Indeed, telecommunications technician requires years of training. But surely we could just wait for things to break down, then research how to fix them? I don't need to know every aspect of the job, just how to fix what's broken at the moment. And I've had lots of problems with telecommunications over the years, so obviously most technicians are useless.
See how it's done? It's bollocks.
In the end, we have got to look at results. Every year, hundreds of thousands of Australians join a gym or buy some exercise equipment, and most of the population have access to the internet and the information required.
Yet we're one of the most obese countries in the world.
So obviously, simple access to the equipment and the information isn't enough to help people achieve their aims. Otherwise we'd be a nation of buff people. And we sure ain't.
When Arnold Schwarzenegger trained for his last Mr Olympia, he hired Franco Columbu to train him. If a six-time Mr Olympia needs help to achieve his goals, I'm not sure why the rest of us should expect to fly solo.
The dead horse you're flogging is your own obtuseness.
"PTs never help you, they can't help anyone."
"One helped me."
"And me too."
"No they didn't really help you, you could have done it yourself."
"No, seriously, they helped me."
"La la la la I can't hear you, me smart you poopyhead!"
You have to accept other people's experiences as valid. If I say someone's knowledge and enthusiasm helped me, then it really did. If you say none have helped you, then none have. Both our experiences can be true at the same time, because people and experiences are individual.
But we can't generalise about our experiences to an extreme, saying that this or that profession is always good and useful, or always bad and useless. The truth lies in the sensible middle ground: some telecommunications technicians are stupid and lazy, some are smart and hard-working, most just muddle along. Likewise with PTs.
Again, PTs like gyms are not useful or good for everyone, and often are useful for a short time for a particular situation only. And not all PTs are good at their jobs, and not all gyms are well-equipped. But many are, and those are useful and good and help many people.
Most people's aim in doing physical training is to reach a certain state they can maintain. Most people don't want to win powerlifting contests or marathons or bodybuilding competitions. They just want to have good looks, a good feeling, and be able to perform well daily tasks and sporty hobbies. The barrier to this a lack of knowledge and motivation.
In 3-6 months with a good gym and/or a trainer most people can achieve this, and will then have enough knowledge and motivation of their own to keep on with it. If I become a personal trainer, I will measure my success in this way: after 3-6 months they don't need me anymore, and if I see them five years later they'll still be in as good shape as when I saw them last.
