Who is representing fitness professionals? Differences seen in other organizations.
I want to know what organizations are advocating the most for our profession. I work with Physical Therapists and they have APTA. Here is their leadership: http://www.apta.org/BOD/
In contrast, I look at the ACSM leadership and see: http://www.acsm.org/about-acsm/who-we-are/leadership
Am I the only one that sees a difference here? Am I wrong in assuming that very few people in the ACSM organization are, or were, practicing exercise physiologists or fitness professionals? What I am really getting at is what organization(s) are helping out our field when it comes to legislation and advocacy? With all these certifying bodies, it isn’t like we can get them all to work together like APTA.
I think that these questions bring up implications with who we become certified by. Do you want your money going to an organization that may or may not have your best interests in mind? What are your thoughts on this and what good are different organizations doing for our profession?
Hi Steve,
I could not agree more with you. Cost is just such a factor. Everybody agrees that exercise can do great things, and there is a need for qualified supervision because many people to not know where to start. But only a few a willing to pay for such services, and the masses cannot be reached.
On the flip side, free services are notoriously under-appreciated. Physical therapists had to introduce draconian threats to prevent people from canceling gratuitously, and non-compliance with the prescribed exercises are a frustrating reality for them.
People are also getting conflicting messages. It appears that many are holding out hope that a pill for their problems will be found thus making it unnecessary to exercise. After all, we have pills for just about everything.
I have no solution. I do my thing and try to reach as many people as possible by also teaching a few group classes in addition to the one-on-one training.
Karin Singleton
www.meltnc.com