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Exercise for Health and Human Performance

The Exercise for Health and Human Performance group has developed from the natural synergy of research within the School of Health Sciences at the University of South Australia. Interested in Exercise and Human Performance across the spectrum - from acute responses in currently sedentary individuals to working with elite athletes - the group's research focuses on how exercise from childhood through to older years can help to develop, maintain and optimise physical and mental health.


The integration of disciplines, and variety of methodological approaches, enables us to explore the role of exercise in rehabilitation, prevention of disease, maintenance of physical and cognitive function, development of peak performance and optimisation of health from a multidimensional perspective.

Rehabilitation from an injury on the sports field, or from a fall in the house, requires the individual to receive the appropriate diagnosis, treatment and to adhere to that treatment. This could involve the expertise (and associated research) of physiotherapists, podiatrists, medical radiation, exercise physiologists, biomechanists, exercise and sport psychologists, occupational therapists, and more.

Similarly, to understand and know how to help someone (an elite athlete, child, or older individual) to achieve and maintain peak health (physical and/or mental) and physical fitness, requires knowledge and work across disciplines. The Exercise for Health and Human Performance group is composed of experts from across these disciplines. We conceptualise 'human performance' in its broadest form to include a child learning to skip, or play with other children; a footy player kicking a 40-metre goal in the last 10 seconds of the final quarter; a stroke patient re-learning to walk; or workers coping with complex decisions when under pressure.

We aim to provide opportunities for students, academics and our external stakeholders (SA Health, Australian Sports Commission, individual sport governing bodies, local community) to advance understanding through consultation and collaboration. Everyone, whether elite athletes, junior club players, parents with young children, company employees, rural dwellers, and our older residents can benefit from our expertise.

People

Leadership team

Associate Professor Gaynor Parfitt: Associate Professor in Exercise and Sport Psychology, School of Health Sciences
Dr Jim Dollman: Senior Lecturer in Human Movement (Exercise Physiology), School of Health Sciences

Researchers

Professor Alan Crockett: Professor of Clinical Respiratory Physiology, School of Health Sciences
Professor Roger Eston: Head of School, Health Sciences
Professor Kevin Norton: Professor of Exercise Science, School of Health Sciences
Dr Diana Gentilcore: Senior Lecturer in Nuclear Medicine, School of Health Sciences
Dr Sharron King: Senior Lecturer in Medical Radiation, School of Health Sciences
Dr Mary Magarey: Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy, School of Health Sciences
Mr Adam Hewitt: Lecturer in Human Movement (Applied Sports Science), School of Health Sciences
Dr Maarten Immink: Program Director Human Movement, Lecturer in Human Movement (Motor Control and Sport Psychology), School of Health Sciences
Dr Carmel Nottle: Lecturer in Human Movement (Growth and Motor Development), School of Health Sciences
Dr Dominic Thewlis: Lecturer in Human Movement (Biomechanics), School of Health Sciences
Dr Alex Rowlands: Senior Research Fellow, School of Health Sciences
Dr Francois Fraysse: Research Fellow, Division of Information Technology, Engineering and the Environment
Dr Michelle McDonnell: Research Fellow, School of Nursing and Midwifery and School of Health Sciences

Project Officer

Dr Edoardo Rosso: Project Officer: Football United, Division of Health Sciences

Noticeboard

Amanda Richardson, PhD student, has been invited to speak at the 15th International First Year in Higher Education Conference 2012 to be held from 26-29 June in Brisbane.

“Nuts and Bolts” Submission - presenting practice-based initiatives or the outcomes of early research. The title of the submission is ‘Thriving or Just Surviving? Exploring student strategies for a smoother transition to university.’

ABSTRACT
The first year of university study is one of the greatest transition periods in a student’s life. It is a time where they have to learn new academic skills as well as new social and independent living skills.  For many students the struggle to balance the competing demands of study, work and personal commitments feels overwhelming and they report significant declines in their overall health and well-being.  However, some students appear to thrive in this new learning environment.  This presentation reports on the findings of a research project investigating the health and well-being of first year students in Australia.  It compares the experiences and coping strategies of ‘thriving’ students with those who describe themselves as ‘just surviving’.  Forming close social relationships with peers, having good time management and organisational skills, together with effective coping strategies enables students to transition more successfully into university life.

Tom Butler, Honours students, has been awarded the Ian Gould Experimental Science Grant.

The Ian Gould Experimental Science Grant ($5000) is a personal gift from Dr Ian Gould, Chancellor of the University of South Australia. The grant aims to encourage Honours and PhD students to undertake 'hands on' research where the student proposes to engage actively in experimental work and collect and analyse their own data for thesis work. The financial support will obviously be very helpful throughout my Honours year, but I’m also very proud to be a recipient, and appreciate the award’s significance given that it’s a personal donation from Dr Ian Gould. I’m quite drawn to experimental research because I want to get out there, be hands on with collecting data and hopefully do some ground-breaking work.

I’m a Human Movement graduate, and being one of the first Honours students in the new Exercise for Health and Human Performance Research group is very exciting, especially with the group doing some good research regarding exercise as it relates to health, sports science and chronic disease. Under the collaborative supervision of Professor Roger Eston, Dr Maarten Immink and Associate Professor Gaynor Parfitt, my Honours project is looking at stress reduction, as well as exercise related perceived exertion and affective responses (ie. how pleasant or unpleasant exercise is interpreted to be). The degree to which exercise is perceived to be pleasant is a critical factor for the continuation of exercise and adherence to exercise programs.

I’m hoping to continue with a PhD after this year, and eventually forge a career in research. Throughout my Human Movement degree, I became well aware of the current public health problem of physical inactivity. On this basis, I’m interested in why people do or don’t follow the recommended physical activity guidelines, the role of perceived exertion/affect in exercise adherence, and what can be done to improve physical activity participation in both healthy and chronically ill populations

I’m looking for volunteers aged 18-45, who currently exercise for less than 1.5 hours each week to take part in our study. Participation involves sub-maximal exercise and cognitive testing, as well as a free 2-week course aimed at reducing stress. Anyone interested can email me on tom.butler@unisa.edu.au.

Honours Projects 2012

Exploring the influence of sport (soccer) participation, by disadvantaged youth, on perceived well-being and social integration.
Principal Supervisor: Professor Esther May
Associate Supervisors: Mr Richard McGrath, Dr Edoardo Rosso
UniSA's Football United community engagement project helps disadvantaged youth - such as refugees, newly-arrived migrants, indigenous children, and their families - to build social cohesion, leadership, performance skills and to better understand pathways to higher education. Participants in this project will be invited to take part in this research study, which will use focus groups and/or interviews with parents, coaches, volunteers and participants to determine the influence of sport participation on perceived sense of social integration and well-being, with a secondary outcome will be to better understand the value of sport as a social equity strategy.

Deep relaxation: Enhancing brain changes associated with the acquisition of skilled movements.
Principal Supervisor: Dr Maarten Immink
Associate Supervisor: Associate Professor Gaynor Parfitt
The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of deep relaxation on skilled movement learning. Previous studies suggest brain activity associated with sleep is important for incorporating newly learned skills into memory. Meanwhile, individuals trained to reach deep relaxation states have demonstrated similar brain activity to that seen in sleep. Therefore, this study hypothesises that deep relaxation might enhance motor skill learning in a similar fashion to sleep but in a shorter period of time.

Duration of lead cyclist effort: effect on team pursuit cycling performance.
Supervisors: Prof Kevin Norton, Dr David Martin (Senior Sports Scientist, AIS)
The men's 4 km team pursuit has been part of the Olympic Games since 1960. More recently a women's 3 km team pursuit event has been included in the 2012 Olympic Games program. These events require superior aerobic capacity. The aerodynamics of cycling are such that the lead cyclist is required to produce up to 30% more power. This means there is a limit on the time each cyclist can spend at the front. In the early 1990's Australia was among the first to trial athletes spending up to 15 s as the lead cyclist (a full lap on the velodrome) and this was quickly followed by most other countries. At that time Australia won many World and Olympic gold medals, and broke World records using this approach. Analysis of Russian and Great Britain team pursuit tactics have unveiled a 1.5 lap turn strategy which results in three longer efforts (20 s) v. four shorter efforts (15 s) for each cyclist. However, data comparing the various approaches to team pursuit is not available. The effects of different work: relief ratios on work capacity has typically used near-complete rest as opposed to incomplete rest, as is associated with the team pursuit. The purpose of this project would be to explore the effects of different combinations of work: relief cycles on performance using an incomplete recovery strategy. By increasing an understanding of this Olympic cycling event we hope to uncover unique training and competition strategies that can aid performance. This project is in collaboration with the Australian Institute of Sport.

Skill failure: The role of competition and performance anxiety on movement coordination.
Principal Supervisor Dr Maarten Immink
Associate Supervisor: Dr Dominic Thewlis
"Choking" in sport is a common phenomenon, and this study will evaluate changes in movement coordination due to exposure to competition and performance strain. Unlike other research into this trend, which has focused on performance outcomes, this will monitor changes in performance processes.

The effect of stress reduction on ratings of perceived exertion during graded exercise testing
Co-Principal Supervisors: Professor Roger Eston, Dr Maarten Immink, Associate Professor Gaynor Parfitt
The mechanisms of perceptual regulations are thought to be influenced by psychological, environmental and physiological processes, but it is not known whether they have an equal influence.
This first of a kind study will investigate the effect of a stress reduction program on self perceived exertion during an incremental fitness test. It is hypothesised that the stress reduction programme will lead to underestimations of perceived exertion in the incremental test.

Perceptually regulated exercise at RPE15 should improve fitness, but is it pleasant?
Co-Principal Supervisors: Professor Roger Eston, Associate Professor Gaynor Parfitt
The American College of Sports Medicine asserts that "pleasant" exercise can improve adoption and adherence to training, and this project will examine the effects of perceptually regulated exercise training (PRET) at ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) of 15 ('Hard') on physiological health and affective responses. PRET that allows the individual to self regulate the exercise intensity to match a given RPE has been shown to be experienced as more pleasant than when the same intensity is imposed. There is some evidence that vigorous intensity exercise is more beneficial (e.g. improvements in insulin sensitivity) than moderate intensity exercise, but is it as pleasant?

Exercise induced muscle damage and the repeated bout effect: evidence for cross transfer.
Principal Supervisor: Dr Carmel Nottle
Associate Supervisors: Dr Maarten Immink, Professor Roger Eston
The aim of this study is to investigate whether a prior bout of eccentric exercise in the elbow flexors provides centrally-based protection against exercise induced muscle damage. A sample of 20 young men, familiar with resistance training, but not familiar with isokinetic dynamometry measurements, will take part in the study. They will be randomly allocated into two equal groups, an ipsilateral (same side of body) group and a contralateral (different side of body) group.

Perceptually regulated and affect regulated exercise training: Does a balanced approach maximise physiological health and exercise adherence?
Co-Principal Supervisors: Associate Professor Gaynor Parfitt, Professor Roger Eston
The American College of Sports Medicine (2011) states that "exercise that is pleasant and enjoyable can improve adoption and adherence to prescribed exercise programs". This project will examine if RPE13 ("somewhat hard") regulated training followed by Affect regulated training improves physiological health (O2max, mean arterial blood pressure) and motivational constructs and if this improvement is the same as affect regulated training followed by RPE13 regulated training. It is hypothesised that training that begins with RPE13 followed by affect regulated will improve both physiological and motivational constructs.

Is running on a non motorised treadmill in an unloaded state an effective training method in AFL players?
Co-Principal Supervisors: Mr Adam Hewitt, Professor Roger Eston
Associate Supervisor: Mr Cameron Fallon, Port Adelaide Football Club
This study will recruit volunteer participants from the Port Adelaide Football club (PAFC) to determine whether running on a non-motorised treadmill in a unloaded state (i.e. running on the treadmill at only 85-90% of total body weight) has the same physiological benefits as running on the treadmill at full body weight. Players will be randomly assigned into 2 groups (Unloaded & Full Body Weight) and baseline testing will establish individual training thresholds and velocities. Each group will perform 2 sessions per week (for 4-6 weeks depending on the training requirements determined by PAFC) on the treadmill in addition to on field skills and running sessions.

Does heat acclimatisation alter the lactate threshold in AFL players?
Supervisor: Professor Kevin Norton
Elite-level athletes often travel to compete. Often this involves travelling to a range of environments in a short period of time. This study will investigate the physiological adaptations that are possible with a short period of heat acclimatisation in elite football players. Specifically, the lactate threshold and blood volume changes will be investigated following a series of exercise sessions in the heat chamber. The questions are - (1) to what extent does the acclimatisation over a short period of time assist in adjusting lactate thresholds in the heat, and (2) what part do increases in blood volume affect this relationship.

Physical activity intervention for weight loss
Supervisors: Professor Kevin Norton
Associate Supervisor: Dr Lynda Norton
A six-week physical activity intervention has recently been conducted [2005 - 2011] to increase fitness and health parameters of over 1000 sedentary individuals. Approximately 50% of these subjects were still sufficiently active for health benefits at the 12-month follow-up. This study will add to the previous design by including dietary guidance (from a registered dietician) to promote weight loss at a rate of about one kilogram per week. We are interested in how many people remain in the program compared to the previously run intervention; the range in weight loss; compliance rates in physical activity and food intake and changes in fitness changes and blood pressure profiles.

What are the barriers to maintaining or increasing physical activity levels following stroke?
Co-Principal Supervisors: Dr Michelle McDonnell and Dr Shylie Mackintosh
There is substantial evidence to suggest that stroke survivors should undertake regular physical activity, but recent reports confirm that stroke survivors continue to lead very sedentary lifestyles which impacts on their health. The objectives of the study are to identify stroke survivors prior to discharge from hospital and to administer two surveys and explore self-reported barriers to physical activity following stroke. The results of this study will help to clarify the attitudes of stroke survivors towards exercising after this significant health event, in an effort to identify and then remove these barriers to promote greater participation in exercise in people following stroke.

Does acute exercise promote neuroplasticity in the motor cortex of healthy individuals and those with stroke?
Co-Principal Supervisors: Dr Michelle McDonnell and Dr Susan Hillier
This study is the second phase of a project currently underway investigating the effect of aerobic exercise on neuroplasticity in healthy adults, as measured with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. The preliminary findings of this first phase suggest that 15 minutes of moderate intensity exercise significantly alters motor responses in healthy adults. We wish to repeat this experiment with people who have experienced a stroke to determine whether exercise can promote neuroplasticity and rewiring of the motor cortex following stroke.

Contact

The Exercise Health and Human Performance Group is based in the Centenary Building at the University of South Australia's City East campus in Adelaide.

For more information about the group and its activities, please contact gaynor.parfitt@unisa.edu.au or james.dollman@unisa.edu.au


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