Health-related physical activity: Psychological determinants, consequences, and experimental interventions. Increasingly sedentary lifestyles and physical inactivity constitute a worldwide health problem. Despite well-known benefits of physical activity, preventive-medicine interventions have had limited success. Instead, we propose an innovative psychological approach, emphasising quality of subjective experience (flow), motivation, physical self-concept, and the transtheoretical model of beha ....Health-related physical activity: Psychological determinants, consequences, and experimental interventions. Increasingly sedentary lifestyles and physical inactivity constitute a worldwide health problem. Despite well-known benefits of physical activity, preventive-medicine interventions have had limited success. Instead, we propose an innovative psychological approach, emphasising quality of subjective experience (flow), motivation, physical self-concept, and the transtheoretical model of behavioural change. We propose psychological determinants of physical activity and a new experimental intervention to significantly enhance health-related physical activity. The research breaks new theoretical ground, extending and integrating different theoretical perspectives, offering a synergy between qualitative and quantitative research traditions, and providing practical benefits to mental and physical health and to quality of life.Read moreRead less
Mental Toughness: What Makes a Champion? "Mental toughness" is claimed to be what makes champion athletes; separates winners from losers and those who buckle under pressure. Despite widespread use in sport (business, military, etc.) there exist no well-validated mental toughness measures. In collaboration with Australian Institute of Sport and Westfields Sports High School, we will develop a multidimensional, hierarchical measure of mental toughness, test it across gender, age, and different spo ....Mental Toughness: What Makes a Champion? "Mental toughness" is claimed to be what makes champion athletes; separates winners from losers and those who buckle under pressure. Despite widespread use in sport (business, military, etc.) there exist no well-validated mental toughness measures. In collaboration with Australian Institute of Sport and Westfields Sports High School, we will develop a multidimensional, hierarchical measure of mental toughness, test it across gender, age, and different sports, validate it in relation to relevant outcomes, and evaluate its growth/development in athletes varying in age and sporting development. Potential benefits include improved talent identification, counselling, self-concept, coping strategies, coaching, benchmarking, tracking, and athletic performance.Read moreRead less
Psychological determinants of physical activity across the life span and critical life-stage transitions: Cross-sectional, longitudinal causal modelling, and experimental interventions. Increasingly, sedentary lifestyles and physical inactivity are major worldwide health problems. Despite well-established health benefits of physical activity, existing medical-oriented interventions have had limited effects on increasing population-levels of activity. We propose a psychological approach, emphasiz ....Psychological determinants of physical activity across the life span and critical life-stage transitions: Cross-sectional, longitudinal causal modelling, and experimental interventions. Increasingly, sedentary lifestyles and physical inactivity are major worldwide health problems. Despite well-established health benefits of physical activity, existing medical-oriented interventions have had limited effects on increasing population-levels of activity. We propose a psychological approach, emphasizing quality of subjective experience (flow), motivation, physical self-concept, and the transtheoretical model of change. We will evaluate psychological determinants of health-related physical activity and implement experimental physical activity enhancing interventions at two critical life stages: for late-adolescents and older Australians. The proposal advances theory and methodology in a National Research Priority area, providing practical solutions to important societal problems with socioeconomic benefits for Australia.Read moreRead less
Open(ing up) goals in physical activity: What works, when, and for whom? This project aims to advance knowledge of open goals as a new goal-setting approach to optimise the adoption and maintenance of physical activity among insufficiently active individuals. This project expects to generate substantive insights into the mechanisms that explain why, when, and for whom open goals are particularly beneficial in this population. Expected outcomes include a theory of open goals that will inform phys ....Open(ing up) goals in physical activity: What works, when, and for whom? This project aims to advance knowledge of open goals as a new goal-setting approach to optimise the adoption and maintenance of physical activity among insufficiently active individuals. This project expects to generate substantive insights into the mechanisms that explain why, when, and for whom open goals are particularly beneficial in this population. Expected outcomes include a theory of open goals that will inform physical activity promotion efforts, with the potential for broad population-level dissemination and scale-up. Significant benefits include the ability to set physical activity goals that are enjoyable and intrinsically motivating to pursue, while also avoiding detrimental effects of current practice (eg high failure rates).Read moreRead less
Optimising Performance Under Pressure: Testing and Developing Athletes' Attentional Focus Strategies. Sport has long played a significant role in Australia's cultural identity, but the economic value of this industry must also be recognised. Australia has invested heavily in supporting our athletes, teams and coaches, who have achieved high levels of success in international sports. In using innovative technology to optimise performance, the research has the potential to enhance Australia's inte ....Optimising Performance Under Pressure: Testing and Developing Athletes' Attentional Focus Strategies. Sport has long played a significant role in Australia's cultural identity, but the economic value of this industry must also be recognised. Australia has invested heavily in supporting our athletes, teams and coaches, who have achieved high levels of success in international sports. In using innovative technology to optimise performance, the research has the potential to enhance Australia's international reputation in the sport sciences, and may well prove essential to our future competitiveness. In promoting innovative, evidence-based coaching and psychological skills training that develop and foster human talent, the project will also assist strategic initiatives to increase community participation in sport.Read moreRead less
Use of heart rate kinetics during the rest-exercise transition for tracking changes in exercise performance in athletes. The project aims to develop an objective method for assessing fatigue and recovery in athletes during changes in training load. It is intended that this will inform training adjustments to optimise performance and reduce the risk of overtraining and injury. The method assesses the maximal rate of heart rate increase at the start of light exercise (rHRI), and has been shown in ....Use of heart rate kinetics during the rest-exercise transition for tracking changes in exercise performance in athletes. The project aims to develop an objective method for assessing fatigue and recovery in athletes during changes in training load. It is intended that this will inform training adjustments to optimise performance and reduce the risk of overtraining and injury. The method assesses the maximal rate of heart rate increase at the start of light exercise (rHRI), and has been shown in the project team’s early studies to track reductions in exercise performance when an athlete is fatigued from increased training. The project aims to now refine rHRI so it can also track improvements in exercise performance as athletes recover, and to evaluate rHRI in multiple sports and genders. A field test will be developed and mechanisms that allow it to track changes in exercise performance will be investigated.Read moreRead less
Playing it Safe: Psychological Safety and Mental Health for Community Sport. At a time when over half of all Australians participate in organised sports it is critical to ensure that these environments are psychologically safe. The problem is that community sports clubs have no clear guidance on how to fulfil this substantial responsibility. There have been urgent calls for the development of psychological safety and mental health guidelines which have yet to be answered. This project will deliv ....Playing it Safe: Psychological Safety and Mental Health for Community Sport. At a time when over half of all Australians participate in organised sports it is critical to ensure that these environments are psychologically safe. The problem is that community sports clubs have no clear guidance on how to fulfil this substantial responsibility. There have been urgent calls for the development of psychological safety and mental health guidelines which have yet to be answered. This project will deliver the knowledge to underpin effective psychological safety and mental health guidelines for community sports with national impact. When implemented, this knowledge will help sports clubs to provide a psychologically safe environment, and promote the mental health and wellbeing of all Australians involved in organised sports.Read moreRead less
Regulatory mechanisms in skeletal muscle lipid hydrolysis. The regulation of intramuscular triglyceride (fat) utilisation by human skeletal muscle is largely unknown. Our contention is that the specialized protein enzyme, hormone sensitive lipase (HSL), has a fundamental role in intramuscular triacylglycerol utilisation and is regulated by both intramuscular levels of key metabolites and circulating hormone concentrations. We also propose control points subsequent to HSL activation are important ....Regulatory mechanisms in skeletal muscle lipid hydrolysis. The regulation of intramuscular triglyceride (fat) utilisation by human skeletal muscle is largely unknown. Our contention is that the specialized protein enzyme, hormone sensitive lipase (HSL), has a fundamental role in intramuscular triacylglycerol utilisation and is regulated by both intramuscular levels of key metabolites and circulating hormone concentrations. We also propose control points subsequent to HSL activation are important for triglyceride hydrolysis. Our proposed project examines these factors and will enhance our understanding of the regulation of muscle fat use, thereby leading to potential metabolic strategies (nutritional, pharmacological) that enhance skeletal muscle function at rest and during exercise.Read moreRead less
On-line training for small business: Creating a best practice model. By evaluating the current training delivery methods used to inform small business managers this project will provide a best practice model to meet the specific training needs of those working in this sector. This model will encourage increased training participation by small business managers and provide the impetus for development of new on-line learning options. The project outcomes offer the opportunity for growth and deve ....On-line training for small business: Creating a best practice model. By evaluating the current training delivery methods used to inform small business managers this project will provide a best practice model to meet the specific training needs of those working in this sector. This model will encourage increased training participation by small business managers and provide the impetus for development of new on-line learning options. The project outcomes offer the opportunity for growth and development in small businesses. In turn, small business expansion offers Australia greater economic growth and at the local level also increases employment opportunities.Read moreRead less
The role of intracellular calcium in fibre-type specific gene expression in skeletal muscle. Muscles contain different fibre types whose composition can be changed by activity. The aim of this proposal is to identify the intracellular mechanisms which control fibre type. Our hypothesis is that different patterns of intracellular calcium determine the pattern of gene expression which determines fibre type. Understanding how gene expression is regulated is a central issue in biology.