Alan’s career change is on the right track

A SOON-to-be graduate from Warrington has been awarded the Masters Dissertation of the Year award from the British Association of Sports and Exercise Sciences (BASES), for his research which could improve track cyclists’ performance in competitions.
Alan Chorley, 44,  who will be graduating with an MSc in Sports Sciences (Sports Physiology) at the University of Chester on Friday, will present the research entitled: ”The Effects of Prior Post-Activation Potentiation on 4km Cycling Time Trial Performance”, at the BASES Annual Conference, later this month.
For his dissertation, Alan set out to investigate the effects of Post-Activation Potentiation (PAP) – a positive effect of using a muscle which counteracts fatigue, and subsequently enables more force to be used during exercise – and whether this could provide a benefit to a 4km time trial in track cycle racing.
In order to test the theory, Alan devised a PAP-inducing warm-up plan, which included 30 seconds of high power cycling at a low rhythm.
Eleven cyclists took part in the warm-up before they performed a 4km time trial. The results were compared to the same cyclists, doing the same protocol, but with a simple moderate intensity warm-up.
The results showed a small improvement in completion time following the PAP warm-up, as well as increased oxygen usage early on in the time trial. While it was only a small difference in time, Alan believes that it would generally be enough to move up a position or two in a championship event.
He said: “I am thrilled that my research has been awarded the Master’s Dissertation of the Year Award. To be recognised by BASES, which is the professional body for Sports and Exercise Sciences, and for my work to be judged as worthy of winning the award, is a huge honour. It is also a credit to the Sports and Exercise Sciences (SES) Department at the university, and the teaching standards of the lecturers.”
Academic study is a new challenge for Alan, who decided to enrol on the MSc Sports Sciences course at the university after being made redundant from his job in IT.
He said: “I saw redundancy as an opportunity for career change. I’d taken up triathlon and cycling about 10 years ago, and I found the sports science side of it to be really interesting. I’d done some online courses and so I thought I’d jump in at the deep end with a full time master’s degree.
“The timing of the decision was shortly before the start of the academic year, so my enquiries to the university were quite last minute. The fact that senior members of staff took time to show me the department, explain the structure of the course, and then follow-up with phone conversations regarding the types of work the qualification could lead to, really impressed me.
“My new qualification and the BASES award will hopefully enable me to make the career change I’d been hoping for.”
Alan’s new career is heading in the right direction as he has taken up a research post within the SES Department and is hoping to complete a PhD.