Journal of Professional Exercise Physiology          

ISSN 1550-963X



Editor: Tommy Boone, PhD, MPH, MAM, FASEP, EPC

Vol 7 No 8 August 2009

An Internet Electronic Journal Dedicated to Exercise Physiology as a Healthcare Profession


What Does It Mean to Be an Exercise Physiologist Today?
Tommy Boone, PhD, MPH, MAM, FASEP, EPC
Professor and Chair
Department of Exercise Physiology
The College of St. Scholastica
Duluth, MN 55811

What is the heart of exercise physiology?  What does it mean to be an exercise physiologist today?  In this article, I describe two different answers to this question.  The first is the traditional version of exercise physiology.  The second is the ASEP vision.  Both are present in the United States, and both are in conflict with each other. 

Please appreciate that I write from both passion and concern.  The passion is my desire to help students find better career opportunities in the public sector.  My concern comes from watching and hearing about students having such great difficulty in finding respect and credibility after graduating from college.  As a college teacher of nearly 40 years, I am of the belief that an undergraduate degree should set the stage for meaningful employment.  It is that simple for me. 

Since the founding of ASEP in 1997, I have been convinced that we can and should come together to deal with challenges and obstacles to being an exercise physiologist.  The ASEP way is clearly the best way of doing just that.  After all, it is the reality of exercise physiology as a profession.  Much, if not most, of what it is has been designed specifically from that of other established organizations, such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, and nursing. 

The idea that exercise physiology should stay within the generic organization of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) makes no sense at all.  The ASEP exercise physiologists understand that they need their own professional organization just as other healthcare professionals have their own individual organizations.  They get this point.  Why other exercise physiologists are so slow to do so isn’t a mystery.  It is more of the gaming that goes on within the context of the existing ACSM organization. 

In general, academic exercise physiologists support the traditional paradigm of ACSM as their primary organization.  Of course this is a major mistake that is obvious to anyone with his or her eyes open.  The second way of seeing exercise physiology, the ASEP way, has been around just over 10 years.  It is the product of the necessity to change direction from just being a research discipline to a healthcare profession.   Research itself benefits exercise physiologists with the doctorate degree, but does little to help the no-doctorates find employment.

This article seeks to explain some of the difficulties with the change process.  Understandably, there is conflict between the old and new way of thinking about exercise physiology.  A lot of work is yet to be done, especially across the next serveral decades.  However, what is at the heart of the transition from the old to the new is the need to update the way exercise physiologists think about themselves.  Even if the majority of academic exercise physiologists refuse to listen to the needs of their students, it isn't a credible reason to not work to change "what is" to "what can be." Not surprisingly, many college teachers are interested only in doing research.  That's why they are happy when they can get their teaching load reduced.   

In retrospect, being part of the ASEP experience has been educational on many different fronts.  The most obvious change is that teaching is recognied as being important in helping college students develop as professionals.  There is also the appreciation for the struggle to move from ACSM to ASEP.  It hasn't been easy, and it isn't likely to get much better for several years.  To state the obvious, how the reader sees exercise physiology is to a large extent the product of what is teachers are willing to share with them.   

It is also based on what the reader has read about the change process and the work towards professionalism in exercise physiology.  To ask the obvious question, "How many articles have you read in PEPonline or JPEP?"  How often do college teachers relate the content of these articles to class work?  Probably, the answer is not very many.  After all, it is also obvious that hardly any academic exercise physiologists actually publish in either ASEP professionalism journal. 

So, let me ask you this question:  “What is the real reason for not abandoning the comfort of our familiar beliefs and practices?”   I believe two things.  There is the obvious answer and the unobvious answer.  First, the obvious answer is that the existence of decades of failed leadership has set the stage for deception and indifference.  The desire to be recognized as a physiologist and scientist is so strong that it is a psychological indication of weakness and the lack of courage to acknowledge the truth.  The end result is the continuing repetition of mistakes.  

Why? Because it is very difficult to break free from decades of thinking, history, and familiar practices of the prevailing culture.  In plain words, if the academic exercise physiologists are not fearful and overwhelmed by the ASEP paradigm shift, then, they must be too caught up in their status and promotion issues.  Perhaps, they believe it is too risky or that they will have to abandon the comfort of their position with sports medicine.  Whatever the reason, many turn a blind eye to changing.  

The second reason is this:  There exist within the old paradigm the need to defend its hierarchy, power, and bureaucracy.  The essential lesson is that both exercise physiologists and non-exercise physiologists come together to maintain the sports medicine path of organizational status.  Their shared power (and often times, their greed) is exploited however necessary to effectively destroy the competition.  

In short, then, they aren’t interested in losing membership to another organization even if it is right thing to do.  If this is the case, is it selfish and non-productive.  I think so, but without a doubt the behavior exists under the false perception of necessity.  Without the ability to think straight, their unrecognized fear and insecurity moves them to act in unprofessional ways.  This is a sad statement of the collective actions of many academic exercise physiologists.       

However, this analysis is appropriate and relevant, and I have learned that it is difficult for my colleagues to break free from the prevailing failed rhetoric of yesterday's thinking.  Traditional ways and strong communities of shared thinking tjat research and publishing are the only thing important have created a belief of security.  And yet, while they feel comfortable in sports medicine and exercise science, they have failed to think beyond themselves. 

Students suffer from the lack of financially sound career opportunities in exercise physiology.  Just think about it.  It wasn't until ASEP surfaced did anyone realize that exercise physiologists did not have their own Code of Ethics much less their own professional standards of practice.  No one questioned the fact that students were not accessing credible jobs.  The so-called "clinical" exercise physiology path isn't the answer.  Indeed, it gradually being consumed by physical therapy and nursing.  

The question is this:  Where are the leaders in exercise physiology?  The only logical answer is there haven’t been any leaders because they have been taught to think as healthcare professionals. This shortage of leadership has allowed the leadership from the established professions to bring into their practice documents the power of exercise as medicine. It has encouraged behaviors that are simply inappropriate for adults.  

The ASEP vision is entirely different.  The leadership is not acting in isolation to their problems, but rather addressing them with a meaningful interconnectedness between professionalism and credibility.  This has been done through very specific developments in accreditation, board certification, and standards of practice.  

Now, the challenge for the ASEP leaders is to learn how to deal with the change process and the isolation, criticism, and indifference from the old paradigm.  Also, while it obviously becomes challenging on occasion to deal with these conditions, the ASEP leadership is mentally and spiritually at work to stay the course, to stay focused, and to stay on target. 

What I understand is that I am not a failure, regardless of the lack of help or their unwillingness to get the big picture.  So, I say to myself, perhaps, more often than I need to: “Just do the job.  Don’t take it personally.  Time will take care the issues, obstacles, and challenges.  Change is process that takes place on many years if not decades.  It is not an event.  So, stay the course.  Never give up.”