Million Dollar Muscle is a unique anthology, co-authored by a gym rat with a Ph.D. in Sociology and a former competitive bodybuilder, fitness expert, and entrepreneur. The book offers a sociological perspective on the fitness industry, discussing how it is driven both by market forces and the culture of individual consumerism.
Within a capitalist system the fitness industry is driven by the need to earn profits. From a small sub-culture it has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry. The market is now flooded with gyms, nutritional supplements, workout apparel, exercise equipment, and health and fitness magazines. With massive advertisements, and aided by the Hollywood culture and its emphasis on appearance, the fitness industry has grown to new dimensions, influencing individual choices and behaviors.
Million Dollar Muscle discusses this evolution, along with what motivates people to make the choices they do. The material recognizes that these choices have important social implications. By combining an academic and theoretical approach with an in the trenches point of view, the book is able to bridge micro-macro aspects of the industry. It provides a comprehensive exploration of the individual choices regarding fitness, and why this is an important topic for sociological consideration.
The following topics are discussed:
- Market forces and the power these forces have to shape perceptions of reality;
- The mechanics of capitalism and how these have changed traditional norms and customs which previously served practical purposes;
- The danger of conforming to social norms;
- Individual choices and how they are, in reality, driven by social forces
Million Dollar Muscle is an unusual and intriguing text that successfully combines the thoughtful consideration of the social sciences with the in-the-know sensibility of an industry insider.
Dr. Adrian James Tan, a Singapore-born American, is currently a faculty member at Southern Methodist University in the Sociology Department. He teaches courses in Introduction to Sociology, Marriage and Family, Sociological Theory, and Person vs. Society. Adrian obtained a bachelor's degree majoring in English and philosophy, and master's degrees in sociology and international affairs at Ohio University. Specializing in social psychology and ethnic identity, Adrian earned a Ph.D. in sociology at the University of North Texas, submitting his dissertation on the ethnic identity of Mexican-American children.
Doug Brignole is a 37-year veteran of the fitness industry and a former Mr. California, Mr. America, and Mr. Universe winner. His competitive career spanned from the age of 16 until the age of 51. Doug is also a former gym owner, lecturer, author, fitness TV show host, and personal trainer. He writes for Iron Man Magazine, appears on MuscleXL (an iPad app) where he gives video tips on biomechanics, and is currently working on a biomechanics book that explains the physics of exercise and how one can assess which exercises are productive and which ones pose a risk of injury. He has been certified by the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Council on Exercise.

Casino Women is a pioneering look at the female face of corporate gaming. Based on extended interviews with maids, cocktail waitresses, cooks, laundry workers, dealers, pit bosses, managers, and vice presidents, the book describes in compelling detail a world whose enormous profitability is dependent on the labor of women assigned stereotypically female occupations making beds and serving food on the one hand and providing sexual allure on the other. But behind the neon lies another world, peopled by thousands of remarkable women who assert their humanity in the face of gaming empires' relentless quest for profits.

The casino women profiled here generally fall into two groups. Geoconda Arguello Kline, typical of the first, arrived in the United States in the 1980s fleeing the war in Nicaragua. Finding work as a Las Vegas hotel maid, she overcame her initial fear of organizing and joined with others to build the preeminent grassroots union in the nation the 60,000-member Culinary Union becoming in time its president. In Las Vegas, "the hottest union city in America," the collective actions of union activists have won economic and political power for tens of thousands of working Nevadans and their families. The story of these women's transformation and their success in creating a union able to face off against global gaming giants form the centerpiece of this book.

Another group of women, dealers and middle managers among them, did not act. Fearful of losing their jobs, they remained silent, declining to speak out when others were abused, and in the case of middle managers, taking on the corporations' goals as their own. Susan Chandler and Jill B. Jones appraise the cost of their silence and examine the factors that pushed some women into activism and led others to accept the status quo.

Casino Women will appeal to all readers interested in women, gambling, and working-class life, and in how ordinary people stand up to corporate actors who appear to hold all the cards."

This report documents the existing conditions of the transportation system at Salem Maritime NHS and connections to Salem's transportation system. This document was compiled from interviews with the park and the City of Salem officials, input from Salem stakeholder organizations, official planning documents, data from municipal departments and public agencies, and online and print documentation.

This report describes the results of several on-going analyses: (1) Analysis of ambient data measured under high-wind conditions; (2) Quantification of the differences between in situ observer logging versus offline review of digital recordings; and (3) Computation of natural ambient and existing ambient without air tours.

This report summarizes the high-level planning steps in the ITS implementation process, reports on the resulting conclusions, and provides guidance on the next steps in the implementation process: system design, procurement, and deployment.

The focus of this study is to provide concepts and ideas for a complementary transportation "plan"1 in support of the revised GMP that will address issues and problems identified under existing conditions, and support adaptation to future conditions that are planned for the site.

This book looks at The U.S. Department of the Interior which protects and manages the Nation's natural resources and cultural heritage, provides scientific and other information about those resources and honours its trust responsibilities or special commitments to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and affiliated Island Communities. The mission of the Department's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service is responsible for national programs of vital importance to our natural resources, including administration of the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Programs. These two programs provide financial assistance to the States for projects to enhance and protect fish and wildlife resources and to assure their availability to the public for recreational purposes.

"Satan's Playground" chronicles the rise and fall of the tumultuous and lucrative gambling industry that developed just south of the U.S.-Mexico border in the early twentieth century. As prohibitions against liquor, horse racing, gambling, and prostitution swept the United States, the vice industry flourished in and around Tijuana, to the extent that reformers came to call the town "Satan's Playground," unintentionally increasing its licentious allure. The area was dominated by Agua Caliente, a large, elegant gaming resort opened by four entrepreneurial Border Barons (three Americans and one Mexican) in 1928. Diplomats, royalty, film stars, sports celebrities, politicians, patricians, and nouveau-riche capitalists flocked to Agua Caliente's luxurious complex of casinos, hotels, cabarets, and sports extravaganzas, and to its world-renowned thoroughbred racetrack. Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Louis B. Mayer, the Marx Brothers, Bing Crosby, Charlie Chaplin, Gloria Swanson, and the boxer Jack Dempsey were among the regular visitors. So were mobsters such as Bugsy Siegel, who later cited Agua Caliente as his inspiration for building the first such resort on what became the Las Vegas Strip.

Less than a year after Agua Caliente opened, gangsters held up its money-car in transit to a bank in San Diego, killing the courier and a guard and stealing the company money pouch. Paul J. Vanderwood weaves the story of this heist gone wrong, the search for the killers, and their sensational trial into the overall history of the often-chaotic development of Agua Caliente, Tijuana, and Southern California. Drawing on newspaper accounts, police files, court records, personal memoirs, oral histories, and "true detective" magazines, he presents a fascinating portrait of vice and society in the Jazz Age, and he makes a significant contribution to the history of the U.S.-Mexico border.

An Athlete'S Guide To Agents, Fifth Edition Is Designed To Better Prepare Athletes And Their Families To Screen, Select, And Work With An Agent. It Teaches Families About The Importance Of Sports Agents And Allows Athletes And Their Families To Be Active Participants Instead Of Handing All Power Away To A Sports Agent Upon Signing An Agency Contract. It Examines: Agent Services And Fees, Financial Management, Insurance, Endorsements, Replacing An Agent, Renegotiating And Holding Out, And NCAA Regulations.

Often times the people in a town are shaped by its landscape, life and lifestyle taking their cues from the things around them. In Zionsville this means openness both of spirit and ideas; a certain glow of being from the quality of light shining down on this close-knit haven in Central Indiana. Sometimes a special person can assist nature in shaping its people. Zionsville is fortunate to have one such person in Tom Melind. Tom, a graduate of Depauw University and a longtime member of the Lions Club, was instrumental in the development of Lions Park, an 18 acre recreational area for sports lovers and nature lovers alike. It was Tom who converted this plot of land into a community gathering place and it was Tom's inexhaustible energy that helped raise funds for the project and unite others to work towards this goal.

This report summarizes the Phase II planning effort conducted by the park and the US Department of Transportation's Volpe Center (the Volpe Center) to articulate a viable park-community pilot transit service for Morristown National Historical Park. Morristown National Historical Park consists of four separate units that played important roles during the Revolutionary War-Washington's Headquarters, Fort Nonsense, Jockey Hollow Encampment Area, and New Jersey Brigade Encampment. The combination of one-way roads, heavy traffic, and complicated intersections makes travel between the four units difficult, confusing, and even dangerous for out-of-town visitors. In coordination with the park, the Volpe Center designed and facilitated a park-community planning charrette where park staff and stakeholders within the community discussed and proposed alternative pilot shuttle service routes. These routes were then analyzed and evaluated, and a recommended pilot transit service route was articulated. The report concludes with "next steps" for advancing the recommended pilot transit service to implementation.

Sports and athletics are at once big business, spectator sports, body conditioning, mind expanding and it has been said form the only pages of most newspapers which are truthful and without political agendas. This book presents articles which are of current interest in the field.

This study establishes the baseline air and noise emissions for Santa Monica before the implementation of shuttle service. The report consists of an Introduction, a section describing Santa Monica, a section on Air Emissions, a section on Noise Emissions, a Results section, a Conclusions and Recommendations section, and a References section. All input data for the air and noise emissions prediction models are presented in Appendix A, and all outputs for the air emissions prediction model are presented in Appendix B.

Throughout the world, the rail industry historically has been one of the most extensively regulated of all industrial sectors. In the past three decades however, policymakers and economists have become increasingly critical of traditional regulation of the rail industry and it is generally accepted that in markets where transportation carriers seek to meet demand, there is habitually effective competition. Today, facilitating competition in the railroad transport industry is frequently seen as beneficial. Introducing competition enhances efficiency and innovation in the competitive rail activities, enhances the range and variety of products available to consumers, and focuses the regulatory interventions on the core of the underlying network market problems. This book examines the underlying policies and tools to promote competition in the railroad market. Two of these tools, vertical separation and the enforcement of intramodal competition, are examined in more details. This book aims at decision makers faced with the regulation of railroad industry and people interested in the actual and future setting of railroad competition all over the world.

"Field of Schemes" is a play-by-play account of how the drive for new sports stadiums and arenas drains $2 billion a year from public treasuries for the sake of private profit. While the millionaires who own sports franchises have seen the value of their assets soar under this scheme, taxpayers, urban residents, and sports fans have all come out losers, forced to pay both higher taxes and higher ticket prices for seats that, thanks to the layers of luxury seating that typify new stadiums, usually offer a worse view of the action. The stories in "Field of Schemes," from Baltimore to Cleveland and Minneapolis to Seattle and dozens of places in between, tell of the sports-team owners who use their money and their political muscle to get their way, and of the stories of spirited local groups--like Detroit's Tiger Stadium Fan Club and Boston's Save Fenway Park!--that have fought to save the games we love and the public dollars our cities need. This revised and expanded edition features the first comprehensive reporting on the recent stadium battles in Washington DC, New York City, and Boston as well as updates on how cities have fared with the first wave of new stadiums built in recent years.

Freakonomics meets Moneyball in this provocative expose of baseball's most fiercely debated controversies and some of its oldest, most dearly held myths. Providing far more than a mere collection of numbers, economics professor and popular blogger J.C. Bradbury shines the light of his economic thinking on baseball, exposing the power of tradeoffs, competition, and incentives. Utilizing his own "sabernomic" approach, Bradbury dissects baseball topics such as: * Did steroids have nothing to do with the recent homerun records? Incredibly, Bradbury's research reveals steroids probably had little impact. * Which players are ridiculously overvalued? Bradbury lists all players by team with their revenue value to the team listed in dollars-including a dishonor role of those players with negative values-updated in paperback to include the 2007 season. * Does it help to lobby for balls and strikes? Statistics alone aren't enough anymore. This is a refreshing, lucid, and powerful read for fans, fantasy buffs, and players-as well as coaches at all levels-who want to know what is really happening on the field.

Your site and facilities, whether a beautiful building, a welcoming camp setting, or a natural wilderness area, are a large part of what draws participants to your property. They are also your largest financial investment, so proper management of them is crucial. "Outdoor Site and Facility Management: Tools for Creating Memorable Places" is a comprehensive resource for staff, board members, management, and owners charged with the complex and challenging task of managing and maintaining properties. The book offers a step-by-step property management plan that will help you to provide the safe environment and positive atmosphere so important to creating memorable experiences for your participants.

Rather than focus on the technical skills of facility maintenance or site development, this book offers a broad perspective of property management. It introduces an integrated systems approach to the management of a variety of organizations, such as overnight and day camps, conference centers, outdoor learning centers, government parks, dude and guest ranches, commercial camp grounds, schools, not-for-profit organizations, and religious organizations. You'll have creative strategies to manage day-to-day operations, such as these:

-Planning and forecasting

-Board and administrator responsibilities

-Working with volunteers

-Natural resource management

-Hiring staff

-Budgeting and financial oversight

-Time management

-Record keeping

-Risk managementYou'll also find practical advice to help you make sound decisions and form solutions that are tailored to your unique property.

The book spends a chapter on each of the key components of property management and includes 48 practical tools, such as forms and checklists; practical techniques and examples; sample job descriptions; a glossary; and a list of the indicators of successful management discussed in the chapter.

The bound-in CD-ROM contains the following features:

-65 editable forms and checklists, including maintenance schedules, staffing needs charts, inspection forms, financial plans, feedback forms, and strategic planning

-A list of editable job descriptions that you can use for defining job responsibilities and establishing the hiring process

-A comprehensive list of resources, including Web sites, articles, and books, so you can easily find specialized information and local resources

With "Outdoor Site and Facility Management: Tools for Creating Memorable Places," you'll gain a complete picture of your property's physical, ecological, financial, and personnel assets. Most important, you'll discover the best way to manage your property and ultimately increase the equity of your assets and the marketability and long-term viability of your operation.

As part of a National Park Service (NPS) project to evaluate vehicular emissions in the National Parks, a visitor vehicle emissions study was conducted for Pt. Reyes National Seashore. This study was a joint effort between the NPS, the National Park Foundation (NPF), and the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center's Environmental Measurement and Modeling Division (Volpe Center). The goal of this study was two-fold: (1) Develop a park-specific baseline vehicular emissions inventory of carbon monoxide (CO), the volatile organic compound (VOC) category of hydrocarbons (HC), nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon dioxide (CO2), 2.5-micron particulate matter (PM2.5), and 10-micron particulate matter (PM10) NOTE: PM in this document indicates total particulate matter, including exhaust PM (lead, gasoline PM, elemental carbon, organic carbon, and sulfates), brake PM, and tire PM]; and (2) develop a simplified methodology to produce vehicular emissions inventories for varying visitor traffic scenarios.

This project assesses transportation management issues at Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine in the Locust Point area of Baltimore. Goals of the study include mitigating traffic congestion and idling of school or tour buses, encouraging transit modes separate from bus and automobile travel (waterborne and ferry travel, for example), and linking alternative transport to the potentially revitalized/expanded visitor center.

This report provides an analysis of new ways to facilitate visitation to the National Parks of Massachusetts through improved provision of traveler information. The report explores potential improvements to several elements of the region's Traveler Information System (TIS), including a system-wide visitor-oriented website. The report also identifies options for providing visitor orientation through a centralized transportation hub in Boston. A prominent partnership opportunity is that with the Boston Museum Project's planned history museum in downtown Boston.

This study examines issues relevant to the implementation of an alternative transportation system designed to facilitate the movement of visitors throughout the park and, potentially, to sites of historical and recreational interest located outside the boundaries of the park. It provides an initial analysis of existing conditions at Minute Man NHP, and then considers various alternative transportation services (ATS) options in light of these conditions. ATS options include shuttle, tour, pedestrian and bicycle systems that can be implemented or expanded at Minute Man NHP.

This report assesses opportunities for expanding Lowell National Historical Park's historic trolley line by implementing a light rail system reminiscent of late 19th/early 20th Century trolley lines. This is in line with the Park Service's Transportation Mission to preserve and protect resources while providing safe and enjoyable access within the National Parks by using sustainable, appropriate, integrated transportation solutions. This Plan uses as a starting point the existing trolley system, the Park Service and the LNHP commitment to Alternative Transportation Systems (ATS), and the on-going efforts to revitalize the City of Lowell. Objectives relate to mobility for visitors and residents, reducing traffic congestion, intra-regional connectivity, economic development, and maintaining and interpretive and educational context. Four major routes are identified and options for these routes evaluated, using the Objectives and Route Selection Criteria.

Fort Clatsop... The 2004 summer season was viewed as an opportunity to test the new systems and to evaluate initial operations. The National Park Service requested that the Volpe Center assist in an evaluation. The limited timeframe for the evaluation limited the scope of the analysis and required that its focus be confined to the following critical questions: (1) Should the ticket reservation system be continued? (2) How should the parking areas at Netul Landing and the site of the fort replica be operated? (3) Are adjustments to the intra-park shuttle service necessary? (4) What adjustments are needed to other transportation services, such as transit, that are provided to Netul? (5) How has the visitor experience, especially visitor spatial distribution and pace of the visit, been affected by the new systems?

This summary report compares the data from the three California national parks measured and presents a simplified methodology for performing a generic emissions inventory on other parks. The specific objectives of this report include: 1. Compare the vehicle distributions from the three parks to determine whether vehicle distributions in different parks are significantly different from each other; 2. Compare the speed distributions from the three parks to determine whether driving cycles in different parks are significantly different from each other; and 3. Provide park personnel with a useful simplified emissions inventory tool to use in the generation of a generic park vehicular emissions inventory without committing the funding and time necessary to perform a more detailed measurement and analysis to be used for park planning purposes.