Americanizing Exercise Physiology
Tommy Boone, PhD, MPH, FASEP, EPC
Professor and Chair
Department of Exercise Physiology
The College of St. Scholastica
Duluth, MN 55811
“If you are not supporting the ASEP
organization and effort, you are not helping its members.” -- William
T. Boone
On a hot summer July day in 2004,
it occurred to me that the work of the American Society of Exercise Physiologists
(ASEP) is revolutionary. An impressive volume of documents can be
found on the ASEP website [1]. That July day, Saturday the 17th in
downtown Minneapolis will always be an important transition point from
seeing and hearing dedicated men and women speak about strength conditioning,
training, coaching and athletics to thinking about my interest in healthcare.
Although I have nothing but admiration for their drive and passion to develop
athletes, it is not my cup of tea! And, yet, decades earlier I, too,
had spent time thinking and planning in regards to teaching and coaching
gymnastics. I wrote articles and published books on gymnastics and
physical activities So, what is different now? The short answer
is that I’m different. Admittedly, I don’t swing to handstands on
the parallel bars like I used to. Nonetheless, though, I’m different.
By different, I mean that my “professional
work and thinking” have made me a different person. No longer centered
on athletics and winning, I’m inspired by powerful emotions and profound
reflections of another kind. Americanizing exercise physiology,
for example, is at the center of what I’m am and what I do everyday.
It relates to the selfless efforts and hard work by the ASEP leadership,
like Matthew Wattles (President of ASEP), Steve Jungbauer (Past-President
of ASEP), Robert Robergs (Co-Founder and Past-President of ASEP) and, more
recently, Matthew Lehn of Indiana, Jason Young of Wisconsin, Aliisa Criffield
of Nebraska, Don Diboll of California, and Lonnie Lowery of Ohio; all members
of the ASEP Board of Directors. Just imagine, if their lives were
not challenged enough already, being part of ASEP has certainly raised
the potential for conflict and anxiety (and let us assume as well, personal
and professional sense of doing something good for the right reasons).
Literally speaking, they are transforming exercise physiology from a discipline
to a profession.
Like the development of all new organizations
of significance, there are plenty of ideas and considerations to deal with.
Assimilating facts and working through protocols are always tasks filled
with anxiety and challenges. Even when members of the new organization
try not to offend or rub someone wrong, important differences often demonstrate
themselves early on and throughout the transformation from the old way
of thinking to the new way. The story of the ASEP effort to “Americanize”
exercise physiology is not about the “establishment” pitching in and helping,
or students who are willing to jump in and help to achieve the ASEP vision,
or even the doctorate prepared college professors who could speak favorably
about ASEP. Nor does it involve members of other healthcare professions
reaching out to the ASEP leadership. This is a story of ideas, concepts,
possibilities, hopes, dreams, and the almost insurmountable odds to bring
professionalism to exercise physiology by a very small group of professionals.
I have found that not everyone is
interested in the story. Yet, however mundane (and exciting, too)
the constant level of work is huge and will only increase. Complicated
by the small number of members and, therefore, a budget to confront significant
financial issues, members have learned to stand together and be supportive
of each other. Collectively, they help explain and clarify the messy
place that exercise science finds itself. Ideas about “what is exercise
science” and academic departments that offer kinesiology and human performance
degrees are analyzed for credibility. In the end, though, only a
few faculty members seem willing to shift their thinking from the old to
the new view of exercise physiology and undergo the necessary redefinition
of exercise physiology field. Still, too much emphasis is placed
on sports medicine and its role in exercise physiology through the window
of exercise science. Politics, social and organizational restraints,
and groupthink [2] have all but kept a daring few from genuine acceptance
of the ASEP vision. Clearly, with their help and pressure on others
to reconsider their thinking, the assumption of uncertainty that new organizations
must bear with its development can be adequately challenged and understood.
Americanizers of exercise physiology,
like Dr. Robert Robergs [3] and Mr. Steve Jungbauer [4], are important
to the new exercise physiology academic path and career options.
They help dispel the exercise scientist myth and the certain likelihood
of negative results that associate with it when allowed to go unchallenged.
They are our change agents. Their willingness to get involved is
critical to reforming exercise physiology. Hence, by helping us with
new ideas and adapting to new thinking, they help us unite a nation of
exercise physiologists. In addition, they help to set the tone for
a new healthcare profession of exercise physiologists. In other
words, exercise physiology is understood beyond its limited role as a discipline
to one of playing a primary role in healthcare as educators, researchers,
and business officials. The dream of exercise physiology as a healthcare
profession, therefore, lies in the beliefs organized and managed by ASEP
leaders and members.
The wrenching truth is that increasingly
more non-doctorate exercise physiologists will become responsible for producing
and distributing the ASEP vision and to help others understand the ASEP
goals and objectives [5]. The growing up process is always gradual.
Beyond the initial confusion and curiosity of engaging in new thinking,
there is the belief that every “true” profession has its own professional
organization. Thus, ASEP is integral to the professional development
of exercise physiology. Not surprisingly, until the discussion of
professionalism rises to the top of other issues and concerns (like fitness
instructors and/or personal trainers), the idea and/or need for professionalism
pitched by ASEP members seems to be considered “radically antagonistic”
by some non-members. Those who are loyal to traditional thinking
are challenged to witness much less support the testimony of those who
embrace the new thinking. The architects of every paradigm shift
[6] are not alien to the stereotypes and groupthink. Whether in college,
at the clinic, or inside the fitness facility, the ASEP leadership perceives
Americanization through professionalism as a vital tool for realizing a
share of the healthcare niche.
As part of the preparedness for professional
development, ASEP has recently updated its efforts by writing and submitting
to the senators of Minnesota the first-ever bill for title protection.
In its official newsletter, the task of bringing together the many different
views of exercise physiology into a unified American Exercise Physiology
is a constant effort of the Editors (particularly Dr. Lonnie Lowery).
This raises a vital understanding: when our profession is at war,
which it is with sports medicine, every exercise physiologist belongs and
can only belong to either one or the other. The Americanization
of exercise physiology requires that all members of the profession
are loyal, or else be recognized for what they are. The notion that
a person can have a foot in both camps, in time of greater need for harmony
and support, is impossible. Anything less than a total commitment
results in a truncated attempt to forge a permanent change. Commitment,
courage, persistence, and determination are imperative for a successful
Americanization of Exercise Physiology.
Also, it is very important to point
out that Americanizing exercise physiology is more than being licensed
professionals. It is the total rethinking of what it means to be
a profession with a civic and public consciousness. It is an acceptance
of a new state of mind, of how exercise physiologists think, and their
ideals to professional standards of practice [7]. It is the putting
aside of all thinking that is not exercise physiology and the preservation
of everything possible that is likely to stimulate the development of exercise
physiology through the ASEP initiatives [8]. It is standing up for
ASEP, speaking out when and where appropriate to uphold the ASEP code of
ethics [9], accreditation [10], and board certification [11]; all contribute
to the recognition of the ASEP organization as [the] professional organization
of exercise physiologists. The issue of loyalty is critical to professional
development, thus the reason for the following Pledge of Membership
authorized by the American Society of Exercise Physiologists:
"The object of the ASEP
Society and Pledge of Membership is to support exercise physiologists by
uniting in loyalty to one vision, one philosophy, and one standards of
practice.
Its Motto: Exercise Physiologists
who is not for the American Society of Exercise Physiologists is against
Exercise Physiology as a Healthcare Profession.
Pledge of Membership:
I pledge myself to be the very best professional exercise physiologist;
to promote with all of my power a professional knowledge of the exercise
physiology, the professional guidance of exercise physiology by the American
Society of Exercise Physiologists; and to support other ASEP members by
my every word and act in our collective struggle for the ethical and professional
development of exercise physiology as a healthcare profession.
In conclusion, to those devoted to the
ASEP organization and the Americanization of Exercise Physiology, the objective
is to elevate all exercise physiologists to a higher level of professional
respect and financial stability. It is the members’ way of developing
and sharing their own “language of exercise physiology”. In fact,
learning to speak like an exercise physiologist, accessing better career
opportunities, and assimilating new ideas for healthcare delivery are all
vital glimpses of our new professional careers. ASEP membership is,
therefore, “a badge of distinction” that defines the process of integration
by which all exercise physiologists must engage.
References
1. American Society of Exercise
Physiologists. (2004). ASEP Contact Page. [Online]. http://www.asep.org/
2. Boone, T. (2003). Overcoming
Institutional Inertia with Leadership. Professionalization of Exercise
Physiologyonline. 6:2:February.
[Online]. http://www.asep.org/asep/asep/OvercomingInstitutionalInertiaWithLeadership.html
3. Robergs, R. (2004). Home Page:
Exercise Physiologist and Biochemist, Welcome to My Web Site. [Online].
http://www.unm.edu/~rrobergs/index.htm
4. Jungbauer, S. (2004). Home Page:
Certified Exercise Physiologist. [Online]. http://www.jungbauer.org/Steve.htm
5. American Society of Exercise
Physiologists. (2004). ASEP Goals and Objectives. [Online]. http://www.asep.org/goals.htm
6. Boone, T. (2003). The ASEP Organization
is a Paradigm Shift. Professionalization of Exercise Physiologyonline.
6:2:February. [Online]. http://www.asep.org/asep/asep/TheASEPparadigmShift.html
7. American Society of Exercise
Physiologists. (2004). ASEP Board of Certification Standards of Professional
Practice. [Online]. http://www.asep.org/standards/
8. Boone, T. (2004). The Professional
Practice of Exercise Physiology and Ethical Thinking. Professionalization
of Exercise Physiologyonline.
7:2:February. [Online]. http://www.asep.org/asep/asep/ProfessionalPracticeANDethicalTHINKING.html
9. American Society of Exercise
Physiologists. (2004). ASEP Code of Ethics. [Online]. http://www.asep.org/ethics.htm
10. American Society of Exercise
Physiologists. (2004). ASEP Board of Accreditation. [Online]. http://www.asep.org/accreditation/
11. American Society of Exercise
Physiologists. (2004). ASEP Board of Certification. [Online]. http://www.asep.org/epcmanual/
