Periodically some list members ask for advice about which certification to
seek – well, the following research study showed that NSCA and ACSM appeared
to be the best options and recommended that higher levels of formal
educational training should be regarded as highly advisable for all fitness
certification schemes.

—————-

J of Strength & Conditioning Research: Vol 16, No 1, pp. 19–24

Malek, MH, Nalbone DP, Berger DE, Coburn JW Importance of health science
education for personal fitness trainers.

ABSTRACT

Using a questionnaire developed for the current study, the Fitness
Instructors Knowledge Assessment (FIKA©), we examined relations between
commonly used indicators of knowledge (training and experience) and actual
knowledge in the five areas of (a) nutrition, (b) health screening, (c)
testing protocols, (d) exercise prescription, and (e) general training
knowledge regarding special populations. FIKA provided reliable measures of
knowledge in these areas, which are of critical importance in developing an
optimal fitness program for the client and for avoiding unnecessary injuries.
A survey of 115 health fitness professionals revealed that a bachelor’s
degree in the field of exercise science and possession of American College of
Sports Medicine or the National Strength and Conditioning Association
certifications as opposed to other certifications were strong predictors of a
personal trainer’s knowledge, whereas years of experience was not related to
knowledge. These findings suggest that personal fitness trainers should have
licensing requirements, such as a bachelor’s degree in exercise science and
certification by an organization whose criteria are extensive and widely
accepted, before being allowed to practice their craft…….

Discussion

The findings of this study address a number of issues raised by the ACSM Code
of Ethics. The health fitness professional, by definition, is a professional
who uses an individualized approach to assess, motivate, educate, and train
clients regarding their health and fitness needs. However, to realize these
objectives, the personal trainer must have a strong foundation in exercise
science. This can best be accomplished through formal education.

The fact that an individual has worked for years as a personal trainer or has
met a minimum standard for passing a certification exam should not be
misconstrued as proof of competence in designing a safe and optimal fitness
program. As such, using years of experience as a barometer of the
capabilities of potential hires in the health fitness industry may need to be
reconsidered. Although many in the health fitness industry believe that
practical experience is key, the results of this study show that formal
education is a far better predictor of personal trainers’ health fitness
knowledge than years of experience.

In addition, when it comes to certifying organizations, all certificates are
not created equal. Certification by ACSM or NSCA was associated with much
higher levels of health fitness knowledge than certification by any other
certifying organization, or even certifications from several other certifying
organizations.

Most certifying organizations do not require a personal trainer candidate to
possess a college degree, or even to have completed college courses in
exercise science. In fact, many organizations promote 7-day or weekend
workshops in preparation for their examination. It seems unlikely that an
individual will learn even the basics of this discipline in such a short
time. Perhaps, in an effort to bring more credibility to the profession,
certifying organizations should require a minimal number of core
college-level courses completed, as identified by Fuller et al. (4) , for
their personal trainer certification.

At McGill University’s athletic department, in Quebec, Canada, a 14-week
course that covers topics in anatomy, biomechanics, exercise physiology,
exercise design and analysis, injury prevention, nutrition, and weight
training has been offered to those who want to pursue a career in personal
training; perhaps such a program should be implemented by 2- or 4-year
colleges throughout the United States….

Practical Applications

Individuals seeking the assistance of personal trainers deserve to have a
health fitness professional who possesses a proper level of knowledge,
skills, and abilities in exercise science to design a safe, injury-free, and
optimal fitness program. The results of the current study suggest that a
person or health fitness club seeking to hire a personal trainer would do
well to ask 2 key questions: (a) “Do you have a college degree in exercise
science?”; (b) “Are you certified by ACSM or NSCA?” In our sample,
respondents who answered ‘yes’ to both of these questions scored an average
of 85% on the FIKA questionnaire, compared with only 36% for those who
answered ‘no’ to both questions, and 55% for those who answered ‘yes’ to only
1 of the 2 questions. These findings suggest that personal fitness trainers
should have requirements such as a bachelor’s degree in exercise science and
certification by an organization whose criteria are extensive and widely
accepted.

In 1994, California Assembly member Vivian Bronshavag (D-Haywood) proposed a
bill that would require fitness instructors in California to pass an
examination issued by the state to train clients. However, given a lack of
statistical data (e.g., injury rates) and lack of support from professional
associations (e.g., ACSM) on the effectiveness such a measure might have, the
proposed bill was defeated.

Many other health-related professionals (e.g., nutritionists, certified
athletic trainers) are required to earn a degree that imparts necessary
health-related knowledge and an appropriately rigorous certification before
practicing their craft. It is the authors’ contention that such standards
should be given serious consideration for personal fitness trainers as well.
In recent years, the number of lawsuits brought forth as a result of alleged
negligence on the part of fitness professionals has dramatically risen.
Inadequate screening and premature certification of unqualified candidates
can expose both health clubs and certifying organizations to liability should
clients suffer injuries due to the negligence of an unqualified personal
fitness trainer. Thus, it is in the best interest of all parties involved -
clients, personal trainers, health clubs, certifying organizations, and
society as a whole – to implement standards that may reduce the incidence of
such injuries and the resulting legal entanglements….

*** One further comment is necessary – many degrees in exercise science,
kinesiology, exercise physiology, physical therapy, chiropractic and even
medicine do not provide sufficient, in-depth formal education in strength
science or its applications, so that any accreditation scheme also has to
take into account the curriculum covered by any graduate.

While I fully agree that many years of practical experience is no substitute
for a combination of appropriate university education and practical
experience, I have encountered numerous graduates (even PhDs) in exercise
science, medicine, physical therapy and kinesiology who cannot demonstrate
some of the most basic strength training exercises or who do not know the
difference between a deadlift and a clean, between the different types of
squat and between the different types of standing press (mind you, I have
come across many personal trainers who also demonstrate similar ignorance).

It is clear that we have fingers to point in both directions and that a far
better certification approach needs to be created by all parties who are
involved in the profession. For example, very few certifying organisations
apply a thorough hands-on practical examination. Imagine awarding
qualifications in surgery to a doctor or a mechanic who has never attempted
the relevant procedure in person!

————–

*** Another comment in response to the input that McGill University’s
athletic department in Canada, offers a 14-week course covering topics in
anatomy, biomechanics, exercise physiology, exercise design and analysis,
injury prevention, nutrition, and weight training to those who want to
pursue a career in personal training:

At the University of the Witwatersrand (“Wits”) in Johannesburg, S Africa,
where I taught all of my adult life, I ran similar certification courses like
that for many years in all of those subjects, plus much more, over a period
of 6 months. In fact, through the Centre for Continuing Education there, we
offered certification in strength & conditioning, personal training, aerobics
instruction, sports restoration & massage, and seated fitness (for special
populations, with my disabled wife as course manager). All courses were
offered at Basic (6-month), Intermediate (6-month) and Advanced (12 month)
levels, with practical training every Saturday (4 hours) in all aspects of
the strength training world. My “Supertraining”, “Facts & Fallacies of
Fitness” and “Sports Restoration & Massage” (with Dr Yessis) books all were
born as part of the input for those courses, so that you may gather some idea
of the level of input by paging through those texts.

At one stage I even coordinated and offered S African membership of the NSCA,
but that came to a rapid halt when the Executive stated that I could not do
offer that sort of service in any formal way because I “was not a CSCS”. As
a result several dozen S African NSCA members just faded into history.

As part of their formal evaluation, my students all had to execute two major
written projects analysing and designing fitness or strength programs (50-100
pages long), pass a multiple choice and short essay examination, pass a “viva
voce” (oral examination) on all course content, attend all practical sessions
(only excuse was a valid medical certificate) and pass a 4 hour long group
practical examination. In the aerobics course, students had to design and
teach a condensed 20-30 minute class. In the Sports Massage course, I had a
few Romanian and Bulgarian graduates and top coaches as guest teachers.

All academic input was offered only by those with a PhD and 10 years of
teaching experience, with medical related topics being handled by well-known
medical practitioners and physiotherapists who had been in practice for many
years. At one stage I also had well-known Russian scientist, Dr
Verkhoshansky, stay with me for about 5 weeks and teach on the course. Another
one of my overseas expert guest lecturers was Dr Michael Yessis. I
even had TaiChi and other martial arts experts, as well as dance
professionals, as guests to teach human movement and motor control from other
points of view. I also required that delegates from the worlds of strength
training, aerobics, special fitness and massage attended at least one basic
class in one another’s disciplines.

Unfortunately, all of those Wits University Fitness Certification courses
ended when I moved to the USA and American universities do not really seem to
be all that interested in running that sort of extensive certification
scheme, so I have chosen to offer some of the same input via my current
Supertraining Camps. Those who attend these will now understand why I may
end up teaching for over 18 hours a day on those Camps – there is just so
much to learn! Anyway, who knows if something will materialise so that I can
facilitate offering the same sort of high level training in all aspects of
strength training? The market needs it, but as the above research paper
shows, many fitness organisations are offering inadequate training in this
regard.

Dr Mel Siff
Denver, USA
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Supertraining/

This ACSM article which summarises some of the history of sports science and
exercise physiology in the USA may be of interest to list members. If anyone
has come across a comparable resource on sports science in Europe and other
parts of the world, please share them with us. I have provided some of the
history of strength science and training in Ch 1 of my “Supertraining” book
and David Webster has given extensive information in his “Iron Game”. Dr
Terry Todd in Texas has also written a great deal about the history of
strength training and competition.

—————

http://www.css.edu/users/tboone2/asep/jan11.htm#10.

ACSM and Exercise Physiology
Past, Present, and Future

Roberts A Robergs, PhD

The Historical Development of Exercise Physiology in the United States

A historical perspective on the interaction between ACSM and exercise
physiology provides a developmental scheme that clearly justifies the
professionalization of exercise physiology. History has also clearly
documented the original mission of ACSM, and therefore provides an
interesting comparison to present functions; a comparison that shows how and
why disciplines who contribute to sports medicine must independently pursue
steps towards professionalization.

The Origins of Exercise Physiology in the United States

There is no single widely accepted definition of exercise physiology.
However, a satisfactory definition would be the study of how exercise
influences the structure and function of the human body, both during
exercise, as well as after long term exposure to repeated exercise
participation. It is difficult to state a specific date where one can
recognize the combining of the scientific knowledge of human physiological
adaptation to exercise into the science of exercise physiology. However,
thanks to excellent texts on the history of the ACSM (6), and the history of
exercise science and exercise physiology (9,18), there are sources that
provide answers to this query.

The study of exercise physiology has a long history (5-9,11,12,18). It is
impressive that one of the first monographs written on exercise physiology
occurred as early as 1855 in the American Journal of Medical Sciences (10).
The first textbook on exercise physiology was published in 1888 (Table 1)
(8,9). Many additional monographs followed, and during the 1890s George W.
Fitz had established probably the first exercise physiology laboratory in the
United States within Harvard University’s Department of Anatomy, Physiology
and Physical Training (6). By the 20th century, there was a solid framework
in place for exercise physiology to be a branch of physiology focused on
understanding the body’s physiological responses to exercise stress (8,9).

When reading of the history of exercise physiology, the work and life of R.
Tait McKenzie stand out as pivotal features. McKenzie was trained as a
physical educator (1891) and physician (1892), and became the Chair of the
Department of Physical Education at the University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia in 1904. McKenzie was influenced by the anthropometry work of
Dudley Sargent, and applied his interests in exercise by implementing
physical examinations before and after exercise training to quantify the
beneficial effects of regular physical activity on the human body (5,6).
McKenzie recognized very early the important connection between medicine and
physital education. Therefore, it is fitting that the founders of ACSM stated
in many of their initial speeches that they owe credit to McKenzie for
cementing a strong belief in their lives for the role of exercise in disease
prevention and health promotion (6).

Apart from the life of McKenzie, another landmark event in the recognition
and future development of exercise physiology was the appointment of
Archibald V. Hill as the Joddrell Professor of Physiology at University
College, London in 1923. Hill chose to express the importance of exercise
physiology on normal, healthy individuals in his inaugural address. Hill’s
support of the discipline of exercise physiology impressed Ernest Jokl, a
physical educator and one of the founding members of ACSM, who noted in 1925
that because of Hill, exercise physiology was now an academic topic in its
own right (6,8). Note that these events occurred prior to 1930, over 75 years
ago, and despite this time as a recognized academic topic exercise physiology
is still not a profession.

Pioneering research in exercise physiology occurred at the Carnegie Nutrition
Laboratory during the period between 1910 – 1945. The formation of the
Harvard Fatigue Laboratory in 1927 was also instrumental in adding to
exercise physiology research, and continued until 1947 (6,12). However, the
legacy of the Harvard Fatigue Laboratory continued in the lives of the
researchers who gained experience under its founder Lawrence J. Henderson and
director D. Bruce Dill. Due to the researchers of the Harvard Fatigue
Laboratory, exercise physiology laboratories were developed at the University
of Minnesota (Ancel Keys and Henry L. Taylor), at navy and army military
bases (D. Bruce Dill, Steven Horvath), the University of Southern California
(Laurence Morehouse), and Indiana University (Sid Robinson). By 1950, of the
16 United States universities who had physical education programs with a
laboratory, 15 used the laboratory for exercise physiology teaching and
research (6,12).

In these early years, the discipline of exercise physiology was a component
of the field of physical education, and as such was represented by the
American Physical Education Association (APE), formed in 1919. The APE
eventually combined with what is now recognized as the American Alliance for
Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) (Table 2).

References:

5. Berryman, J.W. The tradition of the ’six things non-natural’: Exercise and
medicine from
Hippocrates through Ante-Bellum. In Pandolph, K.B. (Ed). Exerc Sports Sci
Rev. 17:515-559,
1989.

6. Berryman, J.W. Out of many, one: A history of the American College of
Sports Medicine. Human Kinetics, Champaign, Illinois, 1995.

7. Books, G.A. The exercise physiology paradigm in contemporary biology: To
molbiol or not to molbiol – That is the question. Quest. 39:232, 1987.

8. Buskirk, E.R. The emergence of exercise physiology. P. 55-74, In Brooks,
G.R. (Ed). Perspectives on the academic discipline of physical education.
Human Kinetics, 1981.

9. Buskirk, E.R. Exercise physiology, Part I: Early history in the United
States. p. 367-396. In Massengale, J.D. & R.A. Swanson. The history of
exercise and sports science. Human Kinetics. 1997.

10. Byford, W.H. On the physiology of exercise. Am J Med Sci. 30:32-42, 1855.

11. Carter, L & C. Bentley. The licensing of exercise physiologists. Fitness
Management. Feb: 36-38, 1997.

12. Chapman, C.B. The long reach of Harvard’s Fatigue Laboratory, 1926-1947.
Persp Biol Med. 34:17-33, 1990.

13. Dill, D.B. The economy of muscular exercise. Physiol Rev. 16:263-291,
1936.

14. Hartwell, E.M. On the physiology of exercise. Boston Med Surg J.
116:297-301, 1887.

15. Jaszeczak, S. (Ed). Encyclopedia of Associations. 32nd Ed’n, Vol.1,
National Organizations of the US. Gale Research, Detroit, MI, 1997.

16. MacFarlane, T.J. (Ed’r). Encyclopedia of International Organizations.
31st Ed, Gale Research, Detroit, MI, 1997.

17. Steinhaus, A.H. Chronic effects of exercise. Physiol Rev. 13:103-147,
1933.

18. Tipton, C.M. Exercise physiology, Part II: A contemporary historical
perspective. p. 396-438 In Massengale, J.D. & R.A. Swanson. The history of
exercise and sports science. Human Kinetics, 1997.

—————

Dr Mel C Siff
Denver, USA
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Supertraining/

Someone wrote anonymously:

This seems to be the standard “health-site” style article. Little or
innacurate substantiation, coupled with a small host of recommendations off
the top of one’s head. Vitamin-book style, food X is high in vitamin Y so
it must be good for you writing.

The author’s “Bad” Foods:

I find it particularly interesting that, when referring to high sugar
content, this individual does not comment on the potentially harmful (and
long-term) effects to the body’s insulin response and glucose tolerance
levels. The author seems more concerned with “tooth decay”. What she does
not centre on is that foods high in sugar are potentially setting up
children for a lifetime of more serious illness. (1) Her comment on the jam
is disconcerting.

Also concerning is the lack of analysis as to why the particular foods are
bad. I am confused as to why she did not provide food groups, as opposed to
10, seemingly random, foods. Parents would perhaps have found this more
helpful.

The author’s “Good” foods:

Dairy:

Perhaps more disconcerting are the offerings provided for “Healthy foods”
(2). “American Cheese” and “Chocolate Milk” are both highly processed dairy
products. This is not good. (3,4,5,6,7). It is very interesting that the
author cites the calcium content of both the cheese and milk. Processed
dairy products are now known to be comparatively **low** in calcium and good
nutrients. They are known to be heavily supplemented with essential
vitamins and minerals **by the industry** during processing, due to
unnatural farming methods. Indeed, even with such supplementary measures
buy the industry, the US population is known to be chronically deficient in
calcium. Add to this the unacceptably high hormone, harmful fat and
preservative content (3,4,5,6,7). Arguably, typical, mass production
cheeses and milks are no longer healthy foods in our society. They are in
fact damaging.

The author states “In an ideal world, children would gulp down plain milk
without complaint.”. Actually, in an ideal world, cows would not be feed
unnatural foodstuffs, numerous hormones and other growth stimulants
(3,4,5,6,7). In an ideal world, milk would be natural, unprocessed and free
of harmful substances. It would be healthy. I would not recommend gulping
down the milk available at supermarkets, be it flavoured it unflavoured.

The author is not too far off with her reference to yoghurts. Yoghurts can
be both heavily laden or relatively free from processing, sugar,
flavourings, and other negative points, depending on brand and source. For
example, **some** natural “organic” yoghurt is known to provide a range of
benefits (19). Good examples of natural yoghurts include those made using
cows that were grazed exclusively on unsprayed pasture and are only fed
organically-grown foods (grass) without hormones or antibiotics (20). More
care should be taken to express the differences between different variations
of what are often categorised as the same foods.

Carbohydrates:

There is not enough real fiber in the recommended food list. Disturbing is
the author’s fascination with potatoes (normal and sweet) as a “fiber rich”
food. Potatoes are not rich in fiber. Arguably, they are non-fibrous.
Fibrous carbohydrates, like *real* carrots, vegetables and broccoli, are
indeed great. Yet, potatoes are characterised by their relatively simple,
*sugary* composition. This will turn to Glucose quickly (8).

Interestingly, on recommending pizza, the author makes no effort to explain
the differences between a natural, home-made pizza, and a supermarket pizza.
In direct opposition to her low sodium agenda, processed foods like pizzas
are actually very high in this substance. Sodium is highly present in
processed foods such as pizza or frozen “dinners” (15). The author comments
“This popular item dishes up three food groups at once: grains, dairy, and
vegetable (the tomato sauce counts as a serving)”! And this is good? It will
indeed provide white, refined flour, processed dairy, and limited
vegetables. Refer to the points and references made above for my feelings
on grains and dairy. Refined flour is known to be implicated in a range of
health dysfunctions (16,17,18)

Granted, the author does state that she admires “100 percent juices”. Yet,
most commercial juices are high in simple sugars, preservatives, and low in
real fruit juices. It is unclear if a juice comprised of 100% juice has a
substantial amount of sugar added, though, it is more than likely. As we
know, the effects of such juices are, for the most part, undesirable (12,
13,14). Sugar, as stated earlier can affect the insulin mechanism.
Connectedly, there has been much discussion on their use *after*
training — in a controlled manner — from the athletic perspective. I
would recommend real fruit. The author states “[OJ has] got lots of vitamin
C, folate, and potassium”. Although such products are **marketed**
(seemingly the source of all untruths in society) to be high in vitmain C
and beneficial nutrients, they are, in fact, comparatively lower in them in
respect to real fruit and other foods (13,14).

Farm / Protein:

The author makes no reference to current understanding that implies only 1-2
egg yolks should be consumed per week. If one consumes an egg every day,
that, of course, is 7 egg yolks. Egg whites, are seemingly safe to be
consumed freely. The author does not mention this. Many consume more than
this. It has been found that diabetics who ate at least one egg a day
showed twice the risk for heart disease as diabetics who ate less than one
egg per week (9).

On recommending **ground beef**, there is no reference to the nature of
harmful, ’scientific’ rearing and farming methods. There is no mention of
pursuing so-called “real” beef. Nearly 100% of the beef sold in stores is
not real beef (10,11). This is true also of so-called “health” stores. Not
only do most beef cuts have a high fat content, ranging from 35-75%, but the
majority of it is saturated (10,11). Grain fed beef can have an omega 6:3
ratio higher than 20:1. Grass-fed (“real”) beef has a more desirable ratio
of 3:1 (10,11). It is known that an Omega **3 to 6** ratio of 1-5:1 is now
desirable, in order to reverse the opposing trends found in our diet.

Flavourings:

Yes, ketchup has recently been acknowledged as being high in a natural
cancer-fighting compound, lycopene. However, it is also very high in sugar
and preservatives (12). For the ‘big-house’ brands, it is said that for
every tablespoon of ketchup there is a teaspoon of sugar present. This, of
course, is not good.

EFAs:

There is no reference to Essential Fatty Acids. There is no reference to
monounsaturated fats. It is my understanding that **natural** peanut butter
is a source of natural, organic, unrefined, non-hydrogenated monounsaturated
fat. The article makes no reference to this. The author states peanut
butter is “ever-popular among kids [does that make it good for them?]. It
is “protein-rich and a good source of fiber [and] makes a yummy dip for
celery sticks, apple slices, or banana chunks”. So?

Conclusion:

Alas, this is the type of article that is common on internet lifestyle
sites. Generally speaking, more effort should be made to underline the
importance of pursuing natural, and “truly” organic types of food over
process counterparts. Effort should be made to distinguish good from bad,
and to substantiate the reasons for doing so. For example, writers should
state “natural peanut butter” over processed peanut butter. This implies
that parents should pursue a more organic and body friendly product, rather
than the first, “super-saver” super-ulta-hydrogenated-oil-added peanut
butter they grab off the shelf.

———-

References:

1) http://www.mercola.com/2001/jul/14/insulin.htm. This is a long, but
extremely insightful article pertaining to insulin and illness.

2) http://www.parents.com/articles/health/2148.jsp?page=1 The author’s
healthy food recommendations.

3) http://www.proliberty.com/observer/20000208.htm Milk article

4) http://www.ivillage.com/diet/experts/wlcoach/qas/0,5090,221846_65386,00.html
Milk article

5) http://www.lammd.com/A3R_brief_in_doc_format/2003-No2-Milk.cfm#top Milk
article

6) http://www.vegsource.com/books/milk_poison.htm Milk article

7) http://www.karlloren.com/aajonus/p17.htm Milk article

http://www.mercola.com/2001/jul/14/insulin3.htm Insulin response article
(part 3)

9) http://www.nexuspub.com/health/hjan005.htm Interesting contradictory egg
evidence

10) http://www.mercola.com/beef/main.htm Real Beef article

11) http://www.mercola.com/beef/health_benefits.htm Real Beef article

12) http://www.hammergel.com/site/info/dangers.cfm High sugar article -
Ketchup and fruit juice references

13) http://pediatrics.about.com/library/weekly/aa111401a.htm Interesting
article on fruit juice

14) http://www.jhu.edu/~newslett/04-27-00/Science/4.html Nutrition article.
Refer to section on fruit juice. [ctrl + f > type: "juice"]

15) http://cals.uvm.edu/cornberry/winter2000/ Nutrition article. Refer to
comment on pizza. [ctrl + f > type: "pizza"]

16) http://www.mercola.com/2000/jan/16/refined%20_sugar_sweetest%20_poison.htm
Refined sugar and flour article

17) http://www.herbalresource.com/current_topic.html Cholesterol and
Trigylcerides article

18) http://www.survivediabetes.com/cleave.htm Refined sugar article

19) http://www.amni.com/reprints/yogurt.html Yoghurt article

20) http://www.moscowfoodcoop.com/archive/yogurt.html Yoghurt article

Some of you may remember Martin Gardner who wrote many Mathematical Puzzles
and other articles for the Scientific American, in the process becoming
regarded by some as the father of modern skepticism. Michael Shermer wrote
an article recently on him on the web page below. What Gardner said about
pseudoscientists is especially relevant to some of our discussions on fitness
gurudom.

——————-

http://www.sciam.com/2002/0302issue/0302skeptic.html

Here are a few extracts:

And the motives of the hermit scientists have not changed either. Gardner
recounts the day that Groucho Marx interviewed Louisiana state senator Dudley
J. LeBlanc about a “miracle” cure-all vitamin-and-mineral tonic called
Hadacol that the senator had invented. When Groucho asked the senator what it
was good for, LeBlanc answered with surprising honesty: “It was good for five
and a half million for me last year.”….

What I find especially valuable about Gardner’s views are his insights into
the differences between science and pseudoscience. On the one extreme we have
ideas that are most certainly false, “such as the dianetic [Scientology] view
that a one-day-old embryo can make sound recordings of its mother’s
conversation.” In the borderlands between the two “are theories advanced as
working hypotheses, but highly debatable because of the lack of sufficient
data.” Of these Gardner selects a most propitious example: “the theory that
the universe is expanding.” That theory would now fall at the other extreme
end of the spectrum, where lie “theories almost certainly true, such as the
belief that the earth is round or that men and beasts are distant
cousins.”…….

…..How can we tell if someone is a scientific crank? Gardner offers this
advice:

A: “First and most important of these traits is that cranks work in almost
total isolation from their colleagues.” Cranks typically do not understand
how the scientific process operates that they need to try out their ideas on
colleagues, attend conferences and publish their hypotheses in peer-reviewed
journals before announcing to the world their startling discovery. Of course,
when you explain this to them they say that their ideas are too radical for
the conservative scientific establishment to accept.

B: “A second characteristic of the pseudo-scientist, which greatly
strengthens his isolation, is a tendency toward paranoia,” which manifests
itself in several ways:

(1) He considers himself a genius.

(2) He regards his colleagues, without exception, as ignorant blockheads….

(3) He believes himself unjustly persecuted and discriminated against. The
recognized societies refuse to let him lecture. The journals reject his
papers and either ignore his books or assign them to “enemies” for review. It
is all part of a dastardly plot. It never occurs to the crank that this
opposition may be due to error in his work….

(4) He has strong compulsions to focus his attacks on the greatest scientists
and the best-established theories. When Newton was the outstanding name in
physics, eccentric works in that science were violently anti-Newton. Today,
with Einstein the father-symbol of authority, a crank theory of physics is
likely to attack Einstein….

(5) He often has a tendency to write in a complex jargon, in many cases
making use of terms and phrases he himself has coined.

We should keep these criteria in mind when we explore controversial ideas on
the borderlands of science.

“If the present trend continues,” Gardner concludes, “we can expect a wide
variety of these men, with theories yet unimaginable, to put in their
appearance in the years immediately ahead. They will write impressive books,
give inspiring lectures, organize exciting cults. They may achieve a
following of oneor one million. In any case, it will be well for ourselves
and for society if we are on our guard against them.” So we still are,
Martin. That is what skeptics do, and in tribute for all you have done, we
shall continue to honor your founding command.

Dr Mel Siff
Denver, USA
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Supertraining/

PRECEDENTS: RACE & INTELLIGENCE?

Not too many years ago, there was an uproar over the suggestion of genetic
differences between the intelligence of people of different hue. In this
respect it is relevant to recall the “Bell Shaped Curve” and read one of the
articles on this topic as it appeared in ‘Skeptic’ Magazine:

<http://www.skeptic.com/03.3.fm-sternberg-interview.html>

An entire issue of this journal covered IQ and Race (Vol 3. No 3, 1995):

<http://www.skeptic.com/03.3.contents.html>

MORE ON INTELLIGENCE & RACE

Although some might consider that the phenomenon of intelligence is totally
irrelevant to any discussion of Race and Sport, let it be noted that
intelligence, at least as far as science is concerned, also depends on
functioning of biological tissue, the brain. Those who theorise about
genetic superiority in sport are doing so on the basis of some other
biological tissues, so research investigating possible links between brain,
genes and performance surely must have some relevance to any discussion on
possible links between muscles (etc), genes and performance. The form of
expression of performance may be different in each case, but both sporting
and intellectual prowess are related to the functioning of biological tissue
and the specific influence of genes on that tissue.

Of course, if anyone considers that mind and intelligence lies beyond
biological matter, then we have to wander into metarealms which science can
neither verify nor falsify.

In fact, the most recent issue of ‘Skeptic’ Magazine features the topic of
Race & Sport, but we shall return to that topic later:

<http://www.skeptic.com/>

The Boston Review also featured a prominent article on Intelligence and Race:

<http://www-polisci.mit.edu/BostonReview/BR20.6/block.html>

The Skeptic’s Dictionary also contains an interesting and relevant entry on
Race, Genes and IQ at:

http://skepdic.com/iqrace.html

Here are some extracts and summaries of information from that source:

“There’s about a 15 percent genetic variation between any two individuals….
less than half of that, about 6 percent, is accounted for by known racial
groupings…. A randomly selected white person, therefore, can easily be
genetically closer to an African than another white.” ["Race: many biologists
argue for discarding the whole concept," Deborah Blum, The Sacramento Bee,
October 18, 1995, p. A12.]

“These people don’t know evolutionary genetics. They talk about interesting
issues in race and biology. And since, I think, there are no real races, I
wonder what these issues are. It makes me angry that I have to take time from
my research (on the genetics of aging) to argue about something that
shouldn’t even need to be
discussed.” – Joseph Graves, an African American evolutionary biologist at
Arizona State University-West in Tempe, notes that most people and
researchers who try to establish correlations between various natural
abilities and skin color are not geneticists (quoted by Blum).

C. Loring Brace, an anthropologist at the University of Michigan, claims that
“race is a four-letter word with no basis in biological reality.”

Of course, physical features such as skin color, shape of eyelid, color of
eyes, texture of hair, etc., are genetically determined. It is also true,
that an individual’s capacity for any particular kind of intelligence is
largely dependent upon genetic factors The idea of “multiple intelligences”
is a ‘hot’ recent topic in psychology). . What isn’t true is the notion
that whole races of people have sets of genes which make them as a group more
intelligent than other races. The genes which affect musical talent, the
power to visualize or
to think abstractly, for example, are not established as the same ones which
affect those characteristics which are associated with being Caucasian,
Mongoloid or Negroid. If you want to find out why Asians are
over-represented in California’s universities while blacks and Hispanics are
underrepresented, you will search in vain for a genetic answer. Those who
are interested in such things would do better to look at family structure,
ethnic traditions, and social conditions.

———————————-

Flynn’s Effect Intelligence scores are rising, James R. Flynn discovered,
but he remains very sure we’re not
getting any smarter (Scientific American):

http://www.sciam.com/1999/0199issue/0199profile.html

———————————–

RECENT PUBLICATION ON GENES & FUNCTIONING

Science has shown that most variation is within racial groups, not between
racial groups. Two members of the same race are likely to differ from each
other more than the average member of their race differs from the average
member of another race.

Well, the eminent geneticist, Luigi Cavalli-Sforza, recently wrote the book,
“Genes, People and Languages”, that has taken such findings even further. In
it, he points out that the entire notion of “race” is suspect and differences
between groups of different skin colour are even more questionable. In
reaching this conclusion, he shows that the genetic similarities between
Asian, African and European populations are so close that current ideas of
race and racism are nonsensical. To reach this conclusion, he investigated
the actual relation among geographically separated groups by comparing the
prevalence of special genetic markers such as the ABO gene (which controls
blood types) and the Rh (blood factor) gene.

Some of this work showed that Europeans are about two-thirds Asian and
one-third African. Other work examined language and cultural concepts as
markers of human development. The author concludes that the human species
probably will not evolve much more because cultural development has
effectively slowed down biological evolution. The effect of environmental
and cultural factors differs with time and location in any given group, so
that it can be misleading to rely on some fixed ratio between the respective
impact of nature and nurture.

Cavalli-Sforza explains that there is no genetic basis for racial
classification and proposes that a comparison
of blood types is a far better means of determining “genetic distance” and
explaining linguistic and cultural differences.

He also questions the work of others who rely on the use of mitochondrial DNA
to infer population history because technical problems decree that it is
dangerously unreliable. He prefers to rely on information from genes in the
nucleus, which he and other geneticists have collected in great quantities
over the past four decades.

All of his views are not necessarily unanimously supported, as is evident in
this review of his book:

<http://anthropology.about.com/science/anthropology/library/books/blgenespeopl
es.htm?iam=mt&terms=%2Bcavalli-sforza>

The following New Scientist article reviews not only the work of
Cavalli-Sforza, but also that of the work of several other influential
scientists in the genes and human evolution realm:

<http://www.newscientist.com/ns/970705/features.html>

——————————

Other scientists even maintain, from their genetic research that African
genes are widespread among Chinese groups, as described in this website:

http://www.sciencenews.org/sn_arc98/10_3_98/Fob1.htm

AFRICAN GENES IN CHINA?

A large genetic analysis of Chinese citizens and others indicates that modern
humans, probably originating in Africa, migrated across Asia in a
southeasterly direction before heading north into what is now China. This
challenges the long-standing view of Chinese paleontologists, based on fossil
evidence, that an East Asian branch of Homo erectus independently evolved
into H. sapiens.

“It is now probably safe to conclude that modern humans originating in Africa
constitute the majority of the current gene pool in East Asia,” holds a
research team headed by geneticist Li Jin of the University of Texas in
Houston.

————————————-

CONCLUSION

The above few sources of information have been selected to enable those
interested in examining in some more depth any currently postulated links
between race and sporting prowess, whether they appear in learned literature
or popularised books.

If anyone else has some further references in this field, it would be
interesting to receive them.

Dr Mel C Siff

————————

There are regular comments about why so many folk manage to be taken in by
self-appointed fitness and health gurus who make a fortune out of selling
dubious ideas and devices, despite lack of scientific validity or honest
disclosure of their limitations or qualifications.

However, we all know by now that making money, grasping power or achieving
fame frequently have nothing to do with correctness, morals, etiquette,
education, honesty or any other such qualities that exemplify the ideal or
well-qualified human.

If we examine history, we can wonder equally well how so many dictators,
despots, entrepreneurs, politicians and religious leaders ever managed to
become as influential and powerful as they did. In fact, the frequently
quoted maxim of big business today is do anything you like to achieve
success, but don’t get caught doing what you shouldn’t be doing!

On the other hand, history has produced some wonderful examples of the most
saintly and exemplary people from all walks of life.

So what did all of these heroes and anti-heroes (like Hitler, Stalin, Caesar,
Genghis Khan, Idi Amin and so on) have in common? Superficially, it would
appear as if the answer to this question is “nothing”. However, it is not
too difficult to conclude that they all had highly effective powers of
persuasion, propaganda and mass communication.

Interestingly, the evolution of modern marketing and advertising techniques
had a lot to do with the American experts who were called upon to counter the
massive onslaught of the Nazi propaganda machine led by Josef Goebbels and
his henchmen appointed by Hitler to sell Nazi philosophy via all the mass
means at their disposal. The Nazis were very familiar with the ancient
Grecian methods of rhetoric, logic and persuasion, so they set about adapting
and applying it to achieve their own nefarious ends.

Hitler is even credited with saying: “If you say something often enough and
loud enough, people will begin to believe you.” And that is precisely what
happened in Germany. He made great efforts to orchestrate those horrendously
successful mass rallies and overpowering speeches surrounded by all the
symbols, stages and sounds of persuasive communication, as you will have seen
on movies of the last War.

Thank goodness for the civilised world, American experts and others like
Winston Churchill developed their own very powerful counter-propaganda
machine.

Some examples of these methods of wartime persuasion may be seen on the
following website:

<http://www.nara.gov/exhall/powers/powers.html >

Today, techniques of persuasion that evolved from the ancient Greeks and
propaganda methods from World War II are used to market ideas, courses,
religions and products with an unprecedented degree of success, largely
because the mass media now reach the outermost edges of what McLuhan called
the ‘Global Village’ in a way that few people ever imagined was possible.

The following websites give information on techniques of persuasion and
marketing:

<http://www.pertinent.com/pertinfo/business/persuasion/index.html>
<http://www.dcd.net/NBP/persuasn.html >
<http://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?ti=05CCD000 > (Marketing)

See if you recognise any techniques being used by fitness, health and food
supplement gurus and entrepreneurs and learn how to immunise yourself against
them by applying the information in the above website and the following one
on recognising tricks and fallacies of argumentation:

< http://shell.rmi.net/~mhartwig/falla.htm >

In the realm of practical training, Ch 3 of “Facts & Fallacies of Fitness”
(Siff M C) summarises the major methods of persuasion, while later chapters
apply this information to help one distinguish sense from nonsense and fact
from fallacy in the lucrative world of general and sports training, as well
as in the mass market of medical and alternative therapy.

Who was it who said that you cannot fool all of the people all of the time?
A quick look around the world of fitness, health and nutrition reveals to us
that competent persuaders can fool most of the people most of the time!

Mel Siff

<< Causes of my knee problems:

1. I have a hyperlordosis problem that might be related to having tight psoas
2. I seem to have a tendency to round my back at the bottom of the squat
3. There was something to do with my vastus lateralis coming into play
before my vastus medialis while I squat which contributed to my knee
instability ( note that I did not hurt my knee squatting)
4. I think there were some slight rotation problems with my shoulders
5. I think I had a slight tilt that brought my right shoulder up and my left
hip >>

***None of those tests would be considered to be scientifically definitive.
For example, while psoas ‘tightness’ may have something to do with excessive
‘hollowing’ of the lumbar spine, that is one of several possible explanations
for significant lordosis.

Anyway, tightness of psoas would tend to counteract your tendency to round
the back during the squat. Rounding of the lower spine generally has more to
do with limited flexibility in the ankle and knee joints than the psoas. In
addition, it can simply be due to ‘bad’ neuromotor habits accumulated over
prolonged periods of uncorrected training. Very often, the use of a few
hands-on kinaesthetic ‘tricks’ that I mentioned in my last letter, improve
the situation markedly in a few minutes.

If your back tends to round too much near the deepest part of your squat,
then simply squat as far as you can go with good form and gradually increase
the depth of squatting over a period of a few weeks and the rounding problem
quite happily will resolve itself.

How did they ascertain if one of the vastus muscles was ‘firing’ before the
other without using an EMG? How did they conclude that the way in which your
muscles came into play are not appropriate for your individual structure and
characteristics? It is well known that all muscles contribute to different
degrees with different timing, so what a muscle test reveals under static or
short range conditions may be totally irrelevant to what happens under full
range movement in a given sporting action. There is no set universal pattern
which applies to all of us.

Probably what had more effect on your squatting than anything else is the
fact that knee injuries are notorious for producing reflex inhibition of the
quadriceps. The body innately knows that the ability to produce very
forceful contraction, so it somehow activates inhibitory nervous processes
which counteract your ability to contract muscles that operate the injured
joint. Very often, if you have an injured knee, you will tend to become more
of a “back squatter” with a marked forward lean and you will often tilt your
injured knee in such a way as to minimise the stress on it. This will lead
to tilting of the hip, rotation of the trunk and other such problems. No
need to look for mystical causes in vasti , psoas or pyriformis muscles, or
in “muscle imbalance” – the problem may simply lie in reflexive protective
processes.

<<I thought I had been balanced by another therapist, so I’m thinking that
the tilt might have been related to the pain in my knee. >>

***Your diagnosis is probably as accurate as any therapist is going to make -
your intuitive diagnosis agrees with my above analysis based upon a knowledge
of motor control. Far too often, impressive sounding jargon is used to
justify a model of the injury and healing process, when the truth is that the
diagnosticians don’t really know. However, a diagnosis couched in
pseudoscientific language sounds a lot more convincing to the client and the
therapist – remember that both people involved in the healing situation need
to satisfy psychological needs.

The only way in which one can avoid this situation is to list several
possible causes and, by harmless trial and error (guided by movement patterns
and perception of pain), narrow them down to a short list of the most likely
causes. Of course, genuine medical examination such as radiological scans of
the area should be used to rule out the possibility of really serious
pathology, if this may be of any concern.

Dr Mel C Siff

Some of the world’s finest athletes are extolling the virtues of each and it
is apparent that each of these two approaches is bearing some useful fruit.
This afternoon, the great sprinter, Michael Johnson, was asked on TV for his
opinion of training methods, such as periodisation and cycling. His
response? He smilingly dismissed both of these concepts as they commonly are
offered by coaches today. In return he asked why should it be all that
impossible to rise progressively to a peak and stay at that high plateau level
for prolonged periods, as he stated he always does. He implied that the use of
cycling up and down over a prolonged period to peak for only a few special
events physically and mentally act against athletic success.

Yes, I am sure that there will be those will comment on the way in which he
‘pulled’ a hamstring during the recent trials to ‘prove’ that his approach is
not all that flawless, but the fact remains is that he has produced excellent
success with his methods, which are reminiscent of those used by Bulgarian
athletes.

Add to his experience the great success being enjoyed by Louie Simmons and
his Westside Club, who use no high technology at all. Instead there is an
abundance of almost dinosaurian training with chains, bands, sleds and cars
that challenge the body and mind in myriad ways of developing great sport
specific strength and power. In this case, their methods are often guided by
what we have discovered in science, but they do not rely largely on
technology for their success.

For instance, a biomechanist who was interviewed for today’s TV program on
Olympic training pointed out that the greatest advantage that distance
athletes could have is to throw their shoes away (as did Abebe Bikila of
Ethiopia and Zola Budd of South Africa), because the added weight (1lb on the
feet is equivalent to 8lbs on the back) and dissipation of energy by shock
absorbing soles forces the athlete to use more energy to cover the same
distance at the same speed.

Ironically, after Bikila turned to running exclusively with shoes, he
suffered a bone fracture of his left leg and he had to drop out of the 1968
Mexico Olympics after his previous victories in Rome and Tokyo. Zola Budd
also turned to using shoes and orthotic devices, and she ended up being
plagued by leg injuries and a running career that never reached the same top
international standard again. Circumstantial evidence, maybe, nevertheless
this is interesting and suggestive that shoes and orthotics at best offer no
significant performance advantage to endurance performance athletes. Tracks,
on the other hand, such as the renowned Harvard synthetic track most
definitely produced faster times and set the trend for the design of new
synthetic tracks.

In other words, the main benefit of shoes is to prevent damage to the sole of
the foot, but otherwise, their main effect is to make running less efficient.
Makes one wonder about the whole sports shoe business!

While we have some Western athletes who are regularly tested for metabolic
and bioenergetic efficiency excelling in endurance events, we often have
their performances overshadowed by African athletes who rely on the most
basic intuitive methods. The same scenario repeats itself in several other
types of individual and team sports.

Would anyone care to comment on the relative roles played by ‘high tech’ and
‘low tech’ training methods in the preparation of the modern elite athlete?
Is anyone convinced that athletes who are heavily supported by the hugely
expensive sports science institutes around the world will produce
performances that statistically are significantly superior to those of
athletes who rely largely on low-tech training?

Dr Mel C Siff

How can a bicep curl be considered functional for a soccer player?

>>An exercise that is highly sport specific and “functional” at one time
might be equally “non-functional” at another time.<<

Can you give an example?

———–

*** Mel Siff:

1. Since the biceps flex the elbow, supinate the forearm and swing the arm
forwards (as during walking and running, together with corocobrachialis and
all of these actions occur in soccer, then any form of improving bicep
functioning ostensibly could be viewed as being relevant to soccer, provided
that one does not train it simply for bodybuilding aesthetics.

Now, I know that this remark of mine may well attract comments that one may
as well do a general weight training session using any old exercises and let
the sport itself attend to the specifics. Indeed, such comments would be
quite valid, e.g., for general physical preparation or for restoration at
other stages of training or competition, depending on how the various
exercises are used, but the same exercises would not universally be suitable
at all stages of training.

In other words, as I stressed before, functionality is context dependent and
cannot be regarded as a universal characteristic of given exercises or
regimes of exercise.

2. Any muscle group which is exercised or developed more than is necessary
for achieving a given sporting purpose can cause either structural and/or
functional “imbalances” that may be viewed as “non-functional” under such
conditions, often because of competing neural patterns (e.g. try to play
tennis, badminton and squash or racquetball effectively soon after one
another)..

Suppose that a gymnast or jumper does an excessive amount of hypertrophy type
exercises (e.g. because tests may have revealed that they have adequate
explosiveness, but inadequate hypertrophy), the added muscular weight can be
detrimental to any pulling movements with the upper extremities. This is one
reason why we struggle more to complete pull-ups as we gain overall muscle
mass.

Dr Mel C Siff

Has the situation changed? In the August 2000 S&C Journal, the NSCA
published its latest guideline for all of its members: “The National Strength
and Conditioning Association’s Basic Guidelines for the Resistance Training
of Athletes”.

This article discussed periodisation in detail and referred to “linear” and
“non-linear” periodisation models that are not classically accepted
definitions and terminology (by the Russians and early architects of
periodisation theory). Moreover, there were semantic errors in defining
linearity as the authors of the article did. Linearity never even existed in
the long term periodisation models used by any of the Russian authorities,
since it has been well known that all of the models that have ever been used
involve CURVILINEAR changes in intensity and volume. It has also been well
known that adaptation is not a linear process.

The article stated that: “The linear model is the most classic model of
periodisation…. the linear model of periodization varies the intensity over
several weeks (or microcycles) of training….. A nonlinear periodization
model varies the intensity and volume over the week.” By no stretch of the
semantic imagination, are these acceptable definitions of linearity and
nonlinearity. Of course, we can do with language anything that we like, but
there do happen to be certain existing rules, conventions and guidelines that
should not be ignored in a reviewed publication. We have to remember that
review always examines the content and linguistic correctness of any
publication, so one cannot simply ignore the latter. If one does change the
rules, then one comments on that fact.

In introducing the “nonlinear” model, the authors omitted the fact that
variations may also be performed at the level of multiple training sessions
offered in a single day (e.g. see Matveev’s book “Fundamentals of Sports
Training”, 1977). This was even done in the “classical” model to which they
referred and it has been a very important factor in the progress of Russian
and Bulgarian weightlifters and various other athletes

In the section on the “linear model” of periodisation, the authors wrote:
“…it should be noted that the weekly fluctuations occur such that …” A
fluctuation implies changes up and down, and implies that the changes are not
at all linear. How can fluctuations exist in a “linear” model, unless those
fluctuations are linear? If that was what the authors meant, then they
should have stated that fact, because the term “linearity” is not extant in an
y of the classical works on periodisation.

LANGUAGE ISSUES

I may sound pedantic or fussy about such details, but one of my jobs at my
former university and on various scientific committees was to annually edit
and review many hundreds of professional articles, research projects, books
and speeches by senior students, university staff and commercially employed
scientists and engineers. I have probably reviewed and edited more than 10
000 such articles in my 20 years as a professional communications specialist,
so I became intimately aware of the importance of linguistic acceptability.

My university became so concerned about the problem of dubious communication
and language skills among its engineering, science and commerce students that
it set up compulsory semester or year long courses in “Professional
Communication” which students had to pass in written and oral communication.
This involved me in editing a textbook called “Professional Communication”
that is still used quite widely in my former homeland, S Africa.

After several years of living in the USA, I am very concerned about the
extremely poor command of the English language here – only a few weeks ago, a
news article stated that 30 years ago teenagers in the USA had a vocabulary
that was about THREE times larger than that of the teenagers of today. Last
night, a TV report commented that the level of English and Mathematical
skills in the USA has dropped to a ranking of below number 40 on the world
scale and that the failure rate in high school English is over 60 percent.
I am fully aware that the government and school boards are very concerned
about all of this – let us hope that the nation appreciates what this demise
in capabilities can mean for our nation.

While this may appear to be peripheral to the topics of strength science and
training which we discuss here, we have to remember that the effective
communication of all knowledge is central to the application and progress of
any discipline, so I will unabashedly continue to comment on cases where
improvement may be necessary. We cannot afford to accept something just
because our audiences “will get the general idea” of what we are trying to
say, least of all in a journal which is trying to be recognised as the leader
in its field.

PERIODISATION INFORMATION

The NSCA Training Guidelines article gave prolific detail on its own authors’
concepts of periodisation and modified versions of it made by various NSCA
members, but failed to give any references or summaries of the definitive
original models of periodisation by its pioneers in Russia – other than a
little by Zatsiorsky and Vorobyev. The name of Matveev (or Matveyev), the
greatest popularist of periodisation theory is not mentioned once, nor are
any of the important models of Bondrachuk, Arosiev, and Verkhoshansky. This
is tantamount to omitting mention of Einstein in discussions of relativity
physics. Instead, many references were made to articles or books on
periodisation written by one of the authors of the article.

While the article contained a great deal of useful information, there are
sections like that on periodisation (American: “periodization”) which would
certainly have profited from independent peer scrutiny. May I now ask,
Steven, if all articles in the S&C Journal are genuinely reviewed or are they
simply read through for the most glaring errors? I was very pleased that its
editor, Jeff Chandler, had the integrity and professionalism to admit that in
at least one case the review process was not be as thorough as it could have
been because of the stature of authors or their connections with the NSCA. I
trust that others will follow his example.

Dr Mel C Siff