The Hammer Syndrome – Snell on Exercise Beliefs

Prof Snell on exercise beliefs (at 0:45):

I originally came out of exercise and sports science.

So to come up on a population were exercise did not seem to cure everything that was wrong with them, was antithetical to my beliefs at that time.

That seems to be another case of "hammer syndrome": When your favorite tool is an hammer, everything looks like a nail.

I guess there are a lot examples out there, were people wrongly think they have found one hammer to solve all problems. Some examples (some taken straight out of my QDC) where a (more or sometimes less) legitimate diagnoses in one sub-field is used as an "solve it all hammer":

• It's lack of exercise ("Common sense! Duh!")
• It's the psyche (Psychologists and Psychiatrists, but everybody else as well)
• It's the bones (Chiropractors, Osteopaths)
• It's meat (Vegans, "nutritionists", and other puritanic upholders of moral standards)
• It's Candida, Lyme or other pathogens  (Pathogen quacks)
• It's heavy metals, pesticides or other unnamed "toxins" (Environmental quacks)
• It's neuro-transmitters, inflammation, free radicals or the mitochondria (Pseudo-biomed quacks)
• It's the thyroid, adrenals or other endocrine problems (Pseudo-endocrinologists)
• It's some idealistic/metaphysical woo like "energy", qi, "balance" (Alternative medicine legerdemain)

So my advise would be: If someone wants to use an hammer on you, stay away from that person (unless you are actually a nail).

And just to be clear: I think Prof. Snell is a trustworthy as he relinquished his "hammer" – his lecture is very much recommendable.