Exercise and Society

1
Exercise and Society

• What is exercise?
• What does it mean to us as
• individuals
• exercise science professionals
• Communities / nations
• Ever-changing meaning?
• Binary way of understanding
• Free our imaginations to broaden the definition
  of exercise

2
Exercise and Society

• What is its origin?
• Scientific goals
• Prolonging human life
• Improving quality of life
• Enhancing or predicting athletic performance
• Universal similarities in how and why humans
  engage in exercise.
• It is only the speed, size, and form of human
  activity in present day society that differ from
  premodern and modern times.
• What are some societal changes in exercise?

3
Societal Changes in Exercise (1990s)

• Female participation in all aspects of exercise
  experienced a phenomenal growth
• Fantasy and virtual-reality sports were
  introduced and popularized
• Countless exercise sites were developed on the
  WWW
• Extreme, alternative and noncommercial sports
  (snowboarding and rock climbing) were birthed
• Mega salaries and free agency changed the face of
  professional sports.
• New fabrics, materials, computer design, and
  nutritional/training aids were counted among the
  causes for the unprecedented breakage of
  long-standing performance records
• Learning or participating in a sport was tied to
  procuring the correct equipment, training,
  coaching, and education
• Exercise couture became high fashion, filtering
  globally to street wear.

4
Exercise and Society

• How does exercise reflect the society of which it
  is part?
• A lot of character building is achieved when we
  put our children in swimming pools and on playing
  fields.
• Exercise Signs (theoretical term used in the
  study of culture)
• Positive versus negative

5
The field of Exercise Science

• Discipline and Subdiscipline
• Parent Disciplines an organized, formal body of
  knowledge (i.e. biology, chemistry, physics, and
  psychology)
• Discipline uses other disciplines in its
  endeavor (i.e. the study of movement)
• Subdiscipline science components of exercise
  science within which the body of knowledge
  (movement) is described, studied, and expanded.
• i.e. Motor behavior, exercise and sports
  psychology, biomechanics, exercise physiology,
  sports nutrition, clinical ex phys, PA
  epidemiology

6
PARENT DISCIPLINES
EXERCISE SCIENCE
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
SUBDISCIPLINES
RESEARCH
DESCRIBING STUDYING EXPANDING
TEACHING
MOVEMENT
7
Licensure and Certifications

• Three types of professional credentialing
• Certification (process by which an individual is
  evaluated and recognized as meeting certain
  predetermined standards through successful
  completion of a valid and reliable examination)
• Licensure (granting of permission by a competent
  authority to an individual to engage in a
  practice that would otherwise be illegal)
• Registration (recording of professional
  qualification information relevant to government
  licensing regulations)

8
Licensure and Certifications

• Lack of regulated licensure or registration in
  most of the exercise science fields
• Strongly supports the need for pursuing
  certifications pertinent to ones scope of
  practice
• What are the personal benefits of certification?
• What are the benefits of certification for the
  employer?

9
Exercise Science Certifications

• American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)
• Clinical Track Exercise Specialist, Program
  Director
• Health Fitness Track ACSM Exercise Leader
  Health/Fitness Instructor Health/Fitness
  Director
• National Strength Conditioning Association
  (NSCA)
• Certified Personal Trainer Certified Strength
  Conditioning Specialist (CSCS)

10
Exercise Science Certifications

• National Athletic Trainers Association (ATC)
• Professional Ergonomists
• Study the interaction between people and machines
  and investigate environmental factors that affect
  work
• Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport
  Psychology (AAASP)
• Receive title of Certified Consultant (PhD
  required)

11
Fitness Certifications

• Aerobics and Fitness Association of America
  (AFAA)
• Primary Aerobic Instructor Cert., Personal
  Trainer, Wt. Training Cert., Fitness Practitioner
  Cert.
• American Council on Exercise (ACE)
• Personal Trainer Cert., Group Fitness Instructor
  Cert., Lifestyle Wt. Mang. Consultant Cert.
• YMCA
• Active Older Adult Program Director, Aquatics
  Instructor
• Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research
• Extensive list of certifications
• World Instructor Training Schools (WITS)
• Personal training, group aerobics, aqua fitness
  instructor