Sports Science Workshop

On Wednesday, all Year 11 pupils interested in possible careers in Science were given a superb opportunity to visit the state of the art facilities at Liverpool Hope University in Health and Sports Science. The pupils were able to participate in four highly engaging, hands-on workshops during their visit including:

• The Physiological testing of athletes workshop which provided an insight into how athletes are tracked during training sessions using the latest equipment, such as live heart rate monitoring and jump measurement.
• Introduction to biomechanics workshop where students participated in a series of interactive demonstrations giving an insight into how human movement and function is analysed in sport, including: 3D motion capture, muscle activity and impact forces.
• Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation workshop(TMS)workshop: This is a relatively new technique of using electromagnetic induction to transfer electricity in the brain to affect neuronal processing and stimulate the homunculus to increase sporting performance.
• Echocardiography workshop: the session explored cardiac structure and function at rest and the acute responses to exercise. This involved using an ultrasound machine to scan and measure the heart and how this changes following exercise both in the short and long term.

The pupils were fascinated by the degree of scientific examinations and expertise required in the Sports Science field. Liverpool Hope have invited the pupils to return in the near future to continue their exploration of this intriguing scientific field of research.

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