Pioneer Performance Center Teams Peak Learning with Peak Performance

David Kell, a professor of exercise science at SHU, helps to operate the center. A sport scientist, he is also a 2013 program alum who has experience in endurance coaching and strength and rehabilitation training. “The equipment and testing we have can help anyone achieve better performance, reduce injury risk and, if injured, work more effectively and efficiently to get back to whatever sport they hope to return to,” he said.

We spoke with Kell about services offered at the center, who benefits from those resources, what sets the center apart and how students are prepared to lead impactful careers in health and performance sciences.

Advanced Equipment and Performance Testing

Stepping on the scale can give you one measurement of how fit you are, but what if you could go even deeper? What if you could learn the percentage of lean mass versus fat, the size of your muscles or whether your left biceps are as strong as your right ones? You can! At the center, two body composition analyzers provide information that can lead to customized exercise and training programs.

“As part of their clinical rotations, students shadow me when I’m working, such as when I conduct performance testing or fitness assessments,” Kell said. “We also use these as a teaching tool in our labs to teach students about body composition.”

Resources for Everyone from Elite Athletes to Fitness Enthusiasts

When an endurance runner is tackling hilly terrain, can they access the oxygen needed to push harder? Can they keep up the intensity? How fit is their cardiovascular system? Entire teams or individual athletes, from SHU and beyond, have access to performance testing, such as VO2 max testing, which tracks how efficiently your body uses oxygen you take in to produce energy.

The results can help competitive athletes in running, rowing and cycling track their fitness goals and fine-tune training, while recreational athletes can create personalized workouts to improve their aerobic fitness level. Meanwhile, faculty can use this and other data for case studies and research efforts.

Other performance testing and functional assessments, such as the lactate threshold test, help athletes determine how hard they can push themselves before they tire. The assessments can help PPC staff to create personalized training zones for improvement, as well as provide strategies for injury prevention. With these results and others, athletes can monitor their fitness progression over time.

You can learn more about the services at the PPC by emailing kelld@sacredheart.edu.

Expert Guidance and High-Tech Tools

An endurance athlete himself, Kell can help others optimize their performance and rehab injured athletes who are itching to get back to their sport. As he works with clients, his students witness real-life applications, helping them gain expertise and learn how to use the tools and equipment that lead to better athletic performance.

One of the center’s unique tools is a nine-camera motion capture system that works with the center’s treadmills and embedded force plates to track a runner’s motion. “There are not many places that have all the equipment we have here,” Kell said. “And the camera system, that really sets us apart.”

With this motion analysis system, a runner’s form and mechanics are intricately assessed, which can lead to training programs that improve running form and reduce injury risk. Though these tools primarily help with running gait analysis, the camera system also can track data for motions such as hitting or pitching that can be used to assess movement, mobility and stability.

Are you battling aging or injured joints? The PPC’s alter-gravity treadmill system can reduce impact on joints and muscles during rehab.

A Pathway to a Career

As part of the senior clinical rotation capstone course, senior students become immersed in athlete testing, programming planning, marketing and facility management. Others have access to these machines during class, making the instruction far more immediate and impactful.

“During this capstone experience, exercise science seniors get to put what they have been learning about for years into action,” Kell said. “Instead of answering a question on a test, this is an opportunity to explain to a client the purpose of a lactate threshold test or show them how to perform a particular exercise. This helps them get some initial reps at what they will soon be doing in the real world."

Looking to Work in Exercise & Sport Science?

Sacred Heart offers several programs, including a bachelor’s degree, a dual degree Bachelor’s-Master of Science in exercise & sport science and a Master of Science in exercise & sport science program. With resources such as the Pioneer Performance Center, where experiential learning takes place throughout the school year, graduates are prepared to use the tools and technology that lead to optimal health and sports performance.

Learn more about the exercise science graduate program at Sacred Heart by reaching out to Lea DiStasio, director of graduate admissions & recruitment, by scheduling a meeting, emailing distasiol2@sacredheart.edu or calling 203-371-7884. For undergraduate admissions, call 203-371-7880 or email joinshu@sacredheart.edu or connect with your admissions counselor.

This is part of an occasional series about University resources that are a community asset and a hands-on learning environment for SHU students.

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