Sport Performance and Health Testing

The Endurance Package is of benefit to all endurance athletes. It is of particular use to triathletes, cyclists, runners and mountain bikers. All tests are tailored to your preferred activities, and can include analysis on professional cycle ergometers, treadmills or rowing ergometers.

The tests we offer can be individually tailored to your needs. They will assess your current level of fitness through the use of measurements such as VO₂-Max tests, blood lactate and glucose analysis, and the determination of critical power or critical running velocity.

The full range of tests available in this package are:

• Maximal Oxygen consumption
• Lactate threshold
• Incremental Ramp test performance
• Oxygen kinetics during intermittent exercise
• Heart rate at lactate threshold
• Efficiency of movement 
• Critical cycle power/running velocity determination

Whether your train with power or by heart rate we’ll be able to provide you with an insight into your performance, and data that will maximise your time spent training.

The Team Sports Package is of benefit to coaches who want some support and monitoring of players. It is of particular use to intermittent team sports such as football and rugby, where we can provide a suite of performance analysis tools. A particular popular one is strength testing, using an isokinetic dynamometer that can compare left/right and flexor/extensor muscle strength for each joint. All tests are tailored to your preferred activities and based on evidence-based test protocols, a group discounts.

The tests we offer can be individually tailored to your needs. This can range from GPS tracking of the position of a player, to sprint performance, or administer fitness test protocols. We will support you in the tailoring of the package suited to your sport.

Our support can help provide the edge to not only monitor the team, but also improve, and we’ll be able to provide you with an insight into the team’s performance.

The Biomechanics Package aids in the understanding of an individual’s motion in sport, health and disease. The data gathered from these systems can be used to enhance performance in a wide range of sporting endeavours, improve efficiency of movement, assist with injury prevention and rehabilitation and assess movement patterns associated with health and disease.

The tests we offer can be individually tailored to your needs and we can provide a free introduction to the range of equipment available, to allow you to fully understand the possibilities. They will assess your current movement patterns and seek out imbalances and weaknesses. They can also be used to identify potential injury risks associated with poor biomechanics. The results can be used to develop a range of exercises and techniques that can be used to address any problems.

Examples of the range of tests available in this package are:

• Complete running gait analysis
• Bicycle fitting
• Video analysis for optimising performance in sports
• 3D video analysis for optimising performance
• Clinical gait analysis
• Impact forces during running
• Evaluation of sports equipment, including selection of running shoes

Whether you need to work on performance, injury prevention or general mobility issues a biomechanical assessment can be the ideal starting point.

The Your Health Package is of benefit to anyone interested or worried about their own health. Depending on your needs, we can provide an at home assessment of health parameters, stress, and provide advice on healthy lifestyles including physical activity and diet.

The tests we offer can be individually tailored to your needs and what matters to you. They will assess health through the use of measurements such as blood pressure, lung function, grip strength, diabetes risk, blood, urine, current physical activity level, diet, to name a few.

The full range of tests available in this package are too many to list, so please contact us with what you want, but to give an idea of what we do:

• Lung function assessment using spirometry
• Cardio-vascular health screening, including blood sampling
• Urine analysis for the determination of dietary status
• Analyses of a variety of blood measurements
• Body composition analysis
• Scientifically validated questionnaires around lifestyle, health and well-being
• Functional ability performance, such as walking speed, grip strength, balance, all of particular interest to older employees

It is recommended you book a follow up, at a discounted price, to be able to track any changes in the next year.

The Heat Exposure Package is of benefit to people who need to perform in the heat or use heat as a training tool. It provides the opportunity to use our Environmental Chamber and exercise in controlled, environmentally stressful conditions, such as heat and humidity.

During the session we will monitor your body temperature, heart rate, fluid loss and sweat rate. You can make this a single session, and evaluate your hydration demands, but also get discounted repeat session to allow you to acclimatise to the environmental stress, for example in preparation for a specific event. Or to better prepare for your job, which might involve working in hot environments, but do so in a controlled and safe environment, as you will be continuously monitored and supervised.

The Employee Health Package is of benefit to all kinds of employees and employers. Depending on your needs, we can provide at work assessment of health parameters, stress, and advice on healthy lifestyles including physical activity and diet.

The tests we offer can be individually tailored to your (company) needs. They will assess health through the use of measurements such as blood pressure, lung function, grip strength, diabetes risk, blood, urine, current physical activity level, diet, or supporting via psychology.

The full range of tests available in this package are too many to list, so please contact us with what you want, but to give an idea of what we do:

• Cardio-vascular health screening, including blood sampling and blood pressure
• Ergonomics, the assessment of posture in the workplace, including desk work
• Well-being and stress evaluation
• Assist in delivering interventions to improve lifestyles of employees, either at home or in the workplace

Whether you’re an employee interested in your own health, a small company, or a large business or organisation, we can provide you with a range of assessments to better understand the health and well-being of each employee and support you to improve it.

The Body Composition Package is of benefit to everyone. It provides a detailed analysis of your distribution of fat and mass, beyond that of your standard weighing scales. This enables you to compare yourself with the general population, or to plan your training focus if you’re an athlete.

Body composition enables you to get deeper insights when you try to lose fat, or increase muscle mass. For example, during an exercise regime, you might lose fat and gain muscle, meaning your overall body weight remains the same, despite obvious health benefits. Our assessments enable you to monitor this.

The tests we offer can be individually tailored to your needs. They can assess your current level of body fat percentage, muscle fat and the distribution around the limbs, and bone mineral density.

The full range of tests available in this package are:

• A medical grade DXA scan, which is considered the gold standard for the assessment of body composition.
• A body impedance analysis, which is quick and efficient and can be done anywhere, but the data is less accurate than from the DXA

Please note that the knowledge of your body composition broken down into fat and muscle becomes a lot more valuable when monitoring it over a period of time; we can support you in this.

Testing will be done in the state-of-the-art purpose-built teaching and research facility at Aberystwyth University. It is conveniently situated in the stunning Aberystwyth University Campus with easy parking and access to a number of food and drink outlets. The Sport & Exercise Science facilities contain an extensive range of physiological and biomechanical equipment across several laboratories.

The Human Health & Performance Laboratory is open to anyone with health or performance goals. This includes:

• World Class athletes who need to quantify and track progress on specific fitness markers.
• Amateur athletes who want to maximise the time available for training by identifying their strengths and weaknesses and create personalised training plans based on their individual insights.
• Anyone who simply wants to quantify and keep track of their health and wellbeing.

Although historically dedicated to Sport and Exercise Science, the labs here are increasingly being used for Health and Wellbeing applications and also house the Diet and health Research Group and the Well-being and health Assessment Research Unit. 

All the testing is carried out by qualified Sport and Exercise specialists. The tests will be structured around you own personal goals and will provide you with data that will allow you to assess your current biomechanical characteristics.

The results will be presented to you in an easy-to-use format. These results will allow you to determine strengths and weaknesses so that you can tailor subsequent health and fitness regimes to your own unique set of requirements.