Sports Science Postgraduate Students

My research focuses on enhancing wellbeing and mental health in performance sport. Working closely with two sports (cycling and judo), I have utilised a bioecological framework, to explore the factors that are perceived to affect athletes' wellbeing and mental health. The case studies have led to multi-level intervention, aiming to enhance athletes' wellbeing and mental health in the high-performance sporting environment. It also aims to increase participants' confidence to seek help for their mental health, through increasing their mental health literacy.

Alongside the PhD research, I am also a Sport and Exercise Psychologist in Training (SEPiT), acquiring the knowledge, skills, and experience to become a qualified Sport and Exercise Psychologist (i.e., HCPC registered Practitioner Psychologist). I am currently working with a range of sporting populations to facilitate their wellbeing and performance through the application of theory to practice.

Title: Co-ingestion of nutritional ergogenic aids and their interactive effects on exercise performance and associated physiological responses.

Supervisors: Dr Mark Waldron, Dr Shane Heffernan, Prof. Liam Kilduff and Rene Nevola (external)

Summary: My research is being conducted in collaboration with the Defence and Science Technology Laboratory (Dstl), focusing on dietary supplementation of ergogenic aids and their effects on human performance. I am particularly interested in the effects of dietary supplements when they are co-ingested and will be performing both meta-analytical and experimental research to help the future optimisation of co-ingestion strategies for athletic populations.

Project title: The application of advanced data analytics to quantify load monitoring and performance in professional rugby union

Supervisory Team: Dr Rowan Brown, Professor Liam Kilduff, Dr Mark Waldron, Dr Neil Bezodis

Funder: EPSRC and Ospreys Rugby

In conjunction with Ospreys Rugby and EPSRC, my research involves the use of many streams of training and match day data to help understand what drives successful performances within Elite Rugby Union. Through advanced data analytics methods, the aim of the project is to quantify how data such as match performance indicators, training loads and wellbeing data contribute to performance and establish whether these can be used to predict match outcomes. This research is based in the United Rugby Championship (formerly the PRO14).

Project Title: Neuromuscular, Biochemical, Endocrine, Mood, and Sleep responses to International Cricket

Supervisory Team: Professor Liam Kilduff, Dr Laura Mason, Dr Mark Waldron

Industrial Partner: ECB

International participation is the pinnacle of any sport, and cricket is no different. Cricketers physiological performance has improved greatly over the last ten years. Advances in physical preparation and an emphasis on cricketers becoming athletes as well as performers has changed the game from what it used to be. The volume of cricket played at the elite-level is a major factor influencing player fatigue levels and the subsequent need for appropriate recovery practices. Furthermore, the physiological demands vary considerably between positions; batsman, bowler, wicketkeeper, and game formats; shorter (T20/One-Day) and multi-day (Test) matches. Working alongside the ECB, this research project will assess the impact of international cricket on elite-level athletes through physiological responses. Collecting data across 3 formats: Test, One-day and T20 matches, I will analyse and assess the neuromuscular, biochemical, endocrine, mood, and sleep responses of participants. Ultimately, the aim is to investigate the impact of international cricket on elite-level athletes, and look to implement appropriate priming and recovery interventions to enable elite-level cricketers to perform at the peak of the sport throughout an international series and across congested fixture lists.

Project Title: The influence of plant-based dietary patterns on in vivo musculoskeletal and vascular characteristics

Supervisory Team: Dr Shane Heffernan

Joe is a PhD student investigating the effects of plant-based dietary patterns on a range of physiological markers of human health and sporting performance. Working alongside his supervisor, Dr Shane Heffernan, he has recently set up the OMnivorous and Non-meat eater Integrative Physiology and NutriTion (OMNIPLaNT) study, in which they will compare these markers between different dietary groups, ranging from whole-foods plant-based through to omnivorous diets. They utilise ultrasound technology for assessment of skeletal muscle and vascular health in addition to dual-energy X-ray imaging for comparison of body composition and bone mineral density between different diet groups.

If you are interested and would like to take part in The OMNIPLaNT Study, or receive some more information, you can access the online questionnaire(s) or leave your contact details via the links below:

Questionnaire: https://survey.swan.ac.uk/index.php/788865?lang=en
Contact Details: https://survey.swan.ac.uk/index.php/681766?lang=en

Project Title: Kinematics and Force Application During Initial Sprint Acceleration

Supervisory Team: Dr Neil Bezodis, Dr Louise Burnie

Collaborating partner: National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya, Japan (Dr Ryu Nagahara)

In track sprinting, the athlete generates around 70% of their maximum velocity during the first four steps on the track. The ability to apply force horizontally is a determining factor for sprint acceleration performance. However, it is currently unknown what features of a sprinter’s technique are associated with this technical ability. This research project will empirically investigate the relationships kinematic characteristics and a measure of technical ability (ratio of forces) during the initial acceleration phase of sprinting, with the aim of providing practical implications for sprinters to manipulate their technique to improve acceleration performance.

Project Title: The effect of dietary supplementation on physiological and thermoregulatory responses to exercise in hot environments

Supervisor: Dr Mark Waldron

My research focuses on dietary supplementation and thermal physiology. More specifically, the aim of my PhD is to investigate the effect of taurine supplementation on exercise performance in the heat, alongside thermoregulatory responses such as core temperature, sweating and vascular changes. This research has relevance to both athletes and military personnel, as many competitions and tactical operations take place in hot environments. My PhD will include both meta-analytical and laboratory-based experimental work, with my first article published in 2021 (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-021-01500-2).

PhD Title:
A realist evaluation of multi-component interventions with disadvantaged young people

Company Partner:
Ospreys in the Community

Supervisors:
Dr Camilla Knight & Dr Denise Hill

Summary:
The overall aim of my research is to use realist evaluation (Pawson & Tilley, 1997) to assess the impact of various multi-component programmes on the engagement, behaviour, and psychological outcomes of disaffected and disadvantaged young people. Realist evaluation is a theory-driven approach, aiming to establish a rich, in-depth understanding of how a programme may work, for whom, under what circumstances, and why (Pawson, 2013).

The findings and guidelines produced from realist evaluations can provide policymakers with a detailed and practical understanding of the types of programmes that may benefit disadvantaged young people and help advance the implementation of future programmes.

Research Interests:
Disadvantaged young people, social justice, realist methodology and programme evaluation, strengths-based approaches, positive psychology, appreciative inquiry, positive youth development (PYD), sport-based PYD, experiential learning.

PhD Title: Physical Demands of Training and Competition in International Netball Players

Summary:
Coaches and conditioning coaches must effectively organise training in order to maximise training adaptation, as well as develop technical and tactical aspects of performance. however, at present, there are few reports highlighting the responses to a variety of training stimuli in elite female team-sport players, especially in elite netball, limiting the ability of the coach to do this. the aim of this research is to identify the responses to international competition, netball-specific training sessions, and the influence of organisation of training (such as session order, or volume of training) to allow coaches and conditioning coaches to effectively plan training.