‘Read it in a book’

To me, there is more merit in knowledge gained from experience than something learnt from a book or a standard classroom.

All of my closest friends and family have taught me things that have challenged my formal education. From relationships to business and health, there is proof that theoretical knowledge and applied knowledge are two completely different things.

I think we not only have to be more critical of the person that wrote the book, did the research, but also consider the era in which the information was published/gathered etc. In addition to this, we also need to apply the information and critique it’s validity, application and ensure it fits within our own beliefs. You must own how you apply what you have learnt and make it yours somehow.

Today was a great example of what one of my best friends and mentors has shown me through simply training. He has completely flipped the way I train, the way I ‘safely’ perform a movement, the use case of certain movements and how to view the body as an entire system when your life depends on it in the real world and not in a perfectly isolated and air conditioned gym.

At university I was shown the ‘right’ way to train through foundational exercises with merit for the entire population and very specific ways to perform them. In hindsight, after training with someone whose work demands excellence and peak performance at every single moment, I was shown only ONE way to train and it was only useful to the lowest common denominator, the general population.

So, if you have read it in a book, learnt it in a classroom, been taught something by your parents - make sure you test it.