Episodes
Friday Feb 28, 2020
Strength Trainer Drew Baye | Is Student Fitness Sapping School Safety?
Friday Feb 28, 2020
Friday Feb 28, 2020
Drew Baye has been teaching and writing about exercise for over twenty years, during which time he has personally instructed hundreds of clients, including elderly people and people with physical disabilities, one-on-one through tens of thousands of workouts. He maintains the number one blog on high intensity strength training baye.com and has been featured in several books about exercise including The New Bodybuilding for Old-School Results by Ellington Darden, PhD, Heart Strong by Ken Hutchins, and The 4-Hour Body by Tim Ferris. CALIFORNIA SUSPENDING PHYSICAL EDUCATION. Antonia Noori Farzan of the Washington Post (February 7, 2020) wrote about pending state legislation in California that would drastically impact physical fitness instruction, assessment and guidance for students. “For generations of students, running a timed mile around the track as part of a mandatory fitness assessment has been a painful rite of passage. To some, it can be downright embarrassing and humiliating. But that could soon be changing in California, where officials have raised concerns that annual physical performance tests can lead to body-shaming and bullying, and that they discriminate against students who have disabilities or identify as non-binary." PRESIDENTIAL PHYSICAL FITNESS. In the 1950s, President Dwight D. Eisenhower was horrified to learn that European schoolchildren were acing a fitness test designed by competitive rock climbers, while the majority of American kids failed. The fear that the United States was falling behind on the world stage led to the introduction of the Presidential Fitness Test, which rewarded the students who could do the most pull-ups and run the fastest miles. In 2012, the Presidential Fitness Test was quietly replaced by a program that focused on students’ overall health rather than arbitrary fitness goals. FITNESS. Drew defines fitness as, “Your ability to perform various physical tasks without fatigue and without injury.” He notes that strength training benefits muscles and also the heart – explaining the misconception that the heart is solely responsible for circulating blood throughout the body as many muscles are involved. EXERCISE. Per Drew, most people are unable to accurately define exercise. He defines it as, “A process by which the body performs work of a demanding nature in accordance with muscle and joint function for the purpose of creating tension and fatigue in the targeted muscles to stimulate improvement in muscular strength and size and through the stress in the muscles to place a demand on and to stimulate improvements in all those supporting systems.” NUTRITION. Ultimately, nutrition is a significant component of student fitness. Drew debunks the popular argument that kids of previous generations had similar diets as kids today – and they were more active decades ago. In fact, he notes that the higher level of activity kids had in the 1950s and 1960s decreased opportunities for them to consume extra calories – as they were out doing things and not sitting in front of a screen. STUDENT FITNESS IMPACT ON SAFETY. Drew identified 4 benefits of physical fitness specific to student safety (1) Students able to quickly get themselves to a safe location during a crisis: (2) Students being able to better recover from a physical injury; (3) If you’re stronger, you are better able to aid other people (which is also part of the FEMA Teen CERT program); and (4) Students maintain sharpened thinking skills and decision-making during a crisis due to the connections between physical fitness and improved cognitive functioning. IS ELIMINATING PHYSICAL FITNESS DISCRIMINATING AGAINST STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES? Dr. Perrodin asserts that California’s draconian measures to limit physical education are based on inaccurate perceptions that students with disabilities don’t enjoy, or don’t benefit, from physical education – an assumption he argues discriminates against students with disabilities and violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (Chapter 7, Addendum 2). FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. LOOKING FOR DR. TIMOTHY LUDWIG, PHD? Dr. Perrodin’s “Safety Doc Podcast” negotiates school and community safety. To be informed about industrial safety, please contact Appalachian State University Professor Dr. Timothy Ludwig, PhD, at www.safety-doc.com. This is episode 119.
- Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: School of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America. www.schooloferrors.com
- Learn more about this show’s guest at www.baye.com
Thursday Feb 20, 2020
Vincent LaRosa | Founding of Masculine Geek and Urban Exploring
Thursday Feb 20, 2020
Thursday Feb 20, 2020
Vincent LaRosa is a network administrator, Masculine Geek and adventurer. He’s an enthusiast of ancient areas and fascinated with urban decay - including the death knell of the American mall. In this episode, Vince discusses the genesis of one of Internet’s top shows - Masculine Geek, writing, urban exploring and an intellectual hike through the woods of life and mortality. REMEMBERING OOLOO. Decades removed from the bright lights, fans still remember Ooloo, a supporting character on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Although a brilliant actor, the writer’s delivered few opportunities for LaRosa's Ooloo to shine other than late in season two when Ooloo played a yeoman purser - a role that was functionally eliminated when the starship went cashless after convoluted storylines involving currency conversion practices that became ridiculous when Captain Picard authorized purchase orders for parts for the starship, curiously not stocked by Star Fleet, by bartering the equivalent of a sack of russet potatoes with the Narphwelens. WAS OOLOO A “B” CHARACTER? Although a “B” character, many, including fellow actor Levar Burton, and confidant Angela Lansbury, felt that Ooloo would have smoothly transitioned to the role of core cast member in a similar fashion to Jamie Farr’s “Klinger” replacing Radar O’Reilly (Gary Burghoff) on the TV series M*A*S*H. In a 2016 interview, Burton acknowledged the writers’ colossal mistake by terminating LaRosa’s character in a reckless cafeteria accident. Respected in Hollywood, the talented LaRosa passed on countless offers for auditions and instead closed the chapter on acting and moved to the East Coast. FOUNDING OF MASCULINE GEEK. Masculine Geek has become a Wednesday night staple for a loyal, growing tribe of very cool people seeking honest, unscripted discourse that harkens to all things masculine: motorcycles, rock bands, history of ancient civilizations, battlefields, and Dungeons & Dragons. Vincent’s concept for Masculine Geek took shape when Rob Says and TJ Martinell took the oath. Curmudgeon Aaron Clarey was a periphery member of MG, but amicably departed the show after its late (8PM Aaron’s time) start time interrupted his four hour naps. Vince, TJ and Rob meet up in the virtual campsite to deliver the Masculine Geek podcast live Wednesday Night’s at 9PM EST on YouTube and the show is landing some of the Internet’s prominent figures and boasts a highly interactive chat room. TIME TO LEVEL UP. The motto of the Masculine Geek is “Time to level up.” That’s right, you’re now part of the team - so do your part. Masculine Geek offers a discerning (free) weekly newsletter, masterly essays such as “Rise of the Lone Wolf” and “The Everyday MG’s Commandments”, paid content, merch and consulting. URBAN EXPLORING. Urban exploration is the act of entering, experiencing and photographing abandoned buildings or areas. The rule is to leave sites as you found them. Many of these places are dangerous due to a lack of maintenance over a long period of time. And, unless you have permission from the owner, you’re probably trespassing - so a cool geek hobby, but don’t go solo and always get permission. Vince shares accounts of urban exploring, including his intention to capture photos of a decaying mall and then pair those images with narratives for a book. David, relatively new to urbanex, attempts to describe the emotional experience of a long-abandoned farmhouse that still had clothing buttons tossed on a rotting floor. MEETUP.COM Vince underscores that people need to find others with similar interests and engage in a shared activity, such as building a house for Habitat for Humanity, hiking, or urban exploring. Although an online platform, Masculine Geek held its inaugural “Village By The Sea” in-person gathering last fall in October -- and future in-person meet-ups are planned. Check out the website masculinegeek.com FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. LOOKING FOR DR. TIMOTHY LUDWIG, PHD? Dr. Perrodin’s “Safety Doc Podcast” negotiates school and community safety. To be informed about industrial safety, please contact Appalachian State University Professor Dr. Timothy Ludwig, PhD, at www.safety-doc.com. This is episode 118.
- Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: School of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America. www.schooloferrors.com
- Learn more about this show’s guest at www.masculinegeek.com