Exercise Physiology Colloquium Series

By: Steve Elmer

Last year, the Graduate Students Interested in Exercise Physiology (GSIEP) organized and hosted the Exercise Physiology Colloquium Series. This series was created so that undergraduate and graduate students would be exposed to broader areas of research. More specifically, faculty members from outside the ESS department presented on a variety of topics that included evolution of endurance running, molecular mechanisms of adaptations to exercise, and body size and animal athletes. Further, the series included distinguished speakers from across the intermountain west with two speakers who have had cover-of-Nature articles (Dennis Bramble, Stan Lindstedt). Overall, the series was quite successful as the average attendance was 44 ± 13 people (see below).

GSIEP will once again be hosting the Exercise Physiology Colloquium Series this fall and our series will include speakers from Internal Medicine, Physical Therapy, Anesthesiology, The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital, and the United States Olympic Committee. These seminars provide an opportunity to hear distinguished speakers, acquire new information, and meet students and faculty. Colloquiums are open to all students who are interested. The first colloquium of the semester will be Friday, September 11^th, 2009 in HPER N 238 from 2:00-3:00pm. Markus Amann, Senior Researcher of Internal Medicine, will be presenting “Neural Feedback Effects From Locomotor Muscles”. We look forward to seeing you there.

The Graduate Students Interested in Exercise Physiology (GSIEP) is a student group that was founded by graduate students from the Department of Exercise and Sport Science in the College of Health. Our mission is to enhance the experience of graduate students through exploration and participation in new and ongoing research opportunities here at “The U” and in the surrounding communities. Additionally, we aim to enhance our exposure to such research through our Exercise Physiology Colloquium Series. We also seek to promote the development and completion of our own research studies as well as the presentation of those studies at regional and national conferences. While our primary focus is on the study of human movement, our individual backgrounds and interests include clinical exercise physiology, neuromuscular function, cardiovascular physiology, environmental physiology, and health promotion and disease prevention. As such, our roster includes students from a wide range of exercise science sub disciplines and we encourage participation by any interested graduate and undergraduate students regardless of their education background. For more information about GSIEP please contact Stephen Ives at ives.stephen@utah.edu or Steve Elmer at steve.elmer@utah.edu.

Summertime in Seattle

By: Jason Miller

At the end of May, the Graduate Students Interested in Exercise Physiology (GSIEP) traveled to Seattle for the American College of Sports Medicine’s (ACSM) annual meeting. During our visit to Seattle the weather was unseasonably warm and sunny as temperatures approached 80° F. The warm weather made for some very enjoyable evenings down on the Seattle waterfront. At the conference I presented our group research poster on bilateral deficit in aerobic and neuromuscular function while each GSIEP member showed off his/her hard work with a poster presentation of their own. Specifically, Stephen Ives and Melissa Hayman presented on vascular function, Steve Elmer on eccentric muscle damage, Tim VanHaitsma on pulmonary function and caffeine, and Nate Thomas on the biomechanics of single-leg cycling. The ACSM conference was like a who’s who of exercise science as there were several outstanding presentations by George Brooks, Bill Kraemer, Avery Faigenbaum, Hugh Herr, Frank Booth, Dan Lieberman, and so many more. The combination of the warm weather and the energy of a national conference made for a wonderful experience. I know I certainly got my fill of fresh fish over the course of the conference. I encourage any students interested in exercise and sport science to come and be a part of the next GSIEP research and conference experience. We are already planning for the 2010 ACSM conference in Baltimore. All in all, good friends, many professional opportunities, and a lot of fun, you can’t be that!

International Conference: Cape Town, South Africa

By: Steve Elmer

This past July, I traveled to Cape Town, South Africa for the XXII Congress of the International Society of Biomechanics (ISB). As the recipient of the 2008 ISB Student Dissertation Award, I was “required” to present my research at this meeting. My podium presentation (“Biomechanics of Eccentric Muscle Damage and Recovery”) went very well thanks to several “practice runs” in the weeks leading up to the conference. At the conference I was able to meet scientists from all over the world and I now have contacts in the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Canada, and Brazil. After the conference, I had some time to get out and tour the city of Cape Town and enjoy some hiking in Table Mountain National Park. Cape Town is one the most beautiful cities in the world as it sits right on the ocean with Table Mountain (3,300 ft) forming a dramatic backdrop. Overall, the international conference was a great experience and I encourage all students to attend a regional and/or national meeting. Even the international flight from Salt Lake City to Cape Town was manageable as I only had one stop (Atlanta). I would like to sincerely thank my advisor Dr. Jim Martin and several students in the Neuromuscular Function Lab (Dean Tanner, Matt Madigan, Jeremy Bouwhuis, Nelson Diamond, Andrew Christensen, Ammon Hills, and Mike Snarr) for helping me with my presentation. Finally, I need to acknowledge the International Society of Biomechanics, Graduate School, Department of Exercise and Sport Science, and Associated Students of the University of Utah for providing funds to assist with my travel expenses.

Summer Road Trip

By: Ammon Hills

On June 4-7^th six undergraduate students (Matt Madigan, Jeremy Bouwhuis, Nelson Diamond, Andrew Christensen, Ammon Hills, Mike Snarr) and one graduate student (Steve Elmer) working in the Neuromuscular Function Lab (NMFL) traveled to Pullman, WA for the 2009 Northwest Biomechanics Symposium hosted by Washington State University. The 11 hour road trip to Pullman, WA was over 670 miles but time went by relatively quickly as we all had laptops, Ipod’s, and some light reading material to keep us busy. Over 90 faculty/students from seven states and one providence participated in this conference. The NMFL presented three poster and four podium presentations on the topics of: maximal power produced with flexible and non-flexible shoes, bilateral deficit and asymmetry during maximal cycling, joint power absorption during eccentric exercise, and the biomechanical aspects of eccentric muscle damage and recovery. Presenters from other schools focused their research on tissue and cellular mechanics, prosthetics and robotics, injury prevention, urinary incompetence, and even the mechanics of childbirth. Who would have thought that biomechanics covered such a vast range of academic disciplines? Overall, our summer road trip and conference experience was a great opportunity to present/share our research, increase our understanding of biomechanics, meet other faculty/students from around the Northwest, and form six new Facebook friends!

Although biomechanics is merely one course in the ESS department, numerous academic and non-academic careers are available. The NMFL welcomes students to participate in research encompassing areas of muscle physiology, muscle mechanics, biomechanics, and human performance. If you are interested in traveling 11 hours to present research at a conference, or just want to observe some research in action and find out more about careers in biomechanics, stop by the NMFL (HPER-W 122). For additional information contact Steve Elmer at steve.elmer@utah.edu.

Welcome to ESSentials Blog

ESSentials is the newsletter for the Department of Exercise and Sport Science at the University of Utah. For the past year, it has been available in print and email to our undergraduate and graduate students, along with the faculty and staff. Now, in hopes of conserving paper and providing more opportunities for student's writing, we will offer it on our blog.

Since it's summer term, we don't have a lot of students writing articles pertaining to the field of exercise and sport science, so we will be posting back articles from our publications. If you would like to write an article for ESSentails, please contact the ESS advisor at: ESSadvisor@hsc.utah.edu.