BooneThink

Several days I spoke with a colleague who was excited about the upcoming meetings of an organization that has been around for 50 or so years. He felt that the depth and diversity of the published content were major reasons for his excitement. It occurred to me to ask him if he planned on attending the ASEP national conference. Not to my surprise he shook to say “no.”

Although I wasn’t surprised, I was disappointed. The danger is the more exercise physiologists support organizations other than their professional organization the road to growth is extended. By all accounts, the majority of other professionals like physical therapists and nurses, without a doubt, understand the importance of supporting their own professional organization.

As I recall having read somewhere, vision precedes reality and reality is often a long, long road in realizing. Understanding this point is why I wanted to say to my colleague, we have vision, it may not be our reality today as we would wish it to be, but it is in the making. The road to success, therefore, is before us as long as we stay on the road and not move from it as I think colleagues do when they attend other meetings rather than their professional meeting.

As Norman Lear put it, “One person can matter….” So, I ask my colleague, “How else are we to free ourselves from our history of mistakes, to resolve the paradoxes of what is exercise physiology, to transcend conflicts among the academic exercise physiologists, except that we remember who we are and we start the essential task of our own professional development by attending our own professional meetings?”

How many times have you asked yourself the question, “What is a professional education?” My guess is not very often. Why would a student or a faculty member ask the question? Professional education is not generally a course taught to students in exercise physiology. College teachers would probably not be well prepared to teach such a course, having not taken a professionalism of exercise physiology course in their graduate studies. So, with that said, what is a professional education? The answer is reasonably straight forward. It includes the learning of specialized knowledge and laboratory skills, such as that which exists in the course content and application thereof in regards to the following courses:

· Exercise physiology

· Kinesiology (applied anatomy)

· Sports nutrition

· Psychophysiology

· Cardiac rehabilitation

· Sports biomechanics

· Physiological Assessments

· Exercise electrocardiography and graded exercise testing

· Advanced exercise physiology

· Exercise physiology research and statistics

A professional education also includes the acculturation of the values and attitudes of the exercise physiology profession that begins with the first day the students enter the professional education program. And, regardless of how students may think otherwise, perhaps, not knowing or failing to understand professionalism, their professional competence is dependent to a great degree on their attitudes and values. The purpose of this piece is to describe what I believe is a problem in exercise physiology and/or related exercise science programs of study. The problem is multi-faceted, but my comments are limited to just the attitudes of the students, especially when they are in an exercise physiology program while continuing to uphold exercise science or kinesiology as being equal.

From a professor’s point of view, I can state without hesitation that few college teachers would want to put the student’s back against the wall when different points of view are discussed. Yet, clearly, while students are eager to learn about exercise physiology, sports training, and cardiac rehab, often times, they lack the desire or even the understanding required of a professional education. Self-improvement is often defined as having something to do with athletics or a new certification. It has little to do with a “professional education.” Some students tend to forget about the the role of teacher when it comes to being responsible for class content. And, some students just don’t get the idea behind talking about or reading about professionalism or professional accountability or even a code of ethics. Questions and lectures about ethical behavior, standards of practice, and leadership are often poorly understood with little patience for serious study.

Why some students do not get the importance and the value in studying professional behaviors and the ethics of healthcare practitioners is primarily, I think, a function of their undergraduate education. In short, I think when students have not been exposed to professional development, they have the tendency to discount the study of professionalism to avoid feeling bad about their undergraduate degree. Of course, seldom would a teacher argue that the non-exercise physiology degree is meaningless. Why then do the students not get that the teacher is simply saying exercise science, kinesiology, or sports sciences are not singly or even collectively exercise physiology? Again, the answer is probably more complex than I understand it today but it seems to have a lot to do with the student’s need to protect his/her sense of identity.

Students who show disrespect for the teacher’s role in lecturing on professionalism and professional development of exercise physiology demonstrate the wrong behavior in class. Disrespecting teachers is not an act of professionalism. Moreover, when students fail to develop respectful behaviors in their interactions with faculty and peers, their behavior is likely to carry over into other areas of the students’ education. This disrespect for the faculty is not only unprofessional but, frankly, should not be be tolerated. In summary, students do not have the right to act in antagonistic ways that distract from the teaching of the professionalism of exercise physiology. The principle of respect is embedded in the infrastructure of professional development and the professional relationship with the faculty.

To tell the truth or the non-truth and to know the difference is the topic of my comments. In other words, what is reality? If a person tells the truth about the American Society of Exercise Physiologists, is that person defining the reality of exercise physiology? I would like to think so, but that is not generally the case.

In fact, what I’m convinced of is that sports medicine exercise physiologists of all academic levels often speak of ASEP as if they are speaking the truth. But, instead, they speak non-truth because they do not know or care to know the reality of ASEP. Why does the ASEP organization exist? What is the intent of the leadership? How has it helped students and exercise physiology?

So, have you heard your colleagues or others as well when they speak of ASEP with such words as, for example: “I believe that membership in ASEP is no more than 200 members!” Now, think about it. How would such a person actually know the membership number? My point is that not knowing often requires the qualifier, “I believe.” Such a person does not know the actual membership reality of ASEP.

Now, even if the membership is 200 or 350 members, it is foolish to think that the members lack integrity or that they collectively represent something altogether different than when the membership is 1000 or 5000. Size does not define credibility. Such truth should not have to be explained to professionals. Those who speak falsely because they don’t know the difference between reality and truth are not credible.

Those who do know the ASEP reality and speak falsely about it are not telling the truth. When colleagues tell untruths, they are purposefully misrepresenting reality because they are concerned about others acknowledging the truth and how it might influence them to join ASEP. That sports medicine is “the” organization of exercise physiologists or that the organization is, in some way, responsible for the professional development of exercise physiology are excellent examples of untruths (lies) passed along as truths.

Note: My comments are motivated by a section (On The Nature of Truth) of a larger piece by J. H. White (1996). The Power in Words. [Online]. http://www.aniota.com/~jwhite/words.html#PROP

How many exercise physiologists are blogging? I don’t know. I do know that, if possible, exercise physiologists are doing research. They have an interest and a desire to publish. After all, exercise physiologists believe that if they aren’t publishing, they aren’t worth much. Also, it isn’t simply a matter of publishing in just any journal either. You must publish in the “x” journals, that is, those that matter.

The idea is that publishing in non-x journals can be done by anyone, so it must be a waste of time. Young doctorate prepared exercise physiologists, in particular, often worry about not publishing in the “x” journals. Hence, even if they could publish in the non-x journals, they usually forego the possibility (not that it is a given by any means).

Publishing a book is high on the agenda of exercise physiologists, too. Everybody wants to write a book, but very few ever do. There are many reasons for wanting to write a book, from promotion, tenure, reputation, and game playing. The latter is especially important to some exercise physiologists. They are driven by the number and type of publications.

Seldom, if ever, it seems they are interested in writing a book about something other than sports training, physiology of exercise, or graded exercise testing. Why should they? None of their professors in earlier years while in school talked about anything other than the usual redundancy of the obvious day to day ideas of exercise physiology.

Blogging has no value or, at least, that is what seems to be true. I wonder what benefits might come from blogging if exercise physiologists were to take it up. The likelihood of them doing so is small, as is presently the case throughout the Internet. Where are the exercise physiology bloggers? Where are the different, new or “whatever” ideas about anything? Just because it is not conventional (i.e., academic) writing doesn’t make it necessarily less important.

All forms of writing convey messages. Why shouldn’t a blog have value? I think it has value, and it would be a mistake to dismiss blogging. Aside from personal views, blogging allows for the expression of many ideas with the opportunity to debate ideas and to challenges points of view. In other words, blogging can be considered an integral part of the discussions regarding the professionalism of exercise physiology.

Professors from all fields of study are blogging. They get it. Why is it exercise physiologists are not blogging? From law professors to philosophy professors, they get the power in blogging. They engage in discussions that allow for increased opportunities to learn “how to think” about their professions. Blogging encourages the examination of ideas in order to think more clearly about issues, especially when frustrated with the mainstream thinking. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. These are just some of the reasons I blog.

What is keeping you from blogging?

What athletes need to know about supplements and sports?

1. To be an athlete requires dedication to practicing the right skills.
2. To learn the right athletic skills is to appreciate the mentoring of a good coach.
3. To coach with integrity is to help athletes achieve their goals with hard work.
4. Hard work and success develop from psychological and physical commitment.
5. An ethical commitment athletics is consistent with an honest effort to win.
6. Violating ethical principles is wrong as is “winning at all costs.”
7. Honest champions know who they are and cheaters do, too.
8. Sound nutrition is important to a strong body.
9. Diets that meet the athlete’s energy needs do not require sports supplements.
10. Deficiencies in training are as bad as nutritional deficiencies.
11. Athletes who use dietary supplements are not thinking straight.
12. Athletes who consume an inadequate diet are not straight thinkers.
13. Supplements cannot compensate for failure to eat and train properly.
14. Attempting to improve athletics with supplements is an ethical problem.
15. Ergogenic aids are banned for ethical reasons of health and character.
16. Taking advantage of a competitor is unfair, unethical, and unhealthy.
17. Ethical thinking athletes should not use dietary supplements.
18. Ingesting supplements is not harmless.
19. Changing athletes’ behavior towards supplements is imperative.
20. Using supplements to improve athletics is not rational.
21. Athletes can eat a normal diet like non-athletes do.
22. Little evidence supports supplementation by protein and amino acids.
23. Supplementation with HMB may be safe, but is it ethical?
24. Use of testosterone prohormones is unethical, useless, and dangerous.
25. Herbal supplements have no value in athletics.
26. Carnitine deficiency does not exist in athletes.
27. Supplementation with carnitine is another distraction from sound sports.
28. Ingestion of sodium bicarbonate on high-intensity athletics is inconclusive.
29. Creatine supplementation on endurance exercise is meaningless.
30. Evidence to support supplements to stimulate the immune system is lacking.
31. Antioxidant supplementation to improve exercise lacks evidence.
32. Sports supplements are unethical, unnecessary, and disappointing.
33. Risks exist both in athletic performance and character development.
34. Sports supplements contaminate athletics.

For an interesting publication on this topic, refer to the following reference: Maughan, R.J., King, D.S., and Lea, T. (2004). Dietary Supplements. Journal of Sports Sciences.

I read somewhere that “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart….” Some years ago, I created a free electronic journal to discuss issues and concerns important about the professional development of exercise physiology. The name of the e-journal is Professionalization of Exercise Physiologyonline.

It is no secret that the majority of the articles I’ve published have come from one person, me! The message is that too few exercise physiologists know why a professional journal is important. These same people know all too well why a research journal is important, however.

Nonetheless, for some years now, I have not stopped thinking about the professional development of exercise physiology. I wish there were more people who would write consistently about professionalism and its importance to exercise physiologists.

By faith alone, I looked at the computer early each morning with anticipation that some of my colleagues submitted an article to the PEPonline journal. By default, the approval rate is extremely high. I would smile, my family would smile, and my students would smile at you for having crossed the apparently impossible line of doing so.

And, thus I say to all of you who may occasionally click on www.boonethink.com/  — why not organize your thoughts into a paper, submit the paper to me for publication and, then, sit back and smile. You are now a published author. Doesn’t that sound great?

Everything is possible with ASEP, and it is even easier with PEPonline. Why? Because, when you write a professional article, you are either asking for an understanding of a particular idea, philosophy, view or, perhaps, a change in attitude towards the profession of exercise physiology.

An amazing thing happens when we start thinking like professionals, acting like professionals, and living a professional life. The more we do so, individually and collectively, the more all exercise physiologists will benefit.