The other day, I had a chat with a client that got me to do wheelies on my mind-excitement-moped. That was right before she gently told me I should park the moped because I was wrong.
In the nicest possible way. And I am thankful that she did.
Here’s how it went down:
Client: I switched taking the creatine immediately after my workout and ate post workout too. Noticed a significant reduction in soreness all about.
Me: Interesting to hear about that change in soreness with the immediate meal. Cool to see such a concrete change [I was referring to a concrete change due to the meal timing change]. I will write a blog post about this.
Client: I’m a big believer in correlation (vs causation) so while it might be fun to relate the drop in soreness directly to the creatine [and meal timing], I’m guessing it’s more a result of adaptation [to the workouts] + rowing + creatine + protein timing. Your thoughts?
Me: You’re so right. Thanks for pointing that out. [Me to myself: Joonas, you’re an absolute jackass.]
I wanted to believe the simple answer. And it clouded my judgment.
The point of this?
We tend to latch on to simple, black-and-white explanations. Whether it’s soreness, fat loss, strength, fatigue, whatever. There’s a reason why evil fitness marketers hype their quick-fix, simple solution products.
That goes for politicians too. Or anyone happy to lie through their teeth to sell a product or an idea.
The answers to our problems are always more complex than what we want to believe.
-J