Where Has The Common Sense Gone?

I have learned that in athletic development there are 3 tiers to what we do and how we can defend what we do.  Science, literature, and common sense.  I think I blogged about this in the past but it needs repeating.  We should have all three when using the system we believe in.  More often times than not we have the science or literature part but the funny thing about science is that if you want to “find something” to back you up, you probably will find it.  I honestly don’t think this automatically gives us “the answer.”  I love this quote in an article that basically sums up science…

There are things we know to be true that we don’t know through empirical testing–the five senses– but we do know through other ways. Science seems to give us true, or approximately true, information about the world, and it uses a technique that seems to be reliable, by and large. (Even this, though, is debated among philosophers of science.) However, science is not the only means of giving us true information about the world; its methodology limits it significantly. 

More of an example, if you’ve ever seen the movie Contact:

 Remember the line in the movie Contact ? Ellie Arroway claimed she loved her father, but she couldn’t prove it scientifically. Does that mean she didn’t really love him? No scientific test known to man could ever prove such a thing. Ellie knew her own love for her father directly and immediately. She didn’t have to learn it from some scientific test.

     Now, hopefully people are not thinking I am disproving science, I am not at all, we need it.  Ok!  Training needs common sense.  The things we program for athletes and clients should have basic common sense.  In Training=Rehab, Rehab=Training disc one, Charlie gives an awesome common sense example where he asks those in attendance if this is good for him (sitting down in a slouched position) and then asks the questions, “why then, would doing crunches be good.”  Is is not the same position?

     Flip the picture 90 degrees to the left, is this not the same position? Reinforcing a bad position is common sense in my opinion.  This could go for all movement.  We can view this is typical gyms across America.  Yes, my eyes have burned from witnessing some of the things going on.  Common sense to me: if it doesn’t look athletic, it isn’t.  Be commonsensical (what a word) with training.  I really like Mike Boyle’s video on hang cleans.  Common sense to me, how about you?

Cheers,

Matt