Guinea Pig
When we think of a guinea pig, we think of this cute cuddly animal we call a pet. However, in training terms this is someone that tries out theories or tests to prove them right or wrong.
As a guinea pig your job is to follow the exact workouts or exercises as instructed and it’s up to someone else to determine whether its working or not. This is very common amongst the athletic sports community.
Most places like to have a trial to test their theories out and select athletes to do them. Over time they track the results, and they decide whether that was worthwhile and if it’s worth implementing into the normal routine.
Being a guinea pig is usually not something you want to be. You’re not high on the priority list and are typically neglected due to your lack of immediate value.
They rarely choose the fastest, strongest, most elite athletes when trying out their theories. It’s usually the younger, less experienced athletes with far less to lose.
Growing up that was me.
There is immense value in being a guinea pig; for everyone else. Coaches and trainers trying out their theories or tests gives meaningful feedback.
However, most theories don’t work.
That’s valuable to a coach to know what not to do, so they don’t experiment on their higher-level athletes. The higher-level athletes have immense immediate value as their performance usually dictates the success of the trainer/coach. They can’t afford to waste time trying out new unproven ideas or theories.
The lower level “long term” athletes are not as valuable in the short term because increasing production of a lower-level athlete is not a high selling point in the athletic community.
The value of a guinea pig comes later and takes much more time to get the feedback the coaches and trainers are looking for. Your value comes from testing out a theory that does work or doesn’t work. The issue is those tests or theories may take up to a month or longer to get valuable feedback.
The coaches can take that theory and now implement it on their higher-level clients assuming they got the results they wanted.
Guinea pigs are a necessary asset however they’re not so fun, typically neglected, and are failing more often than succeeding.
At a young age I was very familiar with trying out theories and being a test subject to try and help get the coaches more answers than questions.
I was doing a lot of things wrong. I was proving theories wrong which was incredibly valuable, however it did not benefit myself in the short term.
Throughout that journey I learned a lot of things that don’t work.
That now as a trainer has immense value. I also have things I learned as a guinea pig that worked, and still implement into training with my clients today.
What have I learned from that experience? You can find more answers when you’re willing to be wrong. Wait what? How does that make sense? Let’s dive deeper.
Something I learned was nothing is universally wrong in the fitness world. Everything works if it can apply to as many populations of people as you can.
What does that mean?
It means what doesn’t work for a young athlete trying to achieve something, does not mean it didn’t work. It just didn’t work for that specific group of individuals, with a certain goal in mind.
If you’re trying to test out if a workout makes an athlete faster and it’s proven wrong, does that mean you can’t use that workout for someone else with a completely different goal in mind? No.
This is crucial.
Let me use a different example. We can all agree that most people can have milk as a healthy option as a part of their regular diet. Milk for most of the population is generally good for you, but not for everyone.
Now what if you’re lactose intolerant? Does that mean everyone should stop drinking regular milk? It doesn’t work for a certain population does that make milk bad for you? Or does that just mean milk isn’t a great option for people who are lactose intolerant?
We must have this mindset when it comes to training. Just because a certain exercise isn’t good for you, doesn’t mean its universally bad. If you don’t find benefit in deadlifts does that mean deadlifts are bad? No, it just means deadlifts might not be the best option for you.
What didn’t work for your friend doesn’t mean it won’t also work for you.
My job as a personal trainer is to gather as much information as I can so I can give you the individual the best workout for you. Not the best workout for most people, there’s a difference.
To promise you that, I must be willing to be wrong. I’ve now become my own guinea pig, a lot of what I teach I’ve tried. A lot of what I don’t teach I also have done.
However, what didn’t work for me doesn’t mean it won’t work for you.
I don’t have more answers because I’m more right, I have more answers because I was willing to be wrong.
When I test out theories, I’m not guaranteeing success, I’m guaranteeing feedback. Now whether that’s good or bad feedback is not up to me. Regardless of the feedback it’s incredibly valuable.
The trainers/coaches who guarantee a theory to work are simply wrong and egotistical. Nothing is universally right; nothing is universally wrong. It’s all individualized.
I’ve been willing to try things that didn’t work for me but have been used on clients with massive success.
Over time I’ve gathered a lot of valuable information that I still use to this day. The workouts that were wrong for me, may not be wrong for you.
Even when I workout I’m experimenting. I’m trying things I see on social media, Youtube, or on TV. My job is not to be more right than the next trainer, my job is to gather as much information as I can so I can give my clients the best workouts for them the individual.
To achieve that the pursuit of being wrong does not stop. Being a guinea pig is a never ending journey, so I can give you the best I can.
