Dr. Rudi Marciniak
<b>Department: </b>School of Kinesiology<br><b>Research Area: </b>Dr. Marciniak's research seeks to inform training and recovery practices of firefighters through the utilization of cardiovascular and musculoskeletal performance measures.
Department: School of Kinesiology
Research Focus: Dr. Marciniak's research seeks to inform training and recovery practices of firefighters through the utilization of cardiovascular and musculoskeletal performance measures.
Potential Student Project(s):
Firefighters complete 24-hour shifts where they are unexpectedly called to medical (i.e., chest pain, loss of conciousness, etc.) and/or fire emergencies (i.e., auto-extrication, house fire, etc.). Accordingly, firefighters spend time at the fire station completing low-intensity work followed by unexpected exposure to high physiological strain when responding to emergency calls. Due to these job exposures, risk for injury is high and often includes over-exertion that leads to musculoskeletal and/or cardiovascular injury. It is essential that we prepare firefighters to meet such job demands to minimize risk for injury and avoid loss of work, chronic pain, and/or personal impact. Dr. Marciniak recently conducted a study to examine the influence of interval-based resistance training on firefighter fitness and job workload in an attempt to identify better practices for firefighter preparation.
Dr. Marciniak is seeking a student researcher to support the analysis of the cardiovascular (i.e., heart rate) training responses to an interval-based resistance training program completed by active-duty firefighters. This will include processing the heart rate data collected during the training sessions, summing the responses into
various intensity zones, and quantifying the responses into various measures of workload.
Attributes/skills/background sought in undergraduate:
The student researcher must be competent in basic math and have experience using Microsoft Excel. Student researchers most likely to excel in this position are curious about exercise science, organized, self-motivated, work well independently and as part of a team.
Mentoring Plan:
The student researcher will work 5h/week on this project in the Integrative Exercise Physiology Laboratory. This will include a 1-on-1 interaction with Dr. Marciniak for at least 1 h/week. The student will also work with Dr. Marciniak and other students to learn and assist with hands-on data collection in the laboratory and/or field when possible.
Contact: 765-285-3702, HP 308