“The loudest critics of ‘unqualified coaches’ were once the ones handing out free advice they had no business giving.”
Observation:
Those who bash others for promoting education without experience are the same ones who did it 20 years ago.
Expansion:
Everyone starts somewhere. Early on, it’s easy to look at newcomers and forget you were once guessing too. The difference between arrogance and experience is humility. If you’ve been in the game long enough, you realize the next wave isn’t your competition — they’re your continuation.
When I first started coaching and training, I was one of those people who advised that I probably wasn’t qualified to give advice. Not because I wanted to mislead anyone, but because I was excited. I wanted to share what I was learning — even though I was still figuring it out myself. I thought my passion and effort made up for my lack of experience. Looking back, it’s easy to cringe at things I said with absolute confidence back then.
But that’s part of the process.
Now, I see many younger coaches doing the same thing — posting their training ideas, teaching, experimenting, and making mistakes in public — and I get it.
It’s funny, though, because many of the same people tearing them apart online for “not knowing enough” were doing the same thing twenty years ago. The only difference is that we didn’t have social media to broadcast it.
Experience doesn’t make you immune to being wrong — it just gives you a longer highlight reel of times you were. The real divide between arrogance and maturity comes down to humility: being able to say, “I don’t know yet” without feeling threatened.
That’s what’s missing in many conversations today. Too many veterans forget what it was like to be new — to be curious, uncertain, hungry enough to take risks. And too many newcomers assume experience is outdated because it’s not trending. The truth is, both need each other.
The older generation holds the lessons that keep the young from repeating the same mistakes.
The younger generation brings the energy, perspective, and creativity that keep the old guard from stagnating.
When both sides stop trying to prove who’s right and start trying to understand each other, that’s when the industry moves forward.
At elitefts, one of the best things I’ve seen over the years is that cycle of continuation — the passing of the torch. I’ve watched lifters go from asking questions in our Q&A to becoming the people answering them. I’ve seen coaches evolve from kids who emailed me for advice to educators teaching at the highest levels of education.
That’s the echo — education repeating itself through time, refined by each generation that picks it up.
Before criticizing someone for not knowing enough, ask yourself what you learned at their stage.
And before you dismiss the next wave of lifters or coaches, remember — you were them once.
The objective measure of experience isn’t how much you know; it’s how willing you are to share it without condescension.
Because at the end of the day, strength doesn’t grow in isolation — it’s passed on.
And every echo, even the rough and imperfect ones, carries the sound of where we started.
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