Sport and Exercise Sciences Research

We explore how the external (e.g. knowledge of task) and internal (e.g. exertional pain) information we receive before and during exercise and physical activity impacts the decisions we make during the task and our performance of it. Our research particularly focuses on the unpleasant sensations created by intense and/or prolonged exercise, and how this might exacerbate both performance fatigability (i.e. an acute decline in motor performance) and perceptions of fatigue. This has relevance across the spectrum of those engaged in exercise and physical activity – from clinical populations who experience greater prevalence of fatigue and fatigability, to healthy populations trying to adhere to exercise programmes, to elite athletes seeking to gain a performance edge. Our work is generally underpinned by mechanistic analysis and employs a range of experimental methods including online gas analysis systems, neuromuscular assessment (transcranial magnetic stimulation, peripheral nerve stimulation, electromyography), isokinetic dynamometry, functional near-infrared spectroscopy, perceptual scales, think aloud, and experimental pain induction. We also integrate a range of interventions/approaches to identify the impact of addressing these challenges, including non-invasive brain stimulation, pharmacology, virtual reality, and wearable devices.

Developing and testing pressure sensitive insoles

Musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions are the leading contributor to disability worldwide and account for £4.76 billion of the annual NHS spend. Multiple MSK conditions often cause pain and are characterised and exacerbated by disordered gait and can be identified and managed by clinical gait analysis and gait re-education.

Through an EIRA funded research and innovation grant, the psychophysiology research cluster worked with a UK-based SME to develop their ‘smart’ insoles, to identify whether they could be used to detect changes in walking gait arising from MSK pain. In a translational approach, the smart insoles were wirelessly connected to an app running a Machine Learning algorithm, and through this the team were able to detect subtle changes in walking gait arising from artificially induced, transient lower limb MSK pain. This suggests that the technology could be further developed for use in clinical and sporting populations where identifying changes in gait facilitates the treatment and management of chronic conditions, such as the rehabilitation from acute injury, or enhancement of athletic performance.

Informing international doping policy on use of analgesics in sport

Tramadol is a potent narcotic analgesic that acts on the opioid system. Historically tramadol has been widely used in sport, with several sources suggesting that it is specifically used to reduce exertional pain in order to confer a performance advantage. Tramadol was on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) Monitoring Programme for several years, but evidence produced from the psychophysiology research cluster produced the evidence needed to move this drug on to the Prohibited List

In a randomised controlled trial funded by WADA, the team showed that highly trained cyclists performed a 25-mile time trial on average 1.3% faster than a placebo condition – a highly meaningful improvement in a group of this standard. To put this improvement in context, in this group the 1.3% difference could change the make-up of the medalling positions, or take a rider from the bottom half of the rankings into the top half. This performance enhancing effect was seen in 80% of the participants, suggesting the effects are pervasive. As a result of this evidence, WADA has included tramadol on the List of Prohibited Substances from 2024.