ASCA Podcast #80 - Dr. Courtney McGowan

Dr Courtney McGowan is an applied sports scientist currently lecturing in exercise and sport science at the University of Tasmania. Courtney is also the physical preparation coach for Surfing Tasmania and collaborates with various organisations to conduct applied research in the areas of performance physiology and athlete preparation. Prior to her current roles, Courtney was a post graduate scholar at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Physiology department and completed her PhD focusing on competition day preparation strategies to enhance competitive performance in swimmers. QUOTES “Shorter warm ups (15-30 min) may be better for sprinting events” “The key things with the endurance sports is looking at switching on the right muscles and focusing on activate, mobilise and potentiate phase of the (RAMP) warm up is critical” “It doesn’t take very long at all to drop temperature after the warm up, which is an issue considering the whole purpose of a warm up” “The key thing with any post activation potentiation before competition is what the athlete has around them to use” “For every 1 degree reduction in muscle temperature, there is a 3% reduction in leg muscle power in cycling” “A re-warm up at half time is very important for contact based sports where you have to be mentally and physically prepared” “Really good research shows a significant drop in players' work rate in first 10—15 min after half time whereas teams that use short re-warm ups after halftime have the opposite effect” SHOWNOTES 1) Courtney’s journey in academics and sport 2) Controlled frequency breathing in swimming 3) Competition day priming and RAMP warm ups 4) Strategies for call room or transition phases between warm up and competition 5) VO2 kinetics, clothing and considerations around warm ups for both heating and cooling depending on the environment 6) Field sport strategies for half-time and effects of re-warm ups on work rate after half time 7) Ambient temperature manipulations and continuous glucose monitoring for optimising fuelling for athletes in different environmental conditions PEOPLE MENTIONED Ben Rattray Keith Lyons Ron McKean David Pyne Louise Burke Julian Jones David Martin Liam Kilduff Mark Burley Andrew Jones Stephen Faulkner Christian Cook