Coach'EM Up Podcast ep 92: Fitness tribalism exposed, finding the middle ground with Clifton Harski
George’s Podcast Reflection Notes.
All these clips and short segments are made with the help of Snipd, the AI-powered podcast app for knowledge seekers.
Equinox’s Deep Internal Education System
Clifton describes Equinox’s internal certification as a dedicated, functionality-first education system (the Equinox Functional Training Institute).
Their curriculum leaned heavily on tools like FMS and ViPR and hosted different speakers across the country.
Clifton says it was the best corporate internal education he saw, but it largely died with COVID when budgets and staffing fell.
He contrasts that institutional training with his own travel-teaching experience and later freelance work for kettlebell and movement brands.
The loss of industry-wide corporate education made ongoing, centralized trainer development much harder post-COVID.
Clifton Harski recommends continuing to practice what you teach to avoid losing touch with reality and sounding like a fraud.
Also, avoid delivering advice based solely on one type of training or avatar.
Focus On Through Lines Not Unique Fads
Clifton ignores the gimmicks and looks for the consistent “through lines” across methods (kettlebell, barbell, mace, bodyweight, TRX).
He highlights common basics: everyone does some form of squat and hinge — the fundamental movements matter most.
After the essentials, training should follow personal interest and enjoyment, not tribal purity.
Clifton calls out the fitness industry for being needlessly condescending about different approaches.
He credits his broad perspective to years as a fitness consumer running multi-week experiments (e.g., doing only Bikram yoga) before working as a professional.
Training Athletically vs. Training Like an Athlete
Clifton Harski distinguishes between training athletically and training like an athlete.
Training athletically focuses on giving people opportunities to express athletic qualities in the gym, while training like an athlete is specific to their sport.
When Fitness Becomes Someone’s Entire Identity
Clifton explains that improving movement and feeling better gives people confidence to try new activities, breaking limiting beliefs like “I can’t do that.”
He warns against tribal fitness identities that celebrate narrow feats (e.g., huge deadlifts) while leaving real-world movement gaps (e.g., struggling with a bodyweight lunge or stairs).
The problem isn’t the training style itself but when it becomes someone’s entire identity, creating blind spots and condescension toward other approaches.
This identity-driven thinking blocks practical progress: people cling to what proves status instead of addressing everyday functional weaknesses.
Clifton’s point reframes coaching: prioritize broad movement competence and confidence over tribal signaling.
Beware Social Media Fitness Education
Newer trainers should know that watching TikTok and Instagram is not fitness education.
One-minute snippets don’t provide enough context to truly understand complex training concepts.
Clifton Harski rants that newer trainers think watching TikTok and Instagram is fitness education.
The education space is hurting because of social media, and big box gyms no longer incentivize trainers to get more education.
