Dr. Aaron Horschig - Rebuilding Milo: The Lifters Guide to Fixing Common Injuries and Building a Strong Foundation for Enhancing Performance

Foreword

We are drowning in information, while starving for wisdom. The world henceforth will be run by synthesizers, people able to put together the right information at the right time, think critically about it, and make important choices wisely. E. O. Wilson

Aaron Horschig is a unicorn. He is that uncommon person who can simultaneously occupy the roles of user, teacher, and synthesizer. There is a trend today amongst the internet elite to do a lot of talking about problems without really ever having to live those problems on a daily basis. Dont get me wrong; not working in the trenches in real time is far easier. You can just talk about the world of others work in a critical way. You dont really have to produce anything original, problem-solve in real time, work within the context of crazy professional/high-performance environments, or show any of your own work. If you could create a photonegative of this kind of phenomenon, the image would be of Aaron.

This book you are holding isnt actually that remarkable an achievement for the man behind Squat University. Dont mistake me here. This book is remarkable both for its content and for the paradigm shift that it represents. It is, however, altogether typical of Aaron and his drive to share his considerable success in helping people untangle the complexities of their pain and movement problems.

Perhaps its the way our mentors and thought leaders engaged with us, or perhaps its because its the foundation of science, but Test, Retest, Share has been the mantra of every great thinker since the dawn of time. The E. O. Wilson quote is one of my favorites, but Dr. Wilson was always quick to point out that the ultimate goal of science was actually to improve the humanities. Think on that for a moment. Open your Instagram feed. Look at the educators who come up. Run their feeds through the filter that I use to try and make sense of what Im seeing. Does what Im seeing explain whats happening? Does it predict future movement behavior? Is the thinking reproducible and transferable? These are features of all good models. Good models arent social media thirst traps. They arent always that sexy, but they work. And they improve the lives of the people who use them.

If you look at the considerable amount of teaching Aaron has put into the world, you will see synthesis at its heart. This is a trait he shares with the entire crop of thought leaders who are driving the human movement train. Aaron was classically trained as a physical therapist, but he wears the mantle of a coach. This is his true superpower. He is a movement genius but trained as an expert in understanding the all-too-common problems of injury, pathology, and human durability. When Aaron teaches, he has one eye on going faster and heavier and one eye solidly on the problem of sustainability. Integrating these sometimes competing forces can require an iron stomach and a solid foundation in the complicated and always messy experience that constitutes any field that involves working with complex humans.

Dont be fooled by the casual way Aaron can spot the heart of a movement problem.