Biomemetrics?

Dear Sport Scientists,
	 I need your help.  In particular, I need your advice on the
following controversy pertaining to the "Fastskin" suit that is now being
marketed by Speedo.  Early reports by Speedo suggested that this new fabric
with compressive effects would alter performance by top performers by 3%
over their previous models. This was reportedly due to 'biomemetric'
technology making the fabric work like shark skin. Other reports in the
media gave values ranging from 11% reduction in drag to a 7% reduction.
Many misquotes later, and a storm of controversy, has not calmed the
swimming waters a bit.
	 We proposed to test the new suits at IU early this summer but when
the executive director of the American Swim Coach Association forwarded a
request for suits to the president of USA swimming...who then sent it on to
one of the Speedo VPs, the request was denied by stating "we are so busy
preparing for the Olympics and USA Trails we will not be able to consider
the request for 2 suits to test for some time".
	 Since then, the marketing machine has geared up and now the claims
of improved performance have much more to do with "reduced muscle fatigue"
and  "improved muscle coordination".  This comes about supposedly from the
material's "compressive effects".  But after calling a number of my contacts
who work in muscle physiology,  I am unable to put a source to these
scientific findings.  Any help here?  How can compression improve endurance?
How can 'reduced muscle vibration' enhance muscle coordination?
	 We decided to investigate the 'performance enhancing effects'
indirectly by evaluating the results of the USATrials using a business
forecast model.  I would like to call your attention to this and would
appreciate and comments you might have.  Within a week, I am scheduled to
speak to several broadcast journalists, about this all and I am concerned
about being able to speak intelligently about, in particular, the legitimacy
of the compressive muscle effects.   Help!  To follow all this please see:
  http://www.indiana.edu/~kines/trials2000.html

Thanks in advance.


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Hello again,

Here is a question directed towards the statistically endowed among you:

I want to perform a Cox Proportional Hazards (survival curve) test on some data
but don't know how.

The data is from 2 independent treatment groups followed for 26 weeks.   The
dependent variable is "Days remaining in training."  In other words this is
equal to survival time or age at "death",  using the language of a survival
curve.  I want to compare the  "retention curves" for the two groups.

Treatment 1  Treatment 2
(n=14)         (n=14)
180days   180
180       180
180       180
180       180
180       180
180       133
180       133
180       115
180       70
180       70
148       69
96        65
95        54
65        33


I have located a site where this test can be performed on the web, but am not
sure I am interpreting it correctly.

http://member.aol.com/johnp71/prophaz.html

Anyone out there familiar with this test?

regards,

Stephen Seiler




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The 2000 Annual Conference of the British Association of Sport and
Exercise Sciences (BASES) was held last week in Liverpool hosted by
Liverpool John Moores University. This is my view of the conference
which may be slightly biased reflecting my own interests.
For me the two key note speakers that I enjoyed most were David Poole
(Kansas State University) and Mary Neville (Loughborough University).
David Poole’s talk entitled ‘ The dynamics of O2 exchange: Whose
pulling, whose pushing?’ was an excellent summary of the current debate
that exists in the literature over the supply – demand of oxygen for
muscular contraction. He highlighted the oxygen kinetics differences
between healthy and diseased populations demonstrating that they
typically accumulate a greater ‘deficit’ leading to a more rapid muscle
fatigue. David also presented data from the latest studies that have used
state of the art technologies that allows measurement of oxygen
exchange: across the exercising muscles of humans, at the
microcirculatory level in animals and within individual muscle fibers. He
also showed some video footage of a new technique where they are able
to look at blood flow through a muscle capillary bed in a live animal in
real time. With this technique it is possible to see blood cells as they
flow through the capillaries and therefore this technique opens up the
possibility of x-sectionally comparing blood flow in different diseased
states or to compare the blood flow after some kind of intervention. The
difficulty with the technique if the fact that with the large magnification
required slight movement moves the field of view, so it is difficult to track
the same capillaries.  as in individual capillaries and blood cells inside the
capillaries
Mary Neville spoke on the topic of ‘Muscle metabolism and performance
during sprinting’ where she outlined the work that she and others from
Loughborough had been involved in over the last 20 plus years.
Specifically they have been interested in the metabolic demands of
repeated sprinting activity the type of activity that is involved in team
game sports like hockey and football. Relatively little research had been
carried out in this area and their work of correcting for the changes in the
angular kinetics of the flywheel during cycle ergometer sprinting, the
development of the non-motorised treadmill and the development of the
Loughborough Intermittent Shuttle Test (LIST) have greatly advanced
the methodology in this area of research. In addition to this Mary
described the variety of metabolic measurements, mainly from muscle
biopsy, that they have now taken and how these have helped to describe
the metabolic demands of different types of sprinting activity.
After the David Poole key note there was a very high quality open slide
session on the topic of oxygen kinetics, one of which was a good paper
by Mark Burley (University of Brighton) who showed that prior moderate
exercise had no effect on the oxygen kinetics at the start of heavy
exercise. This is in contrast to heavy prior exercise which does affect the
oxygen kinetics of a subsequent heavy bout, so it seems to be intensity
dependent.
On the last day of the conference there was a special workshop on the
physiological testing of cyclists that includes the following speakers,
Gary Palmer (University of Kingston), Greg Atkinson (Liverpool John
Moores University) and Asker Jeukendrup(University of Birmingham).
The focus of the workshop was the interpretation of laboratory based
tests and how they relate to actual performance up to elite Tout de
France level. The data presented demonstrated the difficulty of
simulating the demands of road racing in the lab and a discussion on
what type of tests could be used to determine ability for road racing.
Greg Atkinson presented some data that attempted to prove that the
pacing strategy for time trialing described in the mathematical model by
David Swain was the most effective. This strategy involves riding at a
higher intensity into the wind and at a lower intensity with the wind.
Simulating these conditions on an indoor ergometer there did seem to be
some benefit from riding harder into the headwind when it comprised of
the first half of the course. Finally Asker Jeukendrup was able to share
some data from European professional riders illustrating the demands of
this level of competition. He also illustrated the problems many of these
riders have in trying to maintain energy balance during the long tours.
Overall this was a very good conference where I was never bored and
always found something of interest. By the way the abstracts from this
conference will be published in the Journal of Sports Sciences, normally
in the January of February issue (although they could be earlier) and
several of them are worth having a look at.
Dr Richard Davison
Department of Sport and Exercise Science
Faculty of Science, Technology and Design
Park Square
Luton
Bedfordshire
LU1 3JU
Tel: +44 1582 734111 ex 2191
Fax: +44 1582 489212
Mobile: +44 7967657235
E-mail: richard.davison@...

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Exercise & Sport Science Teaching Specialist
Non-Tenure Track
University of Utah

Position
Lecturer at the beginning assistant professor level in the Department
of Exercise & Sport Science.  Appointment to commence January 2001.
The position is renewable each academic year.

Qualifications
An earned doctorate in Exercise & Sport Science and evidence of
interest and success with college teaching is required.  In addition,
demonstrated skill with the integration of spreadsheet applications
and presentation graphics software in student learning experiences is
also required.

Responsibilities
Teach undergraduate courses in the core curriculum within the
Department of Exercise & Sport Science.  Courses include, but are not
limited to: Human Growth and Development, Sport Psychology, Sport and
American Society, and Introduction to Exercise & Sport Science.
Possible graduate courses include: Graduate Seminar in College
Teaching.

Compensation
Competitive and commensurate with qualifications of the applicant.

Application Procedure
Send a letter of application, vitae and three letters of reference
addressing teaching competence to:

Dr. Watson
250 S. 1850 E. Rm. 259
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, UT  84112-0920
(801)581-3836
Direct Email inquiries to:  dwatson@...

Application
Review of applications will begin September 4, 2000 and will continue
until the position is filled.

Progressive and innovative, the University of Utah with an enrollment
of 25,000, is a sophisticated, Research I urban university in an
unparalleled natural setting in the foothills of the majestic Wasatch
Mountains.  Established in 1850, it is the oldest state university
west of the Missouri River.  A faculty of 3,620 provides the stimulus
for learning and achievement.  The University offers programs of
instruction and research in more than 72 academic disciplines at the
undergraduate level.  Graduate degrees are offered in 89 disciplines.

The University of Utah is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action
Employer and Encourages Applications from Women and Minority
Candidates.

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Richard Davison was kind enough to highlight what for him were the key
aspects of this year's BASES conference. As chair of the local organising
committee, I wish to point out that keynote and invited lectures as well as
oral and poster communication sessions, and workshops/symposia were also held
in the 'fields' of biomechanics, psychology, motor control, health, and
coaching. Unfortunately abstracts of the keynote and invited lectures will
not be in the Journal of Sports Sciences, although details can be found on
the BASES 2000 website:-              (www.livjm.ac.uk/hum/BASES2000).
I have had many positive comments about the conference, and in particular
contributions from Dave Poole, Tim Noakes, Mary Nevill, Adrianne Hardman,
Jens Bangsbo, Asker Jeukendrup, Janet Starkes, Martyn Shorten and many more.
There was something for everyone
Thanks again Richard for drawing attention to your particular interests.
Maybe others could air their preferences.
Don MacLaren

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Richard Davison is publishing his review of the BASES conference in
the next issue of Sportscience, which is due out this weekend.  If
anyone else would like to put their spin on the conference,
especially in those areas Don MacLaren just identified (biomechanics,
psychology, motor control, health, and coaching), I'll be happy to
publish it.

I found you can access summaries of the workshop, keynote and invited
lectures as apparently virus-free Word docs at
http://cwis.livjm.ac.uk/hum/BASES2000/ (click on Programme for the
keynote and invited lectures).

Will Hopkins
editor@...

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Lecturer (Exercise Physiology/Biochemistry)
School of Exercise and Sport Science,
The University of Sydney, Australia
Reference No. D000770

The School of Exercise and Sport Science has a reputation for academic
excellence with rigorous science based undergraduate and postgraduate
education programmes.  The School is strongly oriented towards research and
has outstanding research facilities and equipment.  To complement existing
staff skills and expertise, applications are invited for appointment to a
Lecturer position in Exercise Physiology/Biochemistry.

The appointee will teach in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in
Exercise and Sport Science, supervise postgraduate students, undertake
curriculum development and carry out administrative functions within the
Exercise and Sport Science programme.

Applicants must have a relevant Bachelors degree and postgraduate
qualification at doctorate level together with evidence of activity in
research by way of peer reviewed publications.  It is essential that
applicants have a broad understanding of the exercise response with
specific expertise in skeletal muscle metabolism (particularly training
adaptations and nutritional aspects).  Lecturing experience at the
undergraduate level is essential.  Experience in the supervision of
postgraduate students would be highly desirable, as would the ability to
attract external funding for research.  It is expected that the appointee
will contribute as an active member of a team within the School of Exercise
and Sport Science.

The position is full time continuing, subject to the completion of a
satisfactory probation period for new appointees.  Membership of a
University approved superannuation scheme is a condition of employment for
new appointees.
Enquiries:  Associate Professor Martin Thompson, Head of School, Telephone
(02) 9351-9460, e-mail M.Thompson@...

Remuneration package:  $60,809 - 72,186 p.a.
Closing:  19/10/2000

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Lyndall Burke,
School of Exercise & Sport Science,
Faculty of Health Sciences,
The University of Sydney,
PO Box 170,
Lidcombe, Australia 1825
Tel:  61-2-9351-9612
Fax:  61-2-9351-9204
E-mail:  L.Burke@...

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Dear List Members,

We are in the process of developing an undergraduate minor in conjuction
with our Exercise Science and Fitness Leadership major.  While we have had
expressed interest from students and faculty from other academic majors,
both within and outside of our HPER Department, we are interested in
finding out:

1) how many other schools/universities have exercise science/fitness minors
as an option,
2) numbers of students that select the exercise science/fitness minor,
3) what is the student's major for those deciding to "pick up" an exercise
science/fitness minor,
4) has this been a beneficial option to offer within your departments.

Any information that you wish to share would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

Dale

Dale D. Brown, Ph.D., FACSM
Associate Professor
Exercise Physiology
5120 - Department of HPER
Horton Fieldhouse
Illinois State University
Normal, IL  61790-5120

(309) 438-7547 phone
(309) 438-5559 fax

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Dear list,

It's now a few days since the question of "biometrics" was posted, but
thought it still pertinent to comment.

As many would know, the Speedo full-body swimsuit is now not the only one
on the market, with most major manufacturers now throwing their designs in.
Of these, however, Speedo and Adidas remain probably the most prominent and
certainly the only two being used by Australian Olympic swimmers.

In their launch material - including a CD-ROM with each suit - Speedo cited
data on reduced passive drag of their suit, resulting in performance
improvements in such things as push-and-glide or passive towing of between
3 and 7%. I believe these tests may have been conducted at ICAR on Colorado
Springs, though am quite prepared to be corrected. Although the methods
weren't fully reported (it was largely promotional material), the data is
quite interesting, as passive streamlining obviously covers a part of a
swimming race.

However, by far the largest part of race is in stroking or other non
passive situations, and Kolmogorov and Duplischeva showed quite clearly
that passive and active drag were discreet qualities. To my knowledge, no
attempt has been made to check the effect of the suit on active drag -
which in itself is quite interesting as much of the Speedo research, I
think, has been conducted by Jane Cappaert who was involved in the active
drag work of Kolmogorov. (I would be very interested to hear from Jane,
whom I had the pleasure to meet at last year's US Open, if she is anywhere
in contact).

Since the Speedo launch, Adidas have countered the market with their body
suit, claiming instead that the performance action is from improved
coordination (replication of movement). This suit has been developed by KR
Swimgear in the UK, based on observations and discussions about the recoil
characteristics of Dupont Lycra, stemming from performance demonstrations
of something like vertical jumping - again I believe at the USOC in
Colorado. Reading from the previous post, it seems that maybe Speedo have
now taken this tune as well, in a divergence from their original line of
data. However, I'm not aware off any new data, such as perhaps EMG or
anything, to support the thoughts of either of the manufacturers.

To me, from competition analysis of recent major swim meets, there is no
doubt that the full body suits improve performance, and it seems through
increased distance per stroke. The cause of this remains unfounded, other
than the background I have tried to give above, and if anyone has any
scientific substance they could add, I would be most interested. Roll on
the Games in Sydney, where I think we'll see the results of some seriously
hard training from world swimmers, and maybe the rise of technology in the
pool!

Graeme Maw



Graeme Maw, PhD
HP Manager, Swimming
Queensland Academy of Sport
PO Box 8103
Woolloongabba
QLD 4102
Australia

Tel: 61 7 3404 3222
Fax: 61 7 3404 3205
Email: graeme.maw@...

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A new issue of Sportscience is now up at http://sportsci.org.
If you see the previous issue when you connect, shift-reload to flush
caches between you and the site.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENTS of Sportscience 4(2)                             May-Aug 2000
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In Brief     Tests for EPO Abuse · Has Your Patient/Client/Subject
               Changed? · Limits to Performance
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Internet     Moving Together: Newsleter #27, by Ken Daley. Biomechanics
               for coaches, motion analysis, sport management, sport
               teaching/learning, tech news, more...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Conference Report
               Annual Conference of the British Association of Sport and
               Exercise Sciences, by Richard Davison.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Kids' Research Resources
               Sport Sites for Kids, by Chryssy R Adamson. A review and
               links for the best sites.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Will Hopkins
editor@...

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Having discovered and perfected the invincible, time trialling
pedalling technique of Jacques Anquetil, I can confidently state that
  it has the following advantages.
    It completely eliminates even the worst type of persistant severe
cycling related lower back pain. This pain is caused by the
combination of an imperfect lower back and the natural recommended
pedalling style, which places all the necessary or
unavoidable strain in the lower back. This strain aggravates the
imperfect area of the lower back and causes the torturous cumulative
pain. It has been proved that the lower back is put under most stress if
strain is placed on it, when one is in a seated
leaning forward position. If one continues to endure the pain, further
irreparable damage may be the result. Anquetil's technique
places all the strain in the hips where it can be comfortably absorbed,
leaving the lower back feeling relaxed and pain free.
   It enables a rider to do what B. Hinault (in his book) stated was
impossible and that is to combine the pulling power of the
hands/arms with that of the hips/thighs/legs for maximum pedal power
effect, when riding at speed in the saddle. The combined
power enables one to smoothly deliver constant maximum pressure to the
pedal from 12 o'clock to 5 o'clock, almost completely
eliminating the upper and lower dead spots on the pedal revolution.
   By spreading the workload between the upper and lower body muscles, as
rowers do, and because of the method through which
the power is transferred to the pedal, it greatly reduces the workload
on the knees and build-up of lactic acid in the legs.
   It prevents one from sliding forward on the saddle, even if tilted
downwards for greater comfort and safety. Seated well back on the
saddle, the hips thighs legs and arms retain that same power generating
position and technique, regardless of whether the cadence
is 50 or 150, with the toes always pointing downwards at the end of the
power zone.
   For obvious resons, tri-bars cannot be used with this pedalling style,
but by using a special, perfectly legal, aerodynamic version
of the normal drop handlebars, one can improve the pulling effect even
further by eliminating the unwanted leverage of the
unaerodynamic shoulder-width bars.
   My problem: Can anyone suggest where I could have a quantity of these
special bars professionally made from  lightweight
material  (English speaking) or provide the name of an English speaking
contact in one of the Italian companies.



Noel Crowley.

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**This is a temporary CompuServe address**
**Please reply to graeme.maw@...**

Dear list members,

Thank you for the replies to my post regarding the purported effects of the
full-body swim suits. I will save each of these and post a summary after
the Olympic swimming, along with any new perceptions from fresh data.

In the meantime, others may also like to check out a web site that Wouter
Buist directed me to comparing full suits with conventional ones for active
drag. I haven't had time to look myself yet - currently being on the road -
but will very soon.

http://www.ifkb.nl/B4/indexsw.html

Thanks.
Graeme.


Graeme Maw, PhD
HP Manager, Swimming
Queensland Academy of Sport
PO Box 8103
Woolloongabba
QLD 4102
Australia

Tel: 61 7 3404 3222
Fax: 61 7 3404 3205
Email: graeme.maw@...

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I just got a phone call from a Rachel Nowak, a journalist at New
Scientist.  Rachel is doing an article on the talent ID program devised by
the Australian Institute of Sport.  She is looking for informed comment
about such programs generally anywhere in the world, and/or about the
Australian program in particular.

If anyone can help Rachel, please email her at
rachel.nowak@..., or she would welcome a phone call at +61
3 9521 2213 (home, in Melbourne, so make sure it's not 2:00 am her time!).

If anyone wants to start a discussion on this topic, please feel free to
send something to the list.  I know that some people have misgivings about
such programs.  I personally see nothing wrong with giving kids a chance to
excel at something, be it sport or anything else, provided they have the
freedom to opt out.  There are some interesting issues regarding the nature
of the tests in a talent ID program, too.  I know that the tests can be
quite crude, but they will still be effective as a first filter to identify
outstanding natural talent.

Will
Will G Hopkins, PhD FACSM
University of Otago, Dunedin NZ
Sportscience: http://sportsci.org
A New View of Statistics: http://newstats.org
Sportscience Mail List:  http://sportsci.org/forum
ACSM Stats Mail List:  http://sportsci.org/acsmstats

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[I just received this message from the American College of Sports
Medicine.  I strongly urge students in exercise or sport science to take
advantage of this offer to join ACSM.  The benefits of membership are
enormous.  If your supervisor is a member of ACSM, please indicate her/his
name on your application form.  Otherwise indicate mine.  -Will]

***SPECIAL OFFERS FOR EDUCATORS***

Offer good September 18-October 1, 2000 Only

September 15, 2000

As a committed educator in the fields of sports medicine, exercise science,
and health and fitness, the challenges you face each academic year is to
provide your students with the best opportunity to learn and succeed.  In
the same way that the American College of Sports Medicine is an integral
component of your professional life, ACSM's impact on students can be
exceptional!

ACSM has two opportunities for you to share with your students, depending on
their career paths.

If the student is going to be a sports medicine or exercise science
professional, a regular student membership in ACSM is the best value and
best investment she or he can make.  ACSM membership is offered on a
calendar-year basis (January-December), but to better serve your students
beginning immediately, ACSM is offering a special, discounted fee of $110!
This special offer will allow students to begin receiving all of their
benefits and publications beginning September 2000 and running through
December 2001!  This membership category receives the monthly research
journal  Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise®, the quarterly Exercise
and Sport Sciences Reviews, the quarterly Sports Medicine Bulletin,
discounts to ACSM's conferences and many other benefits.

If the student is going to be a physical education, physical activity or
health and fitness professional, the ACSM Alliance of Health & Fitness
Professionals is the best selection.  This membership is on an anniversary
year (one year from the time you join) and the cost is $90.  This membership
category receives the bimonthly applied journal  ACSM's Health & Fitness
Journal®, the  quarterly Sports Medicine Bulletin, discounted registration
to ACSM's certification workshops, exams and Summit,  and many other
benefits.

Direct your students to the appropriate special form set up just for this
special offer:

ACSM "regular" student membership form:   http://www.acsm.org/Student.pdf_

ACSM Alliance of Health & Fitness Professionals membership form:
http://www.acsm.org/Alliance.pdf

To have these memberships count as part of your member-get-a-member campaign
effort, simply have your students write in your name or membership id number
in the sponsor section of the application form.

As you know, the ACSM member benefits package continues to expand.  ACSM's
conference, educational and publications offerings continue to exceed
expectations.   An ACSM membership's value continues to surpass that of
other professional associations.

Should you have any questions or if I can be of help, contact me at
csawyer@... or (317) 637-9200, Ext. 104.

Chris Sawyer
Membership Coordinator
American College of Sports Medicine

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UPCOMING CONFERENCE ON SPORTS AND CHARACTER
MAY 10-12, 2001
The University of Notre Dame
South Bend, Indiana, USA

The Center for Sport, Character & Culture at the University of Notre Dame
presents its inaugural conference:  Sport, Character and Culture: Promoting
Social and Moral Development Through Sport, May 10-12, 2001 (Thursday
evening through Saturday afternoon).  Conference topics include a blend of
theoretical, empirical, and practical considerations on the topic of
developing character through sport.  Participants will be drawn together by
their concern over the surging number of negative experiences visible in
youth, collegiate, and professional athletics, and by a commitment to the
positive potential of sports to build character. The conference is designed
to increase understanding of the issues and to empower positive action at
all levels.  Invited speakers at the conference include prominent social
scientists from the areas of sport psychology, sport sociology, sport
philosophy, moral development and moral education, as well as athletes,
coaches, athletic directors, and other sport practitioners.

Contact:
The Center for Sport, Character & Culture, 202 Brownson Hall,
University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556
phone: 219/631-4445
fax: 219/631-8411
email: cscc@...
web: http://www.nd.edu/~cscc

Please post on your organization's listserve, bulletin board, website,
newsletter, etc.  Thank you!

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messages.

I'm looking for some help/suggestions to aid me in purchasing a
Linear Smith Machine for a new strength laboratory I am setting up
in Canada. I will instrument the Smith machine with an
accelerometer so that I can calculate force, velocity and power
exerted on the bar.  I have several specific requirements for the
equipment.

1.  I do not want a counterbalanced system or anything with pulleys
etc. but require fairly frictionless linear bearings.

2. I want to customise the set-up so that the machine is high enough
for jump squats, overhead presses etc. (about 2.75 m or 9 ft high).

3. The equipment needs to be durable.

I have received several quotations from manufacturers, eg. York,
Samson, Universal, that would seem to do the job ok but there is
quite a large price discrepency. Range 1000-2000$ US.

I have also been pricing calibrated Olympic plates since cast plates
are notoriously innaccurate. The calibrated plates generally used in
weightlifting competitions are very expensive but probably worth it I
would think. The manufacturer I have recieved a quote from is
UESAKA.  I know that I could purchase cheaper cast plates and
calibrate them myself as one option.
Any alternative suggestions?

Your experiences and/or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks

Gordon Sleivert

*******************************************
Gordon Sleivert, PhD
Senior Lecturer, Exercise Physiology
Director, Human Performance Centre
School of Physical Education
University of Otago, PO Box 56
Dunedin, New Zealand
Phone: (64)3 479 9109
Fax: (64) 3 479 8309
E-mail: gsleivert@...
******************************************
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>From a sport medicine audio-conference I attend for my diploma, a recent
discussion on a certification/registration programme for health
professionals who wish to prescribe physical activity arose.  The current
situation in New Zealand, is that anyone can call themselves a gym
instructor/personal trainer/exercise prescriber (and unfortunately, even
call themselves nutritionists).  As you can imagine, this makes for a very
"diverse" group of people working in the industry.  Given the responsibility
of working with people in a health setting, where there is indeed great
potential to damage someone, the issue of standardisation & registration has
come about.

Obviously medical practitioners must be registered, as are
physiotherapists.  Shouldn't prescribing exercise & nutrition advice for
health and rehabilitation be just as professional?  While there are several
tertiary bodies who provide training in these fields (of varying durations &
standards), and a couple of organisations that claim to be national
overseers of this industry, things are still very open, and as yet there
isn't any compulsory registration and ongoing quality control.

Where I work for example, you can have trainers whose qualifications consist
of a couple of body builder trophies providing functional rehabilitation,
nutrition
advice ("eat more protein") etc to some very clinical groups with no real
understanding of what it is they are doing.

Is there anyone on the list who is working under a national accreditation
system?  How is it run?  Does it work?

I have posted these questions on another sport science list, and I will post
a summary of all responses from both lists.

Thanks in advance for all contributions.



Jamie Scott (BSc, BPhEd)
Nutrition & Exercise Consultant
cell. +6421 6543 42
email. jamie_scott@...

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Here is a summary of the responses so far to my comments on Registration of
Exercise Prescribers.  I apologize for the length of this summary, but I
didn’t want to sell anyone short.  There have been some excellent
responses, and I have found myself nodding in agreement at most.  This is
obviously a global issue.  Hopefully it will be one that generates enough
momentum for changes to occur.

Jamie Scott, BSc BPhEd
Nutrition & Exercise Consultant
cell: +64 21 654 342
email: jamie_scott@...


Alexandre de Oliveira wrote:

Man, I totally agree with you!  I see stuff like you
described happening a lot!  At the gym I go to, for
instance, there’s a responsible Physical Educator and
another instructor who goes to P.E. college there, but
there are a couple of others who are just "experienced" bodybuilders that
make physical evaluations of the gym goers, prescribe exercises,
etc.


Enid Brown wrote:

I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and the situation here is
identical to the one you describe.  There is no legislation regarding
standards for personal fitness trainers, nutritionists, etc...
In Manitoba we have been wrestling with the problem
of industry standards and the solution we have recently
implemented is to certify only those individuals with a degree in
exercise science who have taken specific courses (there are 11 of
them, e.g. anatomy, fitness, physiology, exercise psychology,
etc).  These people will also have to pass a written and practical
exam and possess certifications in cardiopulmonary resuscitation,
first aid, and fitness assessment (all national programs).

.... We are also looking into the feasibility of licensure (i.e.
legislation to enforce standards) because our new certification standard
has no "teeth". Anyone can still call themself a personal trainer with no
sanction.


Ben Sporer wrote:

I am from Victoria, Canada and the problem you have described is something
we have been experiencing with frustration for quite some time.  More so,
the past few years the problem seems to have
exploded since there has been a big push for exercise rehabilitation.
Although you need a degree to work in a clinical setting, local community
centers have been offering "personal trainers" weekend courses in Cardiac
Rehab, Exercise Therapy, with no formal certification or association with a
recognized body. You can imagine the problems this has created with more
unqualified people calling themselves specialists in these areas while they
are anything but… The problem is that it has put degree holders on the same
page as anyone off of the street… As you can see, big discrepancies in the
quality and quantity of knowledge.

Currently in British Columbia (and across Canada) we have formed an
Association of Kinesiologists (BCAK).  BCAK along with the national body is
pushing for professionalization of Kinesiologists as well as reserving
several of the other terms that are sometimes associated with our field.
Right now it is early in the stages so I'm not sure how it will work out
exactly but I think it is the right step.


Michael Green wrote:

It is indeed a shame that people can declare themselves to be something
that they really aren't. Not only is it dangerous, but it flies in the face
of what bonafide health professional’s want-"professionalism."

Aside from the accreditation question you posed, is it not perhaps vital
that employers ensure they are hiring people who are qualified to advise
people about their health. If employers adopt a standard and stick to it,
which they should, they would ensure that people would have to seek some
form of accreditation.


Nancy Dickman wrote:

Australia has had an accreditation process since 1986. We have state
fitness councils and a national body FIA (Fitness Industry of Australia)

Briefly, how it works:

1.You undertake training with an accredited provider + (? not sure of
details) practical hours + first aid certificate + CPR certificate; for
original registration

2. Each year registration must be renewed. This means producing proof of
certain number of hours face to face instruction + renew CPR + renew
fitness first aid + have attended (or home study) prescribed number of work
shops in your specified field (eg personal training, fitness leader etc) to
accumulate CECs (continuing education credits).

Drawbacks of this system:
It is costly and time consuming (esp if you do not live in a capitol city)
to the individual.. but

Benefits of this system:
1. Registerd fitness leaders have access to an affordable insurance cover
(approx AUS$200 per annum) for professional indemnity and public liability
(to AUS$5 million each).
2. Employers can state registration as an essential criterion in job
descriptions.


Matt Madsen wrote:

The situation is the same in the US...In any industry, the people in it
want barriers to entry to reduce competition for their services.

Do you think the government understands athletic training?  Do you
think I shouldn't be allowed to recommend a high-protein diet or
Olympic weightlifting, because "experts" in power say it's unsafe?
That is, of course, what having government licensing leads to.

Most people get their training advice from other gym-goers, friends,
etc.  Getting advice from a former competitive bodybuilder may seem
sub-optimal, but it's hardly dangerous -- and many people want to
train toward the same goals.

Should an Olympic pole-vaulter not be allowed to train me to vault
because he's not licensed?  Should a martial artist not be allowed to
teach me his art because he's not licensed?


Jamie Scott wrote in reply to Matt Madsen:

My original inquiry was not about setting up barriers of entry so as to
reduce competition.  And I think you will find that most doctors and
physios would also take issue with being told that their registration was a
form of patch protection.

Do you think the government understands sports medicine, or rehabilitive
practices?  This is why governments set up boards of advisors, committees
etc, made up of people usually from a wide cross-section, to provide advice
on these issues.

I was trying not to infer that all body-builders do not know what they are
talking about. And sure, who best to advise someone wanting to compete in
body building than someone who has been there, done that.  But when a body
builder starts trying to correct someone with anorexia, or prescribes an
individual just recovering from knee reconstruction with plyometric depth
jumps (resulting in patellotendon rupture), yes it is dangerous.  Both
examples have occurred where my business is based.  I would suggest that
this is dangerous and that these are people acting way beyond their depth
of knowledge.  But with no regulation, what is to stop this happening again?

...Does being an Olympic pole-vaulter automatically make a person ideally
qualified to prescribe exercise for health, weight loss, rehab, etc. If
your Olympic pole vaulter claimed to be a respiratory specialist for
example, but was not registered, would you see him/her or someone who was
trained and registered?


Matt Maden also wrote:

[with regard to registration limiting competition] It clearly [does]
though.  Certainly not all doctors see it that way, but
it's definitely a barrier to entry.  Most medical services do not
require a doctor with a doctor's full (expensive) education, most
dental services do not require a dentist's (or even a hygienist's)
full eduction, etc., but cheaper alternatives are literally illegal.

Requiring licensing could make any alternatives literally illegal, not just
not covered by insurance.

Who's hiring the local gym bodybuilder for anorexia treatment or knee
rehab?  Frankly, that involves two incompetent people: client and
trainer.  We can't legislate away stupidity.

...You don't need to legislate against every activity that
might conceivably harm someone.  If someone harms you, you can sue
them.  (I don't really want to get into legal issues though.)

...if a personal trainer claimed to know about
physical fitness but couldn't answer basic questions and had no
credentials, I wouldn't trust him either.  But that's my choice.
Someone else might just want someone to set up weights and count reps...

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Hello,


As ardent Olympic observers will have noted, a Norwegian weigthlifter
tested positive for nandrolone just prior to the Olympics.  He went home
from Sydney crushed, and claiming innocence, or at least ignorance.  The
guy's name was Stian Grimseth, 150 kg, sheep farmer, and the Norwegian
Olympic development center's poster-boy for anti-doping. He had gone out
publically asking to be tested every month in order to prove that it was
possible to climb to the top in weightlifting "clean."  He was an outside
medal hope. Suffice it to say that the positive test was a real bummer for
Norwegian sports officals.  However, Grimseth may have been telling the
truth.  And this suggests that a lot of vitamin companies are not.
Grimseth claimed that the only product he had ingested that could account
for the posiitve test was a supplement called Ribose purchased in the
Canary islands.  He had checked all the posted contents against the banned
substance list (via the Olympic training center) and it came up "clean."
So, he took it.  Chemical analysis has since revealed that 2 nandrolone
precursers are in this compound.  In the body, they are converted to
nandrolone.
He had 3 times the near zero accepted amount in his body, which is still
low by "doping standards,"  but high enough. His Olympics were over.  The
lawsuits are just beginning.

Given that several athletes, including former anti-doping poster-lady
Merlene Ottey, have claimed stories similar to Grimseth's, what is going
on?  Given that nandrolone is such an easy drug to detect, why would these
high profile "anti-doping" athletes choose this drug to cheat with, knowingly?

I am told by bodybuilding insiders, that this is not news.  The hardcore
bodybuilding crowd knows that a lot of supplements contain illegal
substances, or the precursors of illegal substances.  But this seems like
pretty important news for athletes and coaches who are less
pharmaceutically informed; In the multi-million dollar supplement business,
product labels lie.

Perhaps, I (and the sheepfarmer/weightlifter Stian Grimseth) was the last
to know.

Stephen Seiler
Stephen Seiler PhD
Assistant professor
Institute for Sport
Agder University College
Service box 422
4604 Kristiansand S, Norway

email: Stephen.Seiler@...
phone: (47) 381 41 347
fax    (47) 381 41 301

Endurance performance physiology website:
http://home.hia.no/~stephens/index.html

Sportscience News and journal website:
http://www.sportsci.org

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The issue of qualifing a personal trainer is an interesting one.  I have
been in contact with both qualified and unqualified trainers in the
industry.  My experience has been one where there are qualified trainers
out there that have the certificates, but only just, who have a grasp on
bits and pieces of what they have learend, but have not absorbed an
extensive knowledge of their subject areas, such as ex. phys and
anatomy.  I have been in contact with the so called 'body builder
trainers' who have sound knowledge and experience with training
principles and diet, who at times are more valuable than a 'just'
qualified PT.  Some of these people without the bits of paper have
pursued an interest of industry and have learned in depth as much as
what they can without having to spend thousands of dollars on a tertiary
education.  And I also know the highly educated honour qualifed trainers
out there doing things 'properly'.

Personally, I see the responsibility of who is employed as a personal
trainer or dietician lay on the organisations shoulders.  If an
organisation is wanting to develop a sound reputation as a leader in the
health and fitness industry, it is up to that organisation to ensure it
employees 'qualified' staff.  The definition of 'qualified' is
determined by the organisation.

As a consumer, one should take responsiblity for ones own welfare by
questioning the credibility and qualifications of the person one seeks
advice from - regardless of the industry.

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One of the most radical changes ever to befall competitive weightlifting was
the IWF's well-intentioned alteration to the official bodymass divisions.

For many years Men's Weightlifting had the following men's divisions (in kg):

52, 56, 60, 67.5, 75, 82.5, 90, 100, 110, +110

Now, we have:  56, 62, 69, 77, 85, 94, 105, +105

Ostensibly, this was to reduce the number of lighter divisions or to have
fewer divisions overall to enable Women's Weightlifting to be introduced to
the Olympics.  However, the feeling among many was that the changes really
were undertaken to expunge the older "steroid enhanced" records from the
official record and start Weightlifting with a clean slate.

While some case may be made to reduce the number of lighter classes, the same
cannot be said about lowering the upper limits of the heavier classes,
especially the change to the new 105 and +105kg divisions.  If anything, it
would have been far more logical to have followed Powerlifting's example of
introducing a +125kg division.

The heavier women's divisions are even less logical.  There the heaviest
division is only +75kg. A far fairer choice would have been somewhere around
100kg to avoid the situation of having a 75.1kg "superheavy" competing
against a 150kg "superheavy" (double the former's bodymass).  At least in
men's lifting, the worst sort of scenario is a 105.1kg "superheavy" competing
against a 160kg "superheavy".  It seems as if the women really are receiving
a "bad deal".

What the IWF did was tantamount to altering track events to distances such as:

105m, 115m hurdles, 410m, 795m, 1520m and so forth, possibly just to erase
the older "steroid" records in some sort of apparently formula-based
readjustment to level the playing field across all bodymasses.  I wonder how
many track and swimming officials would have been willing to accept changes
like this?

Has anyone come across mathematical formulae or regressions which are reputed
to have been used to readjust the former weightlifting divisions - or were
all the computations more empirical than precise?  Do other readers consider
that the revisions offer the optimal solution to competitive lifting in
bodymass divisions?

Dr Mel C Siff
Denver, USA
mcsiff@...

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Stephen Seiler Wrote:

>I am told by bodybuilding insiders, that this is not news.  The hardcore
>bodybuilding crowd knows that a lot of supplements contain illegal
>substances, or the precursors of illegal substances.  But this seems like
>pretty important news for athletes and coaches who are less
>pharmaceutically informed; In the multi-million dollar supplement business,
>product labels lie.
>
>Perhaps, I (and the sheepfarmer/weightlifter Stian Grimseth) was the last
>to know.

This interesting story is an (understated) illustration of what is
currently going on.  For example, a glance at web sites (e.g.
http://www.discount-supplements.com/) gives one an insight that there's
more to "dietary supplements" these days than carbo loading (Ribose
features heavily).  The company Chemins was just caught adding
pharmaceutical ephedrine to "Formula One."  And if you want to chance the
wonders of "Traditional Chinese Medicine," try:
http://www.nejm.org/content/1998/0339/0012/0847a.asp first.  It's a multi
*billion* $upplement industry these days, and we have the "health freedom"
of DSHEA to thank for it in the USA.

Good luck to Stian.  I hope his lawsuit buys him all the sheep in NZ.

Sigh,

Jim Whitehead.

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Dear Dr Seiler

Thank-you for detailing the infomation relating to Stian Grimseth.
Interestingly, in January of this year a report on Nandrolone, prepared by a
panel of experts (chair Professor Vivian James) was presented to the UK Sport
Council.

One of the conclusions of this report states,

"Some dietary supplements contain compounds similar to nandrolone or its
metabolic precursors, which produce the same metabolite as does nandrolone.  It
may not be obvious from the label that such substances are present and are
banned substances.  Users of inadequately or incorrectly labelled products are
at risk of unknowingly ingesting a banned substance.  We therefore recommend
that the sports community should be reminded they must maintain a high level of
awareness of the possible hazards of using some nutritional supplements and
herbal preparations."

The full report was evidently distributed to all sport governing bodies in the
UK, national sports councils, IOC accredited labs, and international sports
federations and organisations.  A more readable "factsheet" was also included
which warned athletes against "relying soley on claims on labelling and
packaging or by distributors".  I seem to remember a couple of fairly high
profile athletes in the UK as being quoted in the media as saying that they
were now very careful about nutritional supplements or avoided them altogether.
  It seems that the message at least got out to elite level UK athletes:
although for some perhaps, it was too late!

Do you know which precusors of Nandrolone (or perhaps of the Nandrolone
metabolite 19-norandrosterone) "Ribose" was allegedly supposed to contain?

Could you please keep the list informed of the legal developments of this case.
  Will the lawsuit take place in Norwegian courts?  Has it been already filed?
Do you know of any websites detailing progress?

Catherine Bacon

NB: A copy of the Conclusions and Recommendations of the report presented to
the UK Sport Council and a UK Sport Summary are located on their website in the
News Archive from 18th Jan, 19th Jan and 8 Feb, 2000.
   www.uksport.gov.uk.

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This same false positive has also happened to one of the athletes with whom
I work. I believe her when she says that her supplements included only
vitamins, glutamine and zinc. See Davis' site for the possible explanation
of the relationship of zinc/glutamine to increased nandroline production.
Also its relation to the estrogen production pathway.

I believe he was the person who testified to get Marlene Ottey's suspension
for 14ng/ml reversed (max allowed for women is 5ng/ml, men 2ng/ml). Since
then, Robin Lyon's suspension for 8.4-9.0 ng/ml has been upheld by a
Canadian arbitrator. The inconsistencies of committee enforcement on these
issues border on harassment of some athletes and extortion for less favored
countries. The Boston Globe recently reported "The national teams of Romania
and Bulgaria have been ejected, although Romania had legal option to pay a
$50,000 fine and get back in. (Don't ask.) Medals, including one gold, have
been stripped. Reputations have been stained and great offense has been
taken. It is, of course, the same old, same old. The question before the
panel is, ''Can there ever be a drug-free weightlifting competition?''

Let me get this straight, for a mere $50,000 skimmed off the top, you too
can have your athletes re-instated after a positive test and reap the gold;
medals and future advertising $$$. How in the world is this LEGAL, let alone
acceptable behavior for a governing body setting examples of ethics,
sportsmanship to children and the rest of us observing this farce? I think
we should definitely ask.

I understand that there have been over 300 positives on athletes for
nandrolone recently. Are they all that stupid? If they are intentionally
cheating, isn't it logical to assume that they are monitoring their own
blood before subjecting themselves to official testing to insure that they
won't get caught? Something is very wrong with the IOC standards on this
one.

Aside from the Charlie Francis interview at http://www.testosterone.net ,
you will find a more detailed perspective on the topic of nandrolone and
the presence of its metabolites in individuals not using nandrolone itself
or any of its precursors in the review by Dr. Simon Davis of the Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratories at
  http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/SimonDavis1/Nandro.html

http://www.mesomorphosis.com, http://www.thinkmuscle.com  will have  a
position paper on this topic by Dr. Di Pasquale soon as well, if it's not
already up there.

Disgusted,
Di
Dianna Linden diannal@...

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RAWINIA PAKU wrote


> Personally, I see the responsibility of who is employed as a personal
> trainer or dietician lay on the organisations shoulders.  If an
> organisation is wanting to develop a sound reputation as a leader in the
> health and fitness industry, it is up to that organisation to ensure it
> employees 'qualified' staff.  The definition of 'qualified' is
> determined by the organisation.
>
Rawinia, in order for an individual to call themself a dietician they MUST
to be "qualified"; university degree in human nutrition/applied science,
with postgraduate qualifications & experience.  Thus the definition of
"qualified" is not determined by employer at all.

> As a consumer, one should take responsiblity for ones own welfare by
> questioning the credibility and qualifications of the person one seeks
> advice from - regardless of the industry.
>
Do you ask to see copies of your GP's credentials & qualifications when you
visit him/her, or ring the local medical testing lab to see that the
individual testing your samples is "qualified"? (very topical issue in NZ at
present).  I assume not.


LACHY POULTER


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In the US most states have licensure legislation protecting and
establishing the professional role of registered dietitians.
Consequently, the ability of others to counsel and practice nutrition
therapy is severly limited.  Without the recognized credential of RD
(registered dietitian), which can only be obtained by meeting the
education standards of the American Dietetic Association, it is illegal
to even refer to ones self as a nutritionist in States where there are
licensure statutes.  Businesses or any other institution that allows
such illegal activity could be held liable for any malpractice suites
that may arise.

These laws also affect Exercise Science programs that offer a Sports
Nutrition concentrations or degree but who are not accredited by the
American Dietetics Association.  Unless their students go on to become
registered as dietitians and obtain a license they will be limited in
what they can do with their degree.

These laws are being put into place to protect the consumer from being
harmed through misinformation deseminated by unqualified individuals.  A
significant source of nutritional misinformation comes from personal
trainers and exercise scientists who position themselves as nutrition
experts.


William R. Proulx, PhD, RD, LD
Assistant Professor of Nutrition
Director, Didactic Program in Dietetics
Dept of Family and Consumer Sciences
Appalachian State University
Boone, NC 28608

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