Musculoskeletal and Orthopaedic Sports Medicine

Commenced October 2019

This is a match funded PhD project between Leeds Beckett University and the Football Association (FA). Women’s soccer is one of the fastest growing sports worldwide with large increases in elite youth girls’ academies. Despite this surge in elite youth female soccer academies, comprehensive injury surveillance and physical profiling studies are relatively sparse within this population which makes it difficult to inform-evidenced based injury reduction and long-term athletic development strategies. This research project aims to address the gap in the literature by conducting a nationwide injury audit and physical profiling project within elite girls’ academies in England. Findings will be used to inform athletic development strategies as part of the Girls England Talent Pathway.

Commenced February 2020

This a match funded PhD project between Leeds Beckett University and Zimmer Biomet. Numerous positive outcomes are associated with school sport participation, although there is also the potential risk of injury. The identification and mitigation of sports injury risk factors is of interest both nationally and globally for educational establishments. However, currently in the UK there is limited data on injury incidence within youth school sports nor feasible strategies to actively reduce injury risk. Therefore, this project aims to 1) identify injury risk factors in female school sport participants between the ages of 12-16 years, 2) identify potential barriers to the implementation of an injury reduction programme, and 3) implement and evaluate an injury reduction programme in school sport participants. Findings will be used to inform injury prevention strategies in youth female athletes.

Commenced February 2018

Muscle-tendon function has been reported to be a key determinant of endurance exercise performance, specifically within the muscle-tendon unit that crosses the ankle joint as it plays such a pivotal role in the transfer of internal work to external power during cycling and running. This research uses ultrasound techniques to assess muscle-tendon function in the triceps surae group during cycling and establishes relationships between neuromuscular parameters of human movement and overall movement economy.  Comparisons are to be made between triathletes and athletes who compete only in cycling or running to understand the potential chronic effects of each mode of exercise on muscle-tendon function and neuromuscular performance. In addition to enhancing the body of understanding in the fields of human locomotion and muscle function, this PhD will also have practical applications leading to the improvement of performance not only in triathlon, but also in cycling and running individually.  

Publications:

• Walker J., Cronin N., Jongerius N., Wainwright B., Bissas N. (2019). Effects of fascicle length filtering on muscle-tendon behaviour during cycling. ECSS Conference Presentation. 
• Walker J., Bissas N., Hanley B., Wainwright B., Cronin N. (2020). Repeatability of muscle-tendon unit passive stiffness measurements: modulation of the contractile and series-elastic element. (In Press).