Physical Activity Researcher

Don't Use Consumer Activity Trackers for Research Before Considering These Crucial Points... Dr Olli Tikkanen

This episode is an audio extract from Youtube video from Physical Activity Researcher Podcast Youtube channel:
https://youtu.be/JxU3sbizEDI
Every project is different and there are many factors that determine what kind of device would be best fit for your purposes. These factors include for example, who are your participants? Are they small kids whose wrist might be too small for big bulky devices? Are they elderly who might not be accustomed to using smart phone or even email?
Do you need to provide participants feedback only after the intervention or already during the intervention? So, if you are doing projects which aims to behaviour change you possibly need to be able to give feedback right after the measurements. There are actually big differences related to this between different devices and this is something you might not remember to consider when focusing too much attention to specifications of the devices. 
One important factor is also, whether physical activity is main outcome variable in your study, or whether you just, for example, need to exclude that changes in physical activity did not influence your results. In the latter case you might just want to have a device that just makes data collection and analysis as easy as possible.
Do you need also accurate results related to sitting and sedentary behaviour? In that case you want to consider thigh-worn device as it is basically the only wearing position that can do posture allocation accurately.
In general, wearing location is of crucial importance for any project. In my opinion it comes down to compliance and accuracy.
Many studies are using wrist-worn devices as people have been used to wearing watches, and watch-like activity tracker is really easy to wrap around the wrist. So, its easy and compliance generally good. 
Then there are thigh-worn devices. Influential ProPass consortium is recommending thigh as a preferred location for accelerometers as it provides more accurate results than other wearing positions. This is straightforward as we are moving with our legs and not with our arms and in sitting vs standing thigh is changing its angle, which we can detect with thigh-worn device.
---------------------------------- LINKS -----------------------------------------------------Learn more about Fibion Research: https://fibion.com/research/​Learn more about Fibion SENS Motion: https://sens.fibion.com/​-------------------------- QUESTIONS & COMMENTS -------------------------------------Glad to hear your opinions!What devices you are using in your research projects? What have been pros and cons with those devices?What new features would you like to see in accelerometers/activity trackers?

Parkour, Resonance and the Good Life – Dr Signe Højbjerre Larsen (pt2) – Meaningful Sport Series

Does modern life in the city produce alienation? If so, are there ways to experience moments of non-alienation? Yes, according to Rosa's theory of resonance. According to Signe Højbjerre Larsen, parkour is one movement culture which can provide practitioners resonant experiences in the modern city. In parkour, ugly places (or 'non-places') such as backyards of supermarkets become the playgrounds for the practitioners where they creatively interact with their environment and other practitioners. 
Our conversation is based on Signe's recent article Parkour: playing the modern, accelerated city
Dr Signe Højbjerre Larsen is an Associate Professor at the Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics at the University of Southern Denmark. Her research has focused on lifestyle sports and play, as well the institutionalisation of these activities.
Signe has also featured in "My Playground", a documentary on Parkour which you can access here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEFSXAgowV4
You can follow Signe on Twitter @signehoj
 

How do Socioeconomic Factors Influence Physical Activity Levels? Dr Grégore Mielke (Pt1)

Gregore’s research work is focused on physical activity and sedentary behaviour, with the goal of creating opportunities for improving public health.
Gregore has been involved in a variety of population-based studies, and have professional experience working on the Coordination of Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases Surveillance and Health Promotion in the Brazilian Ministry of Health.
In 2015, he came to Australia to join the UQ School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences as part of his PhD training.
During his short career, most of Gregore’s work has involved multidisciplinary research, transitioning from an early focus on physical education to the behavioural epidemiology of physical activity.
Gregore's interest is in measuring and understanding inequalities in population health, particularly in relation to physical activity and sedentary behaviour.
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This podcast episode is sponsored by Fibion Inc. | The New Gold Standard for Sedentary Behaviour and Physical Activity Monitoring
Learn more about Fibion: fibion.com/research
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Collect, store and manage SB and PA data easily and remotely -
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Women in Applied Sport Psychology: Making your way as a Neophyte Practitioner - Dr Francesca Champ (Pt2) - Meaningful Sport Series

Neophyte sport psychology practitioners face many challenges, such as misconceptions about what sport psychology is and doubts about its effectiveness. Moreover, when a young female practitioner enters a professional football club, she is likely to face gender- and age-based prejudice. In this episode, Dr Francesca Champ shares her story of entering and working in a men's professional football environment over three seasons, providing psychology support to academy players and working with staff and parents. We also discuss women in sport psychology more broadly and the ways that working in an applied context has been meaningful for Fran, despite the challenges associated with the work. 
Dr Francesca Champ is a lecturer in Psychology in Football at Liverpool John Moores University (UK) and an applied sport psychology practitioner, who has explored these questions in her research and practice. Her doctoral research was a practitioner-researcher ethnography in a professional football environment in the UK where she delivered applied sport psychology support over three seasons. 
Francesca's research more broadly has explored psycho-social development and identity in professional football, organisational and cultural sport psychology, applied sport psychology consultancy and mental health in sport.
You can find out more about Fran's work in this area from these publications: 
A tale of three seasons: a cultural sport psychology and gender performativity approach to practitioner identity and development in professional football
'Through the lens of ethnography': Perceptions, challenges, and experiences of an early career practitioner-researcher in professional football
And remember to follow Fran on Twitter: @fchamp1

How Much Standing is Unhealthy? Dr Andreas Holtermann (Pt2)

Standing at work
Andreas Holtermann is working as a professor at the National Research Centre for the Working Environment.
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This podcast episode is sponsored by Fibion Inc. | The New Gold Standard for Sedentary Behaviour and Physical Activity Monitoring
Learn more about Fibion: fibion.com/research
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Collect, store and manage SB and PA data easily and remotely -
Discover new Fibion SENS Motion: https://sens.fibion.com/
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Choosing Activity Tracker to a Project with the Elderly - Nicola Camp

Nicola Camp is an Academic Associate at Nottingham Trent University.
 
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This podcast episode is sponsored by Fibion Inc. | The New Gold Standard for Sedentary Behaviour and Physical Activity Monitoring
Learn more about Fibion: fibion.com/research
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Collect, store and manage SB and PA data easily and remotely -
Discover new Fibion SENS Motion: https://sens.fibion.com/
---
 

Understanding Meaning and Value in Parkour – Dr Signe Højbjerre Larsen (pt1) – Meaningful Sport Series

Parkour is a movement culture where practitioners use urban spaces and obstacles such as benches or rails for practising a variety of impressive movements. Its popularity has exploded in the recent years and for example in Denmark it is also a part of physical education. Today, we will explore parkour from a philosophical and sociological perspective and ask whether parkour can offer moments of non-alienated experience in urban spaces. 
Dr Signe Højbjerre Larsen is an Associate Professor at the Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics at the University of Southern Denmark. Her research has focused on lifestyle sports and play, as well the institutionalisation of these activities.
Signe's articles on today's topic include:
What can the parkour craftsmen tell us about bodily expertise and skilled movement?
Parkour: playing the modern, accelerated city
Parkour as acrobatics: an existential phenomenological study of movement in parkour
Signe has also featured in "My Playground", a documentary on Parkour which you can access here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEFSXAgowV4
You can follow Signe on Twitter @signehoj
 

Why is Physical Activity at Work Unhealthy? Dr Andreas Holtermann (Pt1)

Physical Activity Paradox 
Andreas Holtermann is working as a professor at the National Research Centre for the Working Environment.
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This podcast episode is sponsored by Fibion Inc. | The New Gold Standard for Sedentary Behaviour and Physical Activity Monitoring
Learn more about Fibion: fibion.com/research
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Collect, store and manage SB and PA data easily and remotely -
Discover new Fibion SENS Motion: https://sens.fibion.com/
---
 

Is it Possible to Balance Performance and Well-Being in Football Academies? Dr Francesca Champ - Meaningful Sport Series

Becoming a professional footballer is a dream for so many young boys, but we know that only a very small fraction of them will ever play in senior-level professional sport. What are the implications for being involved in the talent development programmes in football academies for the identity development of these young people? What about the vast majority of youth players who never "make it"? Can they look back and say that being involved in a talent pathway was an enriching experience, despite not fulfilling their aspirations?
Dr Francesca Champ is a lecturer in Psychology in Football at Liverpool John Moores University (UK) and an applied sport psychology practitioner, who has explored these questions in her research and practice. Her doctoral research was a practitioner-researcher ethnography in a professional football environment in the UK where she delivered applied sport psychology support over three seasons. In our conversation, she shares her experiences and observations about the culture of professional football and what implications it can have for the development of youth players. Importantly, she also shares the practical ways she has worked towards supporting broader identity development in youth players.
Francesca's research has focused on psycho-social development and identity in professional football, organisational and cultural sport psychology, applied sport psychology consultancy and mental health in sport. You can read about the findings from her doctoral research in these articles:
An exploration of the experiences of elite youth footballers: The impact of organizational culture
A tale of three seasons: a cultural sport psychology and gender performativity approach to practitioner identity and development in professional football
'Through the lens of ethnography': Perceptions, challenges, and experiences of an early career practitioner-researcher in professional football
And remember to follow Fran on Twitter: @fchamp1
 

What is the role of technology in behavior change? Dr Nicholas Green (Pt2)

Dr Nicholas Green holds PhD in psychology from the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL. He is specialized in healthy behavior change by studying variables that promote the move moving in the workplace.He finished his master's degree at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, FL. In the School of Behavior Analysis, he specialized in Organizational Behavior Management (OBM), applying the science of human behavior to business, to make work life better. Specifically, he investigates motivational interventions to get office workers moving more. 
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This podcast episode is sponsored by Fibion Inc. | The New Gold Standard for Sedentary Behaviour and Physical Activity Monitoring
Learn more about Fibion: fibion.com/research
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Collect, store and manage SB and PA data easily and remotely -
Discover new Fibion SENS Motion: https://sens.fibion.com/
---
 

What can Philosophical Archaeology tell us about the Crisis of Modern Sport (Pt2)? Dr Sandra Meeuwsen - Meaningful Sport Series

This is the second part of our conversation with Dr Sandra Meeuwsen on her thoughtprovoking PhD work where she used philosophical archaeology to shed light on how modern sport came to have such a contradictory face that is has today.
In the first part, Sandra shared her personal journey of working in the institutions of sport for three decades and started sharing on the methodology and key philosophical ideas informing her PhD work. In this part, we hear more about psychoanalytical theories, Nietzsche’s concepts of the Apollonian and Dionysian, and whether and how Sandra sees some hope for a brighter future for modern sport.
Dr Sandra Meeuwsen is a philosopher of sport who worked in various vital positions in sport since the early 1990s. She encountered these contradictions of sport in daily work which led her to embark on a PhD project to understand these issues. She completed her PhD in 2020 at the Faculty of Philosophy and Moral Sciences of the Vrije Universiteit Brussels with the thesis "A Critique of Sportive Reason; a philosophical archaeology of modern sport”.
You can find out more about Sandra's work at https://sandrameeuwsen.nl/ and follow her on Twitter @MeeuwsenPhd.
Updates will be added here when Sandra's work is published in English.

Behavior analysis is such an important tool as... Dr Nicholas Green

Dr Nicholas Green holds PhD in psychology from the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL. He is specialized in healthy behavior change by studying variables that promote the move moving in the workplace.He finished his master's degree at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, FL. In the School of Behavior Analysis, he specialized in Organizational Behavior Management (OBM), applying the science of human behavior to business, to make work life better. Specifically, he investigates motivational interventions to get office workers moving more. 
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This podcast episode is sponsored by Fibion Inc. | The New Gold Standard for Sedentary Behaviour and Physical Activity Monitoring
Learn more about Fibion: fibion.com/research
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Collect, store and manage SB and PA data easily and remotely -
Discover new Fibion SENS Motion: https://sens.fibion.com/
---
 

'Deep' and 'Shallow' Meaning in Physical Education? Prof. Øyvind Standal (Pt2) - Meaningful Sport Series

In Norwegian educational discourse, 'shallow' and 'deep' learning are buzzwords that refer to two types of learning - memorizing facts vs making connections to previous knowledge structures and different contexts. While these forms of learning have been conceptualised in 'hard' school subjects, what could they look like in physical education? Can we make a link from 'deep' and 'shallow' learning to 'deep' and 'shallow' meaning in PE?
These and other interesting questions - such as, should sport and PE always aim to be fun? - are tackled in this second part of our conversation with Øyvind Standal, a Professor at the Faculty of Education and International Studies at Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway.
Prof. Standal has published extensively on physical education, especially in relation to the philosophy of physical education and phenomenology, embodiment, skills and habits. He is the author of the book Phenomenology and Pedagogy in Physical Education (Routledge, 2015).
We are partly building on Part 1 of our conversation, so it is a good idea to start with that: https://paresearcher.podbean.com/e/standal/ 

Do hormonal contraceptives affect hypertrophy? Dr Ritva Taipale

Challenges related to menstrual cycle, hormonal contraceptives and their side effects.
Dr Ritva Taipale has done her PhD on combined strength and endurance training in recreational endurance runners. Currently, she is working as a post-doctoral researcher in University of Jyväskylä (in Vuokatti Campus) focusing on exercise physiology of women and sport and wellness tech.
Timestamps
2:20 What are the main challenges related to menstrual cycle?
6:30 Alleviation PMS symptoms
8:00 Should athletes use hormonal contraceptives?
10:00 Does hormonal contraceptives affect hypertrophy?
12:00 Why studying hormonal contraceptives in athletes more complex than it seems atfirst glance?
15:00 What coaches and parents should know about amennorhea?
17:15 What are the biggest challenges in exercise physiology of women?
…
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This podcast episode is sponsored by Fibion Inc. | The New Gold Standard for Sedentary Behaviour and Physical Activity Monitoring
Learn more about Fibion: fibion.com/research
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Collect, store and manage SB and PA data easily and remotely -
Discover new Fibion SENS Motion: https://sens.fibion.com/
---
 

Sport as Craftsmanship (Pt2) - Dr Noora Ronkainen - Meaningful Sport Series

The classic sociological writings (Mills, 1951; Sennett, 2008) describe craftsmanship as a desire to do our work well “for its own sake”. Craftsmanship involves a holistic understanding of the craft and possession of tacit knowledge that is difficult to articulate. It is often considered a critical theory that is a response to alienating conditions in our work and educational institutions. Can craftsmanship provide a way to rethink our cultures of work, school and sport to provide more opportunities for ownership and meaningful experiences? 
In this second part of our conversation, we explore the studies that have been conducted in movement culture and sports contexts. We also discuss the relationship between meaningfulness and meaninglessness, and end with an important note that although craftsmanship seems a promising concept, it is only one potential avenue that could contribute to meaningfulness in sport. 
It is a good idea to start with Part 1 which can be accessed here: https://paresearcher.podbean.com/e/ronkainen1/

Why should we have fat percentage limit for endurance sports? Dr Ritva Taipale

Exercise physiology of women, and more specifically menstural cycle and exercise.
Dr Ritva Taipale has done her PhD on combined strength and endurance training in recreational endurance runners. Currently, she is working as a post-doctoral researcher in University of Jyväskylä (in Vuokatti Campus) focusing on exercise physiology of women and sport and wellness tech.
 
Timestamps:
2:30 Hear about unique sports technology dual career pathway for athletes!
6:30 What is the state of research in exercise physiology of women?
8:15 What are other important topics of exercise physiology of women?
9:15 Basics of menstrual cycle
12:15 How menstrual cycle is affecting exercising and sports?
14.30 Important points of female athletic triad
17:00 How common is energy availability problems in female athletes?
18:30 Should endurance sports have minimum fat percentage limit?
22:30 What mistake coaches should avoid doing with women athletes?
25:00 What are long-term health consequences of female athlete triad?
27.30 Energy availability is problem also for male athletes!
29:45 Osteoporosis in road cyclists
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This podcast episode is sponsored by Fibion Inc. | The New Gold Standard for Sedentary Behaviour and Physical Activity Monitoring
Learn more about Fibion: fibion.com/research
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Collect, store and manage SB and PA data easily and remotely -
Discover new Fibion SENS Motion: https://sens.fibion.com/
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What can Philosophical Archaeology tell us about the Crisis of Modern Sport (Pt1)? Dr Sandra Meeuwsen - Meaningful Sport Series

Modern sport has an increasingly contradictory face: on the one hand, we can see a positive impact of sport in our societies, but on the other hand, we increasingly often hear about abuse and misconduct in sport, including sexual harassment, doping and corruption. How can we make sense of these contradictory trends and how can philosophical analysis help us to vision a more balanced, or more meaningful future for sport?
Dr Sandra Meeuwsen is a philosopher of sport who worked in various vital positions in sport since the early 1990s. She encountered these contradictions of sport in daily work which led her to embark on a PhD project to understand these issues. She completed her PhD in 2020 at the Faculty of Philosophy and Moral Sciences of the Vrije Universiteit Brussels with the thesis "A Critique of Sportive Reason; a philosophical archaeology of modern sport”.
In her thesis, she drew on Foucault, Agamben, Spinoza and psychoanalytical approaches to analyse our ‘knowing’ about what sport is - and what is excluded - and the shifts in this knowledge we’ve had since the rise of modern sports to its current existence.
You can find out more about Sandra's work at https://sandrameeuwsen.nl/ and follow her on Twitter @MeeuwsenPhd.

The beginning, struggles and future of this podcast? Host Dr Olli Tikkanen

In this episode host Olli Tikkanen takes role of a guest as Melissa Boswell and Hannah O’Day take the roles of hosts. Melissa and Hannah are from  podcast called Biomechanics of Our Mind’s (https://soundcloud.com/biomechanics-on-our-minds) they talk to researchers around the world about the exciting field of biomechanics.
Check the episode and find out, how did Olli end up recording podcasts in a freezing camper van?
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This podcast episode is sponsored by Fibion Inc. | The New Gold Standard for Sedentary Behaviour and Physical Activity Monitoring
Learn more about Fibion: fibion.com/research
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Collect, store and manage SB and PA data easily and remotely -
Discover new Fibion SENS Motion: https://sens.fibion.com/
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Why do we need Phenomenology in Physical Education? Prof. Øyvind Standal (Pt1) - Meaningful Sport Series

Meaning has been a core concept for physical educators for a very long time, and often explored through a phenomenological perspective. Why is phenomenology central for understanding meaningful movement and physical education as an educational subject rather than mere physical activity? Are habits more than automated actions and important for meaning?
These and other interesting questions are tackled today with Øyvind Standal, a Professor at the Faculty of Education and International Studies at Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway.
Prof. Standal has published extensively on physical education, especially in relation to the philosophy of physical education and phenomenology, embodiment, skills and habits. He is the author of the book Phenomenology and Pedagogy in Physical Education (Routledge, 2015).

What are the best things in podcasting? Boswell & O'Day

In this episode we have two Ph.D. students from Stanford University Melissa Boswell and Hannah O’Day. In their podcast called Biomechanics of Our Mind’s (https://soundcloud.com/biomechanics-on-our-minds) they talk to researchers around the world about the exciting field of biomechanics.
We get to hear how their podcast got started, what kind of challenges they have faced, what do they like most in podcasting- and what would be their advice to researcher who are considering starting a podcast.
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This podcast episode is sponsored by Fibion Inc. | The New Gold Standard for Sedentary Behaviour and Physical Activity Monitoring
Learn more about Fibion: fibion.com/research
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Collect, store and manage SB and PA data easily and remotely -
Discover new Fibion SENS Motion: https://sens.fibion.com/
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