HESS Staff Present at European Conferences

With academic teaching finished for the year, HESS staff have been busy presenting at two conferences across Europe. Dr Marie Stopforth, Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Pyschology, was invited to present at the 17^th annual European College of Sports Science congress held at the Oud Sint-Jan congress centre in Bruges from 4-7 July. It covers all disciplines in Sport and Exercise science including psychology, biomechanics, physiology, health and fitness, research methods etc. 

The title of her presentation was 'A Comparison of Different Intervention Methods as Support for Weight Loss and Improved Body Composition', and was based on one of the BSc Fitness & Personal Training students’ undergraduate dissertations (Megan Baker, who graduated in 2011). She found that participants using an online website to support their weight loss were just as successful as those attending weekly face to face sessions. The congress attracts around 2000 participants from around the world and is a great way to share knowledge and network.

 

In slightly less glamorous surroundings, Principal Lecturer Martin Skivington was invited to give a talk at the annual Nuffield Health Physiology Conference in Leeds on Friday 6^th July. His talk was entitled ‘The Future of Personal Training; Evidence-Based or Anecdotally Driven?’ and was delivered to an audience of 120 Nuffield physiologists and physicians. In his talk, Martin presented evidence for the benefit of using a Personal Trainer, along with a vision of what skills a personal trainer might require in the future to provide an optimal service.

Martin comments ‘the best thing about the conference was the fact that 5 Solent health and fitness graduates were present in the audience and working in fantastic roles within Nuffield Health. The worst thing was the weather, as the rain in Yorkshire caused my return flight to be cancelled!’