Triathlete volunteers required for a new study

Please contact Jon if you interested in participating in this new study.


"Dear Exeter Triathlon Club,

We are students from Exeter University currently undertaking our 3rd year dissertation in Human Biosciences BSc. We are currently looking for participants for a new study that will look at the relationship between cycling and running in triathletes at high intensity exercise, and we really hope you’ll want to be involved! To our knowledge, a study like this has not been done before, and so you would be involved in something really new, interesting and exciting! Below are details of the study so please have a read.



Aim of the study:



The energy you have to carry out high intensity exercise is easily measurable, and is different for each individual. We will look at how depleting this by differing amounts in cycling tests affects the amount of energy you still have to run. We hope to produce results that will explain more about this interaction and we are hypothesising that it could have an impact on the concept of pacing throughout a triathlon race.



We think that these results will be beneficial to your training and performance, and will allow you to understand more about how your body is dealing with the tasks it has to undertake during the sport. Our supervisor, Dr. Philip Skiba is a world renowned figure in Sport Science and Medicine. He coaches world class athletes internationally (including world champions), and has agreed to hold a presentation to talk to you about the findings and how this will impact you and your training, and answer any questions you may have.



Layout of the Study:



The study will comprise of 7 separate sessions (each taking roughly 20-30 minutes in total) over 4 weeks at times that suits you. Four of these sessions will take place in the Exeter University Sport Science Laboratories based on St Lukes Campus. The other 3 sessions will take place on the Rubber crumb pitch at the University Sports Park.



Tests 1, 2 & 3: These are baseline tests to measure your ‘critical speed’ in running. It simply involves you running as hard as you can for 3 different distances around a set track on the University Rubber Crumb.



Test 4: This is another baseline test that will take place in the lab at St Lukes. It involves a 5 minute warm-up on the Ergonometric Bike followed by a 3 minute all-out cycling test, from which we can find out your ‘critical power’.



Test 5, 6 & 7: Once we have your baseline measurements from the first 4 tests we will then ask you to complete a 5 minute warm up followed by a 10-minute cycling bout at 3 different intensities in the laboratory, and then a 10 minute run on the treadmill.





Ethical Approval:



The study is being ethically approved by the University and will require you to fill in a consent form. A tour of the facilities and a talk about the protocol in detail will happen prior to the first session so that you can familiarise yourself with the equipment and understand the procedures.



We would be extremely grateful if you can take part in our study. We are looking to get it up and running as soon as possible. If you are interested or have any questions please email/phone jb414@ex.ac.uk 07748600536 (Jonathan) or jb415@ex.ac.uk 07817072610 (Joe). From there we will work with you to see when you are free and able to visit the Rubber Crumb and the laboratory on St Lukes.



We look forward to hearing back from you.



Thank you,



Jonathan Bagnall & Joe Batten

3rd Year Human Biosciences BSc

College of Life and Environmental Sciences

University of Exeter

Heavitree Road

Exeter EX1 2LU"