The Stereotype Sometimes Exists for a Reason!

 

We all know the stereotype. Some guy or girl abbreviates reps and sets because spelling "repetitions" is a bit outside the scope of resident brainpower and the only math they know is the ratio used to get the perfect blend on their protein shakes. For those who have not seen the movie "Free Guy" with Ryan Reynolds, you may not be familiar with "Dude" (Pictured Above). You can get an introduction here:

 The Dude

Well, a long time ago in a website not too far away, there was once an online argument of epic proportions. It was not magnificent in its depth or complexity, but rather for its purity and perfection in capturing a stereotype hard at work. In this argument, two bodybuilders on a forum at Bodybuilding.com go head-to-head in a battle to calculate the number of days in two weeks. In a battle that only be described as matching the ferocity of World War II or the fury of the Blitzkrieg, these, likely musclebound, experts go back and forth trying to explain to one another how many days are in a week in order to calculate the number of workouts achieved if you work out every other day. I chose this argument because it is a perfect example of a useless argument online. Nobody was going to win and with any application of thought, one could clearly understand that both parties knew how many days were in a week but were using separate criteria to qualify their points. 

I suggest starting at Comment 7, where the fun really begins with:

---"Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday. That is 4 days.

How do you go 3.5 times? Do a half workout or something? lol"---

The three primary concerns I have with this argument are:

1) It is a complete waste of time and serves no purpose except to attempt to humiliate one party in the argument.

2) Rather than sticking to explaining their thoughts on the argument and trying to address the confusion, one of the participants responds with an ad hominem attack by saying "Are you retarded?" Not only is this language offensive when you don't know your audience, but it makes the argument personal.

3) My other problem is that this thread never answered the original post of how to best manage his workout routines in order to prevent "burnout." Much like in a lot of online arguments, the point of the original post is lost in what resulted in almost five consecutive pages of various people chiming in as to how to properly count the days in a month and assign workout days to them.

In order to prevent situations like this, five simple rules should be applied when arguing online.

1) Know and choose opponents carefully

2) Clarify the point of disagreement before jumping in

3) Do some research and provide substance rather than personal opinions.

4) Don't make it personal

5) And as Kenny Rogers once said, "Know when to fold 'em!"

Its easy to get emotional and let that feeling super charge your arguments online. But nobody wins an online argument. Think of a time you walked away from a Twitter war and thought "great points, my mind is changed." It likely amounts to 0.0 times. In fact, it likely led to a deeper distrust for the topic in general and made you dig in even further on your possibly misguided stance. It's just not worth it. Save it for another day and try to suit up for battle only when the time is right. Nobody ever earned the Medal of Honor for being a keyboard warrior.