We all know that marginal gains are in fact monumental when it comes to athletic performance. Researchers are constantly seeking to open up these opportunities for athletes, to maximise their athletic potential. Take a look at some of the emerging research in the Sports Science world:
- Genetic Testing:
Research exploring the role of genetics in sports performance aims to answer the constantly sought-out question… Do genetics influence our athletic performance?
Scientists are looking at the genetic makeup of athletes with the hopes of personalising training and nutrition plans that suit their genome! However, athletes must be protected from any invasion of privacy and misuse of their genomic information.
Read the Sport and exercise genomics FIMS 2019 consensus statement update here:
Sport and exercise genomics: the FIMS 2019 consensus statement update - PMC
- Sports Psychology: With a growing number of athletes suffering from poor mental health, sports psychology research is more crucial than ever. This research focuses on how the mind impacts an athlete’s ability to excel.
This research explores female endurance athletes’ psychological experience of recovery from relative energy deficiency in sport (REDs): https://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/id/eprint/47554/1/Langbein%20et%20al.%20(2021)%20Psychology%20of%20RED-S%20Recovery.pdf
- Recovery Science: Techniques like cryotherapy, compression therapy, and carefully designed nutritional interventions are being investigated to reduce downtime, accelerate recovery, and keep athletes at the top of their game.
Read a study about the influence of cryotherapy on lower extremity running biomechanics here!
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02640414.2014.946952
- Environmental Physiology: By understanding how athletes respond to different environmental conditions, researchers are helping them maximise their performance at different environmental settings (such as multi-day desert ultra-marathons!)
Read more here!
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02640414.2016.1265142
