Foreword

In simple straightforward language, Dr. Boone has set forth important reasons for teaching anatomy in the exercise physiology curriculum. He believes that the students of exercise physiology cannot do their best in prescribing exercise medicine without an understanding of anatomy. This is especially true when it comes to flexibility training.

Anatomy: A Pressing Concern in Exercise Physiology presents the first-ever anatomical background to why there are good, useless, and dangerous flexibility exercises. Dr. Boone believes that without anatomy as part of the exercise physiology curriculum, exercise physiologists will continue to engage their clients and patients in useless and dangerous flexibility exercises. The result is a failure to increase their range of motion, a waste of time in achieving increased flexibility, and the possibility of damage to the muscles and joints. Such a practice is similar to prescribing exercise medicine without an understanding of exercise duration, frequency, intensity.

While it is possible that the students of exercise physiology can learn anatomy without hands-on dissection, it is not the desired approach. That is why Dr. Boone developed an Anatomy Laboratory with cadavers that were dissected by his students at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC, the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, MS, and the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, MN.

This book explains that we must close the door on yesterday’s views of “what is exercise physiology” and keep it closed. We live today, not yesterday. We are healthcare professionals who prescribe exercise medicine to prevent and treat chronic diseases and disabilities. This book is a big step into the 21^st century commitment to the professionalization of exercise physiology.