is why, for us fitness professionals to make meaningful changes in our clients' lives we must cast a wide net of knowledge and proficiency.

This is why we must be more artistic than robotic. This is why we must embrace with open arms our nuanced nature and dance with the chaos, in contrast to seeking linear systems within our dynamic nature.

Another way to think of it, is that human beings are much like onions. We have layers.
For deep change to occur (to approximate the core of the onion) one must have the capacity to work with various layers of the human experience. This is why a breadth of knowledge helps us access deep change within the layered and nuanced lives of our clients. 

A client may come to us with a superficial problem, for example a given discomfort, chronic ache or a fitness goal...  and upon further examination we may find that their specific goal may in fact be associated with various emotional, psychological or spiritual barriers & adaptations. This means that their specific goals may have various layers to them, which (for change to happen) must be acknowledged and worked through.

So yes, it's important to know the mechanics of the knee joint, AND to be able to work with a sub-acromial impingement, AND to be able to coach a client through various behavior change... But it's even more important to acknowledge the holistic (or whole-istic) context of the organism, to acknowledge the nuanced and potentially complex nature of the human experience.

So if we want to go deep with our clients, we must go wide in our appreciation and competence within various categories of the human experience (mechanical, spiritual, psychological, emotional, neurological, chemical, and more.)