Lethbridge research projects to be presented at European College of Sports Science Conference

A trio of research projects born out of Lethbridge will be presented at the European College of Sports Science Conference in Italy next month.

Three research projects exploring the connection between physical exercise and cognitive function, led by a Lethbridge Polytechnic instructor and two University of Lethbridge students, have been selected to present their work at a conference in Italy next month.

Simon Schaerz, Xander Fox and David Selles took part in three projects to demonstrate how physical activity aids in building cognitive skills, particularly in youth.

One of the projects looked at physical activity to improve executive function and memory flexibility with the polytechnic’s e-sports team.

Another project focused on creating a framework to help teachers in training develop physical education programs that support students’ executive function.

The third project examined the use of progressive overload in long-term exercise to improve executive function.

“It’s a really cool opportunity to go overseas and get to present. … Not only to share my research with people from multiple different countries and backgrounds in areas of research, but to also get to take in a lot of research from other people that have various backgrounds,” said Fox, University of Lethbridge Bachelor of Science graduate.

“We don’t have the capacity to do these massive studies, but just the small studies, literature reviews, that are really meaningful in the sense of training future to-be researchers is really valuable,” said Schaerz, Lethbridge Polytechnic Centre for Health and Wellness instructor.

The trio will present their projects at the European College of Sports Science Conference, July 1-4 in Italy.