Sport Research without Limits

The human body is incredible. A complex, organic machine that’s in a constant state of change – from growth throughout childhood and development through conditioning, to the challenges of disease and advancing older age.

The structure and function of the human body is a vast area of study, encompassing physiology, biomechanics, motor control and psychology, engineering, computer science and cell biology, among other areas. We’re in a prime place to explore it all. With the facilities at our disposal across the Manchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport, we have the technology to scan, track, model and analyse the mechanisms controlling human movement to a level of depth and detail that’s unique in the UK.

With physiology labs, 3D movement capture, 3 Tesla MRI and x-ray body scanners, we have the equipment to examine muscles, tendons, bones, the nervous system, visual gaze behaviour and brain function. It’s everything we need to understand how these systems work together to enable humans to function – whether living with a pathological condition or competing at an international level (or both). How and where we apply these tools is where our impact lies.

In recent years, we’ve worked to understand how astronauts react to the micro-gravity environment of space. With ever-longer missions comes an ever-greater impact on muscle mass, blood volume and bone density. Understanding how this happens helps us combat these and related issues – whether by harnessing technology or by developing exercise techniques. Yet the impact of that work goes well beyond the few who go into space.  

Back on the ground, our research has helped to develop guideline recommendations for older people to improve balance, combat frailty and reduce falls. This kind of impact is not unique. Tracking the movement of athletes in training has informed the way we assess the health of children in the playground, while our work measuring swimmers’ movement in the water has both helped us change the classifications in disability sport and is having an impact on swimwear design.

Our work has helped shape the design of exercise equipment, developed responses to a range of clinical conditions that impair human movement and broadly align with the UK’s Industrial Strategy – how the body works has a profound impact on how long an ageing population goes to work. We also have international impact, including our influence on policy reports with the World Health Organisation.

Across the spectrum of challenges for human health and movement, we’re a world leader in delivering real impact.

Competitive sport pushes boundaries – challenging and testing the limits of what humans can achieve, whether it’s in terms of speed or strength, endurance or accuracy. Manchester provides a fitting backdrop for exploring this pursuit, as the base for top-tier clubs, national governing bodies and international and club athletes across a range of sports.

Manchester offers a rich environment for partnerships that can pave the way to ground-breaking discovery. The Institute’s exceptional facilities enhance our setting, giving us the resources to optimise the performance of swimmers, runners, cyclists, weightlifters and many more.

Our work not only helps athletes prepare for success – optimising their training, diet and development – but also ensures that they protect and maintain their long-term health. For example, we’ve conducted research on the Female Athlete Triad, where overtraining and poor nutrition management can lead to low bone density, disturbed menstrual cycles and low energy availability.

We look beyond the purely physical aspects, investigating the relationship between physical activity, competition and mental health, while working to understand the psychology of elite sportspeople. We are recognised across the world for our pioneering work in movement simulation and mental practice techniques – having developed the PETTLEP model for motor imagery which is now globally accepted across academic programmes in sport psychology. We have also done extensive work with bodybuilders to understand the impact of their psychosocial environment on their performance, while our work with Olympians from the past 65 years is exploring the importance of social factors in their careers.

Our expertise in the genetics of elite performance has paved the way to a wide range of projects working with footballers, rugby players and marathon runners. We’ve not only worked to identify the genotypes that can predict performance but have also developed our understanding of differences in sex development – work which underpinned evidence our experts gave as part of Caster Semenya’s appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the International Association of Athletics Federations’ ban from competition.

Our research expertise comes with real impact at the top of sport. For Dame Sarah Storey, support from our team, together with work in our environmental chamber mimicking high-altitude training, played its part in her record-setting medal haul in the velodrome. Alongside our work on the biomechanics of para swimming, we’ve not only had an impact on the sport’s classification system but have also provided the scientific evidence behind the coaching and training plans critical to a GB medal haul of 47 at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.

The influence of our research goes beyond providing the marginal gains for top athletes – what we learn in the elite forum has significant impact in the wider world. Our work on injury prevention has shaped our input to healthy ageing, while projects investigating wrist guards for snowboarders and mouth guards for boxers has helped set new standards for sporting equipment across Europe. We’ve also made strides in sport fashion to see how our apparel can impact our performance.

Our work at the very highest levels of sport – working hand in hand with elite athletes, national governing bodies and a range of other organisations – opens the doors to incredible impact, from medals on the podium to developments in governance, healthcare, fashion and beyond.

Consider some of the biggest issues facing our society today: an ageing population, sustainable development, social cohesion, national identity, international relations and the global economy. Sport has a role to play in all of it, but the importance of its contribution can often go unrecognised.

We’re working to give it a voice in the conversation – with a portfolio of evidence-based work that cuts across a range of different areas, stretching well beyond physical activity and into our community health, economic prosperity and environmental sustainability. With the largest social science group of sport-related researchers in the UK, together with an impressive network across the sporting landscape, we’re in a prime position to make a real impact.

Our research investigates sport’s power not just as healthy recreation but also as a tool for creating bonds within hard-to-reach communities and for reducing the social and economic impact of poverty. That starts with understanding participation. As such, we’ve examined the barriers to disabled participation, looked at the causes and impacts of British-Asian Muslim male participation and built enviable expertise in women’s sport – particularly around the growing participation and professionalisation within women’s football, not just in the UK but also in China.

From professional athletes and coaches, to major leagues, clothing manufacturers and events businesses, there is a complex economic ecosystem that relies on the world of sport. Our expertise on the economics of sport, both in the UK and across the Middle East, East Asia and Europe, covers every angle. With our work on mega events, we’ve investigated sport’s impact far beyond the stadium – the legacy of wider participation, the benefits for local economies and the geopolitical implications for nation states ‘sportwashing’ tarnished reputations. Our expertise in this area is not only helping organisers all over the world adapt to evolving commercial conditions but is also informing policy on ticket touting and has helped us become a leading voice in the conversations around the national and international benefits of hosting mega events.

As environmental sustainability becomes an increasingly urgent issue for the planet, we have an opportunity to play a leading role in positioning sport as part of the answer. We are therefore looking ahead to a range of work in this field – from the use and impact of greenspaces to active transport infrastructure. 

Across all these areas, our impact lies in collaboration. Within Manchester Met, the Institute of Sport brings together diverse areas of expertise around sport-focused projects – investigating sport in society from a range of perspectives. Externally, it’s our collaboration with partners that gives our work incredible reach. From local authorities in the UK and governmental bodies globally, to national governing bodies across a huge range of sports, we have relationships that are built on expertise and deliver real change. Together, we’re informing policies, shifting perceptions and shaping lives across the world.