In August Dr. Martyn Binnie from the Western Australia Institute of Sport visited the School of Allied Health and discussed the role of science in preparing Olympic athletes.

The PHysical Activity, Sport and Exercise (PHASE) Research Group is part of the School of Allied Health at Murdoch University. This group is comprised of experienced academics, researchers and higher degree by research students where we aim to create a collaborative environment where we can create, disseminate and apply research knowledge which advances human health and sports performance via physical activity, sport, and exercise. PHASE has monthly meetings where we discuss current research, deliver workshops or have guest presenters on topics across both health and performance fields.

The following reflection from our last meeting is written by one of our PhD students Tyler Osborne. Tyler is a PhD candidate with the Fiona Wood Foundation and Murdoch University PHASE research group. His research has focused on improving the understanding of metabolic changes after non-severe burn injury in adults, and as an accredited Exercise Physiologist aims to use this knowledge to optimise lifestyle intervention in post-burn care.

Our most recent meeting was a guest presentation by Dr. Martyn Binnie from the Western Australia Institute of Sport. This presentation focused on an in-depth insight into the journey of an up-and-coming rower trying to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics, covering a variety of aspects from performance metrics such as power output and stroke speed, to different training techniques including the use of portable hypoxic chambers. 

Notably Martyn discussed how hypoxic chamber didn’t achieve the desired results and the athlete stalled their progress, potentially from pushing themselves too hard during the simulated at home ‘high altitude’ camp. Tyler tells us “This resonated with me for two reasons, firstly that regardless of whether we are working with athletes or patients, our approach to training should always be personalized to achieve the best results. Secondly, sometimes training plans and novel approaches don’t work, but how we learn from these moments is how move forward and shape future practice”.