Question: What are some of the discoveries that have been made when studying sport science in Northern Sweden?

Helen Hanstock answered on 3 Nov 2016:

Good question!

I work at the Swedish Winter Sports Research Centre so a lot of our research is focused on winter sports! In particular, we work closely with the cross country ski, biathlon (skiing and shooting) and downhill ski teams.

I haven’t been here long enough yet to have made any exciting new discoveries myself – I’m working on it! But, here are a few snippets of what we have found out:

Some of my colleagues looked at the best way to pace a sprint cross country ski race and found that it is best to start really fast and try to hang on until the end, rather than starting slowly and speeding up at the end. He also found that it is important to go hard on the hills if you want to get the best performance out of yourself.

Others have looked at how carrying a rifle affects biathletes’ ski technique and physiology which was then used by coaches to help plan the best approach to train for biathlon skiing and competition.

We recently did a study that looked at whether taking beetroot juice before exercise could improve skiing performance, either at sea level or at high altitude. I haven’t seen the results yet so this is a work in progress!

Another colleague is exploring the most efficient position for para-skiers to use for cross-country sit skiing.

At the moment I’m planning a study to look at whether there is a link between energy deficits (athletes eating fewer calories than they are using) and immune function and whether athletes in energy deficit are more likely to get sick.

Hopefully that gives you a little snapshot of some of the things we are doing!