Alaska Regional Chapter
American College of Sports Medicine
ACTIVE ALASKA
Spring/Summer 2004
Alaska ACSM Annual Meeting set for July 21-24 in Sitka:
Peak Performance at All Ages
There is still time to register for the annual Alaska Regional Meeting. This meeting/symposium offers a
great opportunity to hear national and local presenters while earning CME credits and enjoying the beauty
and charm of Southeast Alaska. Keep reading for more information on presenters and a sampling of topics
that are slated for this exciting meeting.
Bridget Hitchcock, Alaska ACSM secretary, had the opportunity to interview one of this year’s speakers,
sports dietician Carrie Peterson:
Carrie Peterson, MS, RD, LD, directs The Dietetic Internship for Graduate Students at University of
Minnesota and works as a sports nutrition consulting dietitian for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Lynx,
Thunder, Wild, Vikings, and Twins.. She will be speaking on “Popular Nutritional Supplements” and “
Eating Disorders and the Athlete” at our 2004 Annual Meeting and Symposium on July 21-24 in Sitka, AK.
How did you get started working with athletes?
Around 12 years ago, I started working with Ann Bancroft, the first woman to reach both the North &
South Pole by foot. I helped her plan caloric needs and procure foods she needed to accomplish these feats.
Six years ago, the Timberwolves approached me to consult with their team. That relationship blossomed
into other professional sports teams in the area.
What do you do during a typical consultation?
That depends on the needs of the team. Sometimes, I work with an individual athlete. They may need a
diet to increase or to decrease their weight, or they may need to lower their cholesterol. One time, I had to
come up with a 5000 calorie diet for a hockey player who broke his jaw and could only consume calories
through a straw. Often, I work with the team and do presentations on hydration, cramping, proper eating
before and after competition, recipes. I also relay information through newsletter and bulletin boards.
What activities do you enjoy?
I am a professional ski instructor, a mountain biker, and a mountain climber (she has been over 20,000 feet
several times). I have also participated in adventure racing. For the pasts 17 years, I have worked parttime at either REI or Eastern Mountain Sports as a sales associate, clinic leader and canoe and kayak
instructor.
PAGE 2
A C T IVE A L AS KA
STEROIDS THREATEN HEALTH OF ATHLETES AND INTEGRITY
OF SPORTS PERFORMANCE
American College of Sports Medicine Calls for Increased Vigilance in Identifying and
Eradicating Steroid Use
INDIANAPOLIS – The American College of Sports
Medicine (ACSM) today condemned the development and use of new “designer” steroids. ACSM
considers chemicals, such as the recently identified
Tetrahydrogestrinone, or THG, developed and
cloaked to avoid detection by doping tests, as serious threats to the health and safety of athletes, as
well as detriments to the principle of fair play in
sports. Any effort to veil or disguise steroid use in
sports through stealth, designer, or precursor
means, puts elite, amateur and even recreational
athletes at risk.
The health risks associated with steroid use are
severe. Anabolic steroid use has been implicated
in early heart disease, including sudden death, the
increase of bad cholesterol profiles (increased LDL,
lower HDL), an increase in tendon injuries, liver
tumors, testicular atrophy, gynecomastia
(abnormal enlargement of breasts in males), male
pattern baldness, severe acne, premature closure
of growth plates in adolescents, emotional disturbances and other significant health risks. The
health risks of designer steroids compared to or
beyond symptoms of anabolic steroid use are currently unknown.
“No one knows the extent of this yet,” said Gary
I. Wadler, M.D., FACSM. “If there is one great
concern that THG has exposed, it’s the potential
that other non-detectable anabolic steroids may be
in the pipeline. The scientific and public health
implications of this issue are quite disconcerting.” Wadler, an ACSM sports medicine physician
who serves on the Health, Medical and Research
Committee of the World Anti-Doping Agency
(WADA) and is a leading international authority on
doping in sports, says the appearance of these
new drugs and their use models dangerous behavior, potentially causing physical and psychological
damage to young athletes.
ACSM calls for national compliance with the
United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) regula-
tions and to the World Anti-doping Code. Further,
the College stresses the need for “clean” athletes,
those not taking performance-enhancing drugs or
supplements, to publicly deplore the use of steroids among their teammates and peers. ACSM underscores the critical leadership role clean athletes
can take in disavowing performance-enhancing
drug use and advocating fair play to protect the
integrity of sports competition. Other individuals
who influence young athletes, such as parents and
coaches, should establish a no-tolerance policy for
performance-enhancing substances, and intervene
whenever necessary.
In the past 20 years, sports governing bodies
have made substantial efforts to eradicate steroid
use. Drug testing implemented by the National
Collegiate Athletic Association, for example, has
been instrumental in decreasing the use of steroids
among college athletes. Last year, ACSM called for
mandatory testing for steroid use in Major League
Baseball. (ACSM’s Position Stand, “The Use of
Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids in Sports,” ACSM
condemns the use of these drugs among athletes. To read a copy of this Position Stand, please
visit http://www.acsm-msse.org). Yet, information
gathered very recently, over just the past few
years, indicates an upward trend in steroid use
among amateur athletes at the college and even
high school levels.
ACSM conducted a national news teleconference,
Friday, October 24, 2003 to address the issues of
athlete health, the importance of fair play, and the
call for increased vigilance on the part of athletes,
coaches, parents, and others.
The American College of Sports Medicine is the
largest sports medicine and exercise science organization in the world. More than 20,000 International, National, and Regional members are
dedicated to advancing and integrating scientific
research to provide educational and practical applications of exercise science and sports medicine.
A C T IVE A L AS KA
PAGE 3
The American College of Sports Medicine:
50 Years of Progress and Service, 1954–2004
The American College of Sports Medicine evolved from the milieu
of the early 20th century, which saw an increased interest in exercise and health within the professions of physical education,
physiology, and medicine, especially cardiology. The development
and measurement of physical fitness and the physical training and
rehabilitation of soldiers served as common areas of interest for all
three professional groups from World War I onward. Another factor
was the growth of sports medicine on the international scene. The
Fédération International de Médecine du Sport (FIMS) was
founded in 1928 and served as the world leader in the field of
sports medicine. The founding meeting of the “Federation of
Sports Medicine” took place in New York City at the Hotel Statler
on April 22, 1954, as part of the afternoon program of the
American Association for Health, Physical Education, and
Recreation (AAHPER). The following year, the American College
of Sports Medicine (ACSM) was officially incorporated and 11
individuals were designated as founders. This group was
composed of seven men and one woman with careers in physical
education, and three physicians. The physical educators were
Clifford Brownell, Ph.D., Ernst Jokl, M.D., Peter Karpovich, M.D.,
Leonard Larson, Ph.D., Grover Mueller, M.S., Neils Neilson, Ph.D.,
Josephine Rathbone, Ph.D., and Arthur Steinhaus, Ph.D. Although
they had training in physical education or were employed in
departments of physical education, Jokl, Larson, Karpovich, and
Steinhaus were primarily involved in research dealing with the
physiology of exercise. The physicians were Louis Bishop, M.D.,
Albert Hyman, M.D., and Joseph Wolffe, M.D. All three were
practicing cardiologists. For the founders of ACSM their emphasis
within sports medicine was unique and much different from that of
traditional therapeutic medicine or mainstream physiology. The
founders reveled in the idea of studying the healthy as opposed
to working with the ill. They also valued research on ultrahealthy
individuals, usually high-level athletes, to better understand lower
versus higher levels of performance capability. By researching the
physiology of exercise, they had a better understanding of what
could be accomplished by physical training. Also of particular
interest to the founders was the challenge of keeping healthy
people healthy and possibly even improving their physical status or
of returning the sick, weak, or injured to a state of normalcy. By
1963 and ACSM’s 10th Annual Meeting, several milestones had
been reached in the realm of publications, growth, regional
chapters, meetings, workshops, and international relations. Total
membership stood at 639 with 566 men and 73 women in the
College. During 1974–75, several new developments took place
that helped inaugurate a new era of interest, growth, and visibility
for the College. The first position statement, “Prevention of Heat
Injuries during Distance Running,” was published, Guidelines for
Graded Exercise Testing and Exercise Prescription became
available, and a group of individuals were awarded certificates as
ACSM’s first program directors. ACSM received national attention
for its significant role as an advocate of both the prevention of
health losses and the promotion of health gains through its
certification programs and for helping to improve the quality of life.
ACSM stepped into the national hierarchy of the physical fitness
movement as an authority who not only provided the scientific
underpinnings for the health value of exercise, but also furnished
practical information through continuing education, publications,
certifications, position stands, and Annual Meetings. During the
first few years of the 1980s, a surge of interest in sports medicine
hit the United States. The public at large as well as the medical
profession finally recognized that participation in sports was not
just for the exceptional athlete. No organization was affected by
this sports medicine boom like ACSM. Particularly because of its
interdisciplinary nature, the College attracted professionals from a
wide variety of disciplines and grew to an all-time high of 10,700
members in 1983.
The College began to assume a proactive role in the
dissemination of information to the public in the early 1990s. Nolan
Ryan, 44-year-old Texas Rangers baseball
pitcher, was the national spokesperson for ACSM and Advil Forum
on Health Education program, “Fit over 40: Your Doctor’s Prescription,” which was launched in June 1991.
As the health and fitness industry continued to grow in the late
1990s, ACSM and its certification programs kept pace. By 1999,
the College had certified more than 18,000 fitness
professionals and averaged almost 2,000 on an annual basis.
The founders and charter members of ACSM were keenly aware
that the distinguishing feature of health problems was their
association with habits and lifestyle, particularly stress, smoking,
poor nutrition, and lack of exercise. They also believed prevention
rather than treatment showed more potential for success, and that
if prevention were to be effective, it had to begin at a young age.
Consequently, ACSM and its membership were at the forefront of a
surge in health-related exercise research.
Throughout its history, ACSM has been the recognized authority on
issues in sports medicine and exercise science through its position
stands, opinion statements, certifications, journal, books,
newsletter, lecture tours, conferences, media education, clinical
programs, and Annual Meetings. More than any other professional
association, ACSM has been a pioneer in advocating the
importance and necessity of the study of exercise
and its many ramifications.
The American College of Sports Medicine: 50 Years of Progress and
Service, 1954–2004
Ed. Note: This abridged version was adapted from the complete article,
originally published simultaneously in January 2004 issue of Medicine &
Science in Sports & Exercise®; and January/February 2004 issue of ACSM’s
Health & Fitness Journal®.
by: Jack W. Berryman, Ph.D., FACSM
Department of Medical History and Ethics
University of Washington School of Medicine,
Seattle, Washington
Sampling of Topics for 2004 Symposium:
Peak Performance at All Ages
Here are just a few of the topics to be covered at this year’s
annual meeting in Sitka:
Strength Training: Cradle to Grave—Kent Adams, PhD
Popular Nutritional Supplements—Carrie Peterson, MS,
RD, LD
Exercise and Osteoarthritis—Doug McKeag, MD,
FACSM
Effects of Exercise Training on Feelings of Energy and
Fatigue—Pat O’Connor, PhD, FACSM
Optimizing Bone Health Throughout the Life Span—Sally
Warner, PhD
Training Strategies for Developing the Child Athlete and
Youth Resistance Training: Rationale and Guidelines—
Kent Adams, PhD
ALASKA REGIONAL CHAPTER
AMERICAN COLLEGE OF SPORTS
MEDICINE
626 Merrill Street
Sitka, AK 99835
Register Now for the 2004 Symposium:
Peak Performance at All Ages
July 21—24
Sitka, Alaska
Name: ________________________________
Address: ______________________________
City: _____________ State: ____Zip: _______
Phone: ________________________________
Email: ________________________________
Professional Affiliation: __________________
Total Payment: _________________________
Professional with CMEs / CEUs
Professional (no Continuing Ed)
Non-Professional
Student
Banquet
Sitka Community
$350
$200
$100
$50
$35
$5/session
Make checks payable to: Alaska ACSM
If you are interested in attending the symposium,
please contact Litia Garrison, Executive Director at:
907.747.5160 or fvseal@ptialaska.net
Interested in joining Alaska ACSM or
finding out more about the chapter?
Just fill out the information below and send it to us.
To become a member of the Alaska Regional Chapter of ACSM,
remember to enclose your check for $30.00 made payable to
AK ACSM.
For more information about national ACSM, visit acsm.org.
Name:
____________________________________
Address: ____________________________________
____________________________________
Phone:
____________________________________
Email:
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We have regular teleconferences on the first
Wednesday evening of every month.
Please mail membership request to:
AK Chapter ACSM
C/o 626 Merrill Street
Sitka, AK 99835