Have to get back on my pedestal again, so I’ll apologize in advance.

Cheating athletes, I’m specifically talking to you on this one. In general, I’m talking to the folks who love you and supposedly have your best interest at heart – the ones who look the other way when what you’re doing is wrong.

You could be an elite athlete or a 13-year-old just realizing how much better than the other kids you are. It doesn’t matter, I’m talking to you.

What’s with the performance-enhancing drugs? What’s with the allure of cheating? Don’t you understand it isn’t YOU running that fast, lifting that much, recovering that swiftly or pedaling that quickly?

What’s wrong with smarter training?

The exercise-science industry is still in its infancy. We’re still learning. Humans have been training for thousands of years, But it has been only in the past 50 or so years that we’ve really begun to understand how and why the human body moves, and how we can make it move the most efficiently with the most strength, power or speed.

For instance, 30 years ago, the NFL had 6-foot 2-inch, 220-pound linebackers who ran 40-yard dashes in 4.8 or 4.9 seconds. Today there are 6-foot-4, 255-pound linebackers running 4.4- and 4.5-second 40s. That’s a result of smarter training, understanding what works and what doesn’t, and why.

I’ve been to numerous seminars and clinics. Typically, folks want to “take” one or two things from these clinics – tips they can immediately incorporate into training routines.

I recently attended a clinic geared toward training golfers. I was blown away. I didn’t realize training that specific to golf existed. From understanding kinematic sequencing to knowing the physical causes of reverse spine angle and lower crossed syndrome, and why and how they affect the golf swing, the clinic opened my eyes.

It let me know that we still have a lot to learn. Athletes from football, baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer, cycling, swimming, etc., – I’ve trained them all. I’ve seen and helped folks smarter than me train them, too.

Because of that experience, I know we’re not even close to perfecting training methods. Yet we’re so much more advanced than we were just a couple of decades ago.

You’re going to get faster, quicker and stronger every day. You’re going to pedal, run and swim more efficiently, too. You’re going to get better.

And you’ll be able to do it without cheating and by keeping your integrity.

If, that is, you want to.

I’ll step down now.

Bryant has two National Strength and Conditioning Association certifications. Contact him at milo.bryant@gazettedev.gazette.com or read his blog at milobryant.blogspot.com. He appears on KOAA’s Comcast Channel 9 most Wednesdays at 4 p.m.

Sue Skiffington-Blumberg, left, and Devra Ashby with the city’s Public Communications Department worked on a cable show about the city called “Springs TV” last week. Photo by (JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE)