UWIC Research

Project Title:

Reliability and validity of a heart rate:ground contact time index as a measure of endurance performance



Principal Investigator: Dr Jon Oliver
Research Assistant: Mike Stembridge
Contact details: joliver@uwic.ac.uk or 029 2041 7276



Dear participant,

Purpose of this information sheet
This information sheet is to let you know about my planned research project in the Cardiff School of Sport, UWIC. It should help you decide on whether or not you want to join the study. Taking part in the research is entirely voluntary and should you wish to withdraw from the study at any time, you are entitled to do so without any repercussions.

Aims of the research
The aims of the study are to investigate how useful a new test is for monitoring endurance performance. The new test will be measuring your heart rate response and oxygen consumption as well as your ground contact times whilst you run on a treadmill. Your heart rate response will provide an indication of how hard your cardiovascular system is working, whereas the ground contact times give some information about how your muscles are working as you rebound against the ground whilst running. We want to investigate how consistent these measures are from day-to-day, if they could be used to predict typical laboratory responses (oxygen uptake) and if they could be used to predict 1500 m performance. This research is supported by a grant from the British Milers Club.

What will happen once you agree to participate in the study?
You will be asked to attend three test sessions at the exercise physiology research laboratory at UWIC and one session at the indoor athletics track (NIAC). During each laboratory session you will repeat the same test protocol, this will involve three sub-maximal runs lasting 5.5 minutes each. During these runs we will measure your heart rate response, your ground contact times and your oxygen uptake (by getting you to wear a face mask). We will also ask to come to the track and perform a 1500 m time trial as a key performance measure.

What type of participants are we hoping to use in the study?
Athletes currently competing for their club in middle distance events.

What are the risks of participating in the study?
The risks associated with the study are minimal and reflect normal levels of risks associated with taking part in exercise. The exercise you will be doing is similar to that you would routinely take part in during training and competition.

Benefits to you, the participant
You will be given a written record of your performance in the test and an explanation of what these results mean, hopefully these may be of some use in evaluating your fitness and current training. You will also be helping to establish whether this is a useful test that is worth using to help track different components of endurance performance.

Benefits to us, the research team
The data we collect will be used to better understand factors that contribute to endurance performance and importantly how we might easily be able to measure these factors. Findings from the study will be presented to coaches (via the British Milers Club) to help inform practice and also to the scientific community.


What will happen to the data and information collected during the study?
The information and data we have about you will be coded so you can not be identified individually. You will receive a copy of your test performances at the end of the testing period. Your performance data will only be seen by you and the research team. Copies of all data collected during the testing period will be stored centrally within a secure holding location in UWIC for up to a period of 7 years. Only the research team will be able to access the data once stored in UWIC. Results of this study may be published but you will not be identified in a publication, and data included will in no way be associated with any named individual.

What next?
Please feel free to ask any questions in person to Dr Jon Oliver or Mike Stembridge (research assistant who will be present at all testing) at any time. Alternatively, you can contact Jon on the above e-mail address/phone number should you have any questions about the study. If you would like to participate in the research study please read and complete the attached informed consent form and get in touch with Jon to arrange convenient times when you can visit the laboratory for testing.

This project has been approved by UREC (University Research Ethics Committee).

Many thanks,

Jon Oliver

Dr Jon Oliver,
Lecturer in Exercise Physiology,
Cardiff School of Sport,
University of Wales Institute, Cardiff,
Cyncoed Rd,
Cardiff

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