Exercise Physiology Olympians
Larry Birnbaum, PhD, EPC
Associate Professor
Department of Exercise Physiology
The College of St. Scholastica
Duluth, MN  55811

It is likely that many of you watched at least part of the 2006 Winter Olympic Games.  What Olympic athletes achieve is really quite amazing.  They devote their lives to a particular sport and train very rigorously for that sport day after day.  It is a passion for them, and it is from that passion that they draw their motivation.  Granted, they must have the genetic potential for excelling at their sport, but without that high level of motivation, they would not be Olympic athletes.

A high level of motivation is also required to excel in one’s chosen profession.  What can one draw upon to develop that level of motivation?  In the early phase of professional development of the individual, students studying a particular profession are focused on successfully completing the academic degree required by the profession.  The degree is the carrot.  Upon graduation, a good job becomes the carrot.  Granted, graduates typically want to make a good living, but they also want their work to have a positive impact on people, if not the world, depending on their level of idealism.  Generally then, students are motivated by the degree and graduates by the ideal job.  What about the rest of us who have been working in the profession for a considerable period of time?  What motivates us to excel in the field?  Salary, status, recognition?  For some exercise physiologists, dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs appears to be a significant motivational force.  These exercise physiologists are motivated to improve the future of the profession.  There is much work to be done in this area, but at the same time we cannot ignore our clients, the populations we serve.

Whatever the motivation, the exercise physiologists who are doing their best to serve their clients and the profession are the exercise physiology Olympians.  Figuratively speaking, they are working for the gold on a daily basis.  They are passionate about their work.  They work (train) hard every day helping clients achieve their health and fitness goals.  The exercise physiology Olympian may be the ultimate factor helping an obese person achieve a healthy weight, or a cardiac patient regain a healthy lifestyle, or an athlete reach a performance goal.  Surely the success stories that these exercise physiologists witness provide considerable motivation.  For some, the greater the challenge, the greater the motivation.  Isn’t that what drives the Olympian?  Sure the typical client helps keep the exercise physiologist practitioner “in shape”, but it is the more difficult cases that really stretch the exercise physiologist, that require maximum effort and expertise.  And it is the most difficult cases that provide the greatest reward, the gold medal, upon achieving their desired goals.

These exercise physiologists are serving the profession well in that satisfied clients remember who helped them and will provide word-of-mouth advertising for the profession.  Nonetheless, to be true Olympians, exercise physiologists must also support their professional organization, ASEP.  The first step is joining ASEP.  The second step is taking the EPC exam.  Additional steps include attending professional meetings, working at a grass roots level to build the exercise physiology profession, serving as a spokesperson for the profession, and a number of other activities that will advance the profession.

For those of you who are exercise physiology Olympians, a hearty thank you!  Please keep up the good work.  For those of you who may aspire to be Olympians, consider what you can do to best serve your clients, your profession, and in so doing, yourself.  Go for the gold!

________________________________