Health Fitness Instructors Handbook

This reference for health and fitness professionals discusses the fundamentals of fitness, exercise physiology, and biomechanics, and represents recent advances in physical fitness. Representing the 2000 ACSM guidelines, the book also serves as a study guide for those preparing for heath fitness instructor certification exams. Howley (University of Tennessee, Knoxville) and Franks (University of Maryland, College Park) offer advice on developing meaningful and safe fitness program, with particular attention to the needs of special populations. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Edward T. Howley, PhD, is a professor of exercise science at the University of Tennessee, where he frequently has been honored for his excellence in teaching. He received the university’s Alexander Prize for Teaching and Scholarship in 1999, the College of Education John Tunstall Outstanding Professor Award in 1995 and 1987, the University of Tennessee Alumni Association Outstanding Teacher Award in 1987, and the George F. Brady Teaching Award in 1979 and 1986. Most recently, he received the Alumni Achievement Award from the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin and the Gatorade Sports Science Institute’s Excellence in Education Award.

Howley holds a PhD in physical education from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and certification as a program director from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). He is currently the president of ACSM and has previously served as president of their Southeast Chapter. He has been active in ACSM’s certification committee activities and was an associate editor of the sixth edition of the ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription.

B. Don Franks received his PhD in exercise science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in 1967 while working under fitness pioneer T.K. Cureton Jr. He served on the UIUC faculty until 1970 and later taught at Temple University in Philadelphia and at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He was senior program advisor for the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports in 1995. Previously, he was professor in and chair of the department of kinesiology at Louisiana State University. Currently, he teaches kinesiology at the University of Maryland at College Park.

Franks is a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education (AAKPE), and the Research Consortium of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD). He is also a former president of AAKPE and the Research Consortium of AAHPERD, where he advocated a health-related approach to physical fitness and helped to develop the first Health-Related Physical Fitness Test. Franks has received many honors, including the AAHPERD Physical Fitness Council Honor Award and the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports’ Distinguished Service Award.