The COURAGE to QUESTION What is Exercise Physiology in the 21st Century
Tommy Boone, PhD, MPH, MA, FASEP, EPC
Professor and Chair
Director, Exercise Physiology Laboratories
The College of St. Scholastica
Duluth, MN 55811
“Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”
-- Hebrews 12:1
Introduction
Recently, a friend stopped me and said: “Where do you get
the courage to do what you are doing?” As you might imagine, I was somewhat
taken by the question. I’ve known for some time that my work is controversial.
All new ideas carry with them some degree of indifference or excitement.
Being part of a team to create the foundation for the profession of exercise
physiology is no different. There are going to be colleagues, even
friends, who will disagree with the idea. There will also be those
who understand that the idea is worthwhile. They, too, demonstrate
courage when they say, “Of course it can be done! It is possible!
All we have to do is “do it one step at a time”.
One Step at a Time!
What a comforting idea. That’s it. Do one thing
today. Then, let that step motivate you to achieve another step tomorrow.
Positive steps, one after the other is the key to believing it can be done.
We can build the profession of exercise physiologists. That is what
courage is about. And, every member of the American Society of Exercise
Physiologists is demonstrating courage. Their actions are proof
that faith in a new reality is possible. To this day I have deep affection
for and gratitude to each member of ASEP. Some, more so than others,
understand that it is important to encourage all exercise physiologists to
have faith. They are not consumed by, but certainly motivated by positive
emotions; all of which are responsible for the essential steps to professional
development and credibility.
That is why I feel so great when I think of ASEP members.
They motivate me to do what I can to make the right decisions. Their
membership helps me commit my time and energy to change the face of exercise
physiology. I find that their ability to question reflects thoughtfully
on the daring possibility that we can make a difference. And,
it is apparent that their strong beliefs are influencing those with honest
doubt about ASEP. Their quiet but determined methods have created fresh
and new thoughts about our collective opportunities in the public sector.
This faith cannot be passed off as being not important. All of us
understand the power in unity; it gives rise to collective works of great
importance.
Faith is Not Going it Alone
Having faith in your friends and professional colleagues
is important. It is a positive way to struggle with change without being
overwhelmed with frustration. So, I can go about my regular job believing
that the consequences of my actions will have a positive influence on my
profession. Faith overcomes the intimidation from those who choose to
believe in yesterday’s model of exercise physiology. Faith is a strong
friend, especially when dealing with a lifelong pattern of not “going for
the gold”. Now, though, we are succeeding. Our standards are
high. We are reaching for the maximum – the profession of exercise physiology!
And, we are not alone even with setbacks, challenges, and moments of doubt.
“Faith is not a contradiction of reality, but the courage
to face reality with hope.” – Robert Schuller
The Courage to Shoot for the Moon
Uncommon acts of courage bring forth the best in us.
Just when we begin to say, “a job well done” (such as board certification
and accreditation), faith fulfilled opens the doors for new challenges and
new possibilities (such as increased number of state associations or international
relations). We learn to value the unknown as we grow in our faith that
we can make a difference. We need to shoot for professionalism and,
to do so, we need the courage to ask tough questions. Can we make the
changes this year? Is it possible to realize 12 accredited academic
programs with this upcoming year? What will our colleagues think?
How long will it take before they join us?
There are answers to these questions. Finding them,
even thinking about them, requires courage. Members of ASEP are shooting
for the moon. They see what exercise physiology can be. They are
not willing to sit back and accept what it has become. This is courage,
too. It may not make everyone happy. Some will not like it at
all. Yet, it is the answer to our unexplored future. And, it
is normal to want to become everything that we can (especially when it benefits
others). Each new month is another step in the right direction.
Each new meeting is justification of our courage. Each new member is
an opportunity to stand tall, to partnership with others, and to create new
pathways of hope and possibilities.
The Path to Professionalism
All of us have heard the statement “if there is a will, there
is a way”. This reminds me of our path, which isn’t automatic, but
won in strategy and mental affirmations. Our path is mapped out in
the resources at our disposal, in our discipline at weeding out negative thoughts,
and in our work of faith announced by our web sites. Now, everybody
knows that the seemingly impossible task we have taken on is possible.
Surprised by our faith and their lack of understanding, many of our colleagues
are still unable to explain our unusually high record of success in just a
few years.
The path is not trouble free, however. Every significant
step forward carries with it the risk of failure. So be it. Life
is full of challenges. We will win most. We will loose a few,
too. Without the commitment to something greater than we are, we are
less because of it. So it is, the fear of failure or the fear
of rejection is but part of the package. The fact that we now have our
own professional organization means that we have accomplished more than most
people. The gateway to professionalism is open to transform us so that
we can release our powers of imagination.
“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” -- Proverbs
29:18
Declaration of Commitment
Commitment begins with pictures in your mind that ultimately
becomes the vision statement. Once the vision is clear, it is as simple
as writing your name on the dotted line. You become responsible for
the contractual agreement between you and the person who owns the product
(or idea). Robert H. Schuller said it best in his 1983 book, Tough
Minded Faith for Tender Hearted People.
“The public declaration of commitment intensities the risk.
You can immediately expect opposition and criticism to come out of the woodwork.
Negative thinkers will leap forward – “It can’t be done,” “It won’t
work,” “Somebody else tried it and failed.” Or they’ll attack your motives.
“What kind of an ego trip are you on.” [1, p. 35]
Commitment makes it happen. Commitment gives rise to
possibilities. Suddenly now others understand that we are committed;
that we have tremendous power and passion that motivates us to action.
Today we have taken control of exercise physiology. Those who do not
get it are probably locked in traditional thinking (or even in groupthink)
[2]. Either they do not believe in possibility thinking or they do not
have the luxury of imagining all the positive possibilities.
A Future for Our Students
By now you have observed that faith helps each person figure
out how to find success. ASEP is not “what might have been” had the
leaders failed to listen. Rather, it is a reflection of the members’
inner passion to succeed; to demonstrate our niche before other healthcare
practitioners. This new way of thinking (i.e., the new exercise
physiology) is about complimenting our students by giving them a future.
If we do not believe in them, if we do not help create the very best education
for them, and if we do not unlock them from the past, it is a matter loaded
with ethical issues. This is our chance to act as professionals.
This is the time to leave a noble blueprint for establishing a positive, just,
and inspirational message for our students.
At least once a week by a student I’m asked the question,
“What do your friends think about ASEP?” And, I have admitted more than
once that most of my friends do not understand. They are either uninterested
or believe that I have gone over the edge. Just a few years ago, I
attended a major sports medicine meeting with the expectation of speaking
with old friends. What I found out was that they were not interested
in speaking with me! Well, here again, when a person declares faith
in a different idea, friends who are not in agreement may become enemies.
This is difficult but a shared part of the new thinking. Whatever must
be done to open the windows of the mind must be done. It really is not
complicated. Reprogramming how we think is imperative.
Positive Thinking
Reprogramming begins with positive thinking. Seldom
do we think of “positive thinking” alongside oxygen consumption or in the
same context of exercise physiology and athletic performance, but we must
learn to do so. We must learn that our future is in our very hands,
guided by our minds, and put in place by our actions. We have the power
to become what our minds dream. Why not then agree that it can be done?
Better yet, why not acknowledge that it has been done! ASEP is the sum
total of positive thinking. The “will” to succeed is our strength and
determination. It has worked for others, and it will continue to work
for us.
It is possible to change our destiny! Image the future.
Expand your thoughts. Think bigger than fitness. The impossible
is possible. All we have to do is have the courage to question status
quo. It is not about being mean or disrespectful. Instead, it
is an exercise in management of ideas and the exercise of leadership [3].
Both are important in setting goals to realize a new future, to reshape impossibility
thinking into possibility thinking, and to substitute 21st century decision
thinking for yesterday’s confusion.
“If you refuse to accept anything less than a credible professional
organization of exercise physiologists, you can expect to get it.”
Have you discovered the meaning in the above quote?
In other words, why accept anything less than best? My son shared this
point of view with me long before I understood the problems that we face.
Too often, we have accepted less than a credible path to realize our dreams
and professional expectations. But, if you want (or expect) something
better for exercise physiology, you have got to believe that you have the
right to it. It really is no different than the attitude of an athlete.
Why should a great athlete accept something less than his/her very best?
To do so would not make sense. Instead, the athlete stays disciplined
and determined. Winning is always believed to be possible.
Shouldn’t we believe that we are winners, too? Success
begins with positive thinking set in motion by action to make it happen.
The courage to question begins with the inevitable first decision to dare
to be different [4]. One view of this very point is that we have reached
a dead-end road outside of our own organization. I learned this lesson
the hard way. We must dare to live as exercise physiologists with the same
rights as other healthcare practitioners. If this means overecoming
our fear of those rights, then, we must learn to do so. We have no reason
to live on the crutch of "commonness".
"Never say, I am just a common man, or, I am just a common
woman. There should be little time and patience for the person who leans
upon the comfortable crutch of commonness." [4, p. 183]
Dead-End Roads are Lifeless
At the core of the founding of ASEP, there are strong emotions
resulting from a serious conversation with colleagues traveling the same road
as I had been doing for nearly 30 years. The conversation grew out
of a call for help that was overlooked. Talk about a dead-end
road. Wow! Not only was I shocked of the absolute failure of the
leaders of yet another organization (created primarily by exercise physiologists)
to do something on behalf of exercise physiologists in the field, I could
finally see that their heads were in the clouds thousands of miles beyond
reality. It was a huge turn of events for me. I quickly made the
decision to spend my life making and reinforcing open-ended roads for students
in exercise physiology and colleagues already in the public sector.
More often than not, a serious decision (such as the founding of an organization
designed to discover and build a new exercise physiology) results from a
lost of faith in the system (i.e., the infrastructure of exisitng organizations
and/or colleagues). The ASEP leadership has stopped the procrastination.
They are mavericks, and I proud to be one of them.
"Conformity in behavior is a human necessity; conformity
in patterns of thought a human danger." -- Crawford H. Greenewalt [5,
p. 50]
It stands to reason that if out of the box thinking [6] has
resulted in new ideas and even a new way to live, and if such thinking is
to be valued, then it unquestionably the power of thought that we need to
study. In fact, from the Bible, we have the assurance: “As a
man thinketh in his heart, so is he”. Our destiny must come from
within. Hence, the first principle fundamental to the understanding
of the operation of open-ended thinking is, that we cannot surrender our self-knowledge.
We are immersed in a battle for everyday jobs in the public
sector. It cannot be viewed any less a challenge than who has right
to our scientific body of knowledge. Here, I’m not just talking about
the “physiology of exercise” content. Obviously, this core of information
is vital to our professional niche. It is the backbone from which we
look to unify our collective academic subjects that externalize our ability
to integrate sport biomechanics, applied anatomy, psychophysiology, cardiac
rehabilitation, sports nutrition, electrocardiography, stress testing, exercise
prescription, cardiovascular physiology, and other related courses of study.
It is what they bring forth in the way of new knowledge and application of
fresh ideas that enrich our professional niche and, yes, our standards of
professional practice [7], to insure our professional longevity.
21st Century ASEP Exercise Physiologists
It is easy to see why exercise physiologists over the next
20 to 30 years will excel. We are moving forward with our professional
development. As a member of ASEP, you can be sure that the leadership
is working day and night on your behalf. Membership means that you have
dozens of professionals working on your behalf. You may want to read
daily the following affirmation:
As long as I’m a member of ASEP, I’m in the best of company
of exercise physiologists. My future is bright, and the possibility
of success is greatly increased. And both are tremendously important
to me.
The 21st century exercise physiologists are making plans
for all exercise physiologists to benefit from their collective body of knowledge.
Make your thinking big enough to be part of the unfolding plan of increased
technological resources, financial rewards, intellectual growth, emotional
stability, and organizational support. Remember, it is not a problem
thinking correctly about your future; it is a problem not thinking.
So, why not begin now by joining ASEP. Enormous opportunity and power
associate with the decision to declare your intentions.
"It takes a much bigger person, a stronger, more dedicated
and disciplined person to continuously give to others that which is most precious,
most rare, and most valuable -- himself. [4, p. 22]
Talk Positive About ASEP
Read the ASEP “vision" statement [8]. It is the reason
behind our work. It is no mystery. Every professional organization
is guided by a vision. Did you know that for the past 50 years exercise
physiologists have not had a vision to guide them? No wonder we are
in such a mess. There has never been a plan for what we want to become!
What happened? Our failure, as college teachers, is obvious to other
healthcare professionals. They understand all to easy that we have failed
to make the right decisions. But, it is not too late to put integrity
back into the equation. When you declare ASEP as your professional organization,
you are helping to make the impossible on the lips of many the reality of
those who expect a new 21st century exercise physiology. This is big.
Faith in our ability to rise to the occasion is requested of everyone involved.
"There are admirable potentialities in every human being.
Believe in your strength to repeat endlessly to yourself: It all depends
on me." -- Andre Gide
One of the most important lessons in life is that faith requires
action. This is true for those of us who lecture about the benefits
of exercise. Thinking about exercise is not enough. Exercising
is the key (and the action itself) that makes the incredible decision to
exercise an accomplishment and thus reality. By contrast, lack of action
even among those who talk positive about ASEP is the same as not being a
member of ASEP. Am I exaggerating this view? I do not think so;
an impression of a belief is the declaration in the form of action.
And, when action is a daring act of faith, it results from an inner vision
of those who understand the need for change.
ASEP: The Walk of Faith
It is something special to be an integrated force.
Like a single runner among thousands racing to the finish line, the image
bonds the onlookers with the runners. The experience is an integrated
force that may result in the onlookers becoming runners. The walk of
integration may be invisible, but it is a power force that penetrates the
heart and fractures the inertia of past thinking. So, what is the problem
with upgrading your thinking and expectations? Nothing, nothing at all.
After it is done (i.e., the decision is made), the amazing part of it is
that you can hear yourself and others saying: Why didn’t we do this
before now?
Why aren't we living in today's world? Why are we living
in yesterday’s way of thinking? These are interesting questions.
Well, what is exciting to know is that the constant commitment of the ASEP
leadership is all about today. The walk of faith calls every member
to stand up and be heard. It is all about improving what we are before
the eyes of the public sector. Constant, consistent, and continuous
improvement defines the walk. Nothing can be more exciting than this
21st century opportunity. Every member should create a bumper sticker
stating the same. I invite you to join me in the opportunity to laugh
at our challenges, to give of yourself in the dreams we all have for exercise
physiology, and to speak with genuine thanksgiving for what we now have.
These are magical moments in exercise physiology. It is the same beautiful
beginning steps as other healthcare practitioners. Today’s
thinking is tomorrow’s reality! Dream it. Believe it.
The Courage to Act
“Time waits for no one.” “He who hesitates is lost.”
These age-old proverbs speak directly to all exercise physiologists.
Every passing hour is 60 minutes of lost time if we are not working to make
the impossible today possible tomorrow. The impossible is possible;
a statement that I have used a lot during the past several years. My
students hear me saying it, and I hear myself saying, “Show me a miracle.”
I’ve learned that ASEP is nothing short of a miracle! Look back over
the past five years and think how many times the websites said we would
this and we would do that, and the fact is we have done as we have said we
would do. We have survived the beginning.
Now, we (members of ASEP) know our real purpose, that is,
to act, to share, and to live ASEP. Yet, people often ask me:
“Isn’t what you expect too much?” And, I say, “Well, if you want to
change history, you have to get involved.” A desire to see what exercise
physiology can be results from an enormous cost in energy and dedication.
Commitment, both personally and professionally, therefore, is imperative.
Mediocrity is not the winning card. It is certainly less than that which
is required to change minds, to shape ideas, and to put a smile in the heart
of students and their parents. So, laughingly, I come back with the
statement: “There are people among us who understand the source and
power from which new professions arise.” Insight comes from within,
generally after careful struggle to charm an idea or to temp a possibility.
Either way, carelessness will not cut it. The walk of faith must be
a non-stop compulsion to realize professionalism. Anything less simply
will not do. Hence, I have learned that the principle of greatness
is very specific: Success comes through the determination to live one’s
dreams. Stated somewhat differently, success results from a devotion
to action. We will be judged by what we have done and by the love that
we share with others.
The First Step is the Hardest
I have watched several of my friend’s battle with the ASEP
step. Their slowness in acting on faith is a beautiful example “waiting
to see what happens”. While acting carefully is generally good,
the outcome is that it is frequently an excuse for not taking action.
It seems to me that one very important reason for our existence is what we
are doing to make life better for everyone around us. As I think about
it, I wish that everyone would make the first step to breathe more life into
ASEP. A friend of mine said to me: “Why don’t they get it?”
“Why are the students so slow in joining ASEP?” I recall thinking that
it is a matter of time. It is just a matter of time bears repeating.
Eventually, everyone will come to understand the importance of the "first
step".
A person who is unconditionally committed to the professional
development of exercise physiology will inevitably come out of it changed.
I’ve been told that you are not the same person after taking that first step.
That means the person understands the statement: “Where there is no market,
the store is empty.” In other words, where there are no jobs, the
undergraduate degree is useless. Success depends on providing the goods
that people need. The first step is mixed with the realization that
the strength of the partnership between a profession and the public is the
public’s need for the profession. It is in this partnership that the
opportunity exists to educate and discover the full potential of the exercise
physiology niche.
Can You Handle the Courage to Question?
This is the question. Are you a self-starter?
Do you have the courage to put knowledge into action? The answers are
the secret of your decision to act. You cannot afford to avoid making
a choice. This is why you must be courageous. The power to change
lies within each of us. Believe in yourself. Do not be afraid
to ask questions. Do not be lukewarm in your conviction. Believe
that you have the same rights as the other healthcare practitioners.
Never let others limit your view of exercise physiology. It is simply
a matter of determination and persistence [9].
“Know your own mind. Train yourself to think what you
wish to think; be what you wish to be; feel what you wish to feel, and place
no limit…” -- Ernest Holmes
References
1. Schuller, R.H. (1983). Tough Minded Faith for Tender
Hearted People. New York, NY: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
2. Boone, T. (2002). Exercise Physiology of the Future:
Thinking Out of the Box. Professionalization of Exercise Physiologyonline. Vol 5, No 11,
November. [Online].
http://www.asep.org/asep/asep/ThinkingOutsideTheBoxExercisePhysiology.html
3. Boone, T. (2002). Image of Exercise Physiology: Influences
of ASEP and its Leadership. Professionalization of Exercise Physiologyonline. Vol 5, No 5,
May. [Online]. http://www.asep.org/asep/asep/ImageOfExercisePhysiology.html
4. Batten, J.D. & Hudson, L.C. (1966). Dare to Live. West Nyack, NY:
Parker Publishing Company, Inc.
5. Greenewalt, C.H. (1959). The Uncommon Man: The Individual in the Organization.
New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.
6. Boone, T. (2002). Breakthrough Thinking in Exercise Physiology. Professionalization
of Exercise Physiologyonline. Vol 5, No 7, July [Online]. http://www.asep.org/asep/asep/BreakthroughThinking.html
7. American Society of Exercise Physiologists. (2002). ASEP Board of Certification
Standards of Professional Practice. [Online]. http://www.css.edu/ASEP/StandardsofProfessionalPractice.html
8. American Society of Exercise Physiologists. (2002). ASEP
Vision. [Online]. http://www.asep.org/asep/asep/vision.htm
9. Boone, T. (2002). The Lesson of Persistence. ASEPNewsletter. Vol 1, No 2, September. [Online].
http://www.asep.org/asep/asep/ASEPNewsletterSeptember2002.html
