Preface

For years the kinesiology course was the anatomy course in the health and physical education degree. Now, although students can still major in health and physical education, the title has changed in many academic institutions to exercise science, kinesiology, and numerous other degree titles. It is no secret that exercise physiology grew from this academic background of athletics and exercise in health and disease. Today, exercise physiology is increasingly recognized as the new 21^st century healthcare profession. While exercise physiologists are educated to prescribe exercise medicine from a physiological perspective, there is the concern that they need an anatomy course to fully understand the depth and implications of flexibility training.

This ebook, Anatomy: A Pressing Concern in Exercise Physiology, is the opportunity to promote the academic importance of anatomy as part of the professional development of exercise physiologists. It describes in detail the anatomical reasons for the good, useless, and dangerous flexibility exercises. Without question, academic exercise physiologists should teach anatomy to the undergraduate and post-graduate students, and the students should have the same opportunity as other healthcare students to study cadavers to grasp the significance of the musculoskeletal system. The hands-on laboratory opportunities will help the students of exercise physiology to safely prescribe exercise medicine and to work as a professional with athletes of diverse sports. This work should also encourage the support and recognition of the ASEP Board Certified Exercise Physiologists as healthcare professionals.