Traditionally there have been two camps of thought among rowing coaches - the endurance strategy of "miles make champions" versus a more strength-based regime in the gym. Increasingly coaches are combining aspects of both.
"Hopefully the research will give us a more in-depth view of how athletes respond to the strength training currently in place," says Turfrey. "It will help us refine our programme to get best possible results.
"It would obviously be useful to know whether these strength-based exercises create the changes we hope they do," he says. "Also it will be good to discover if the exercises may work better for certain athletes than for others. If we can identify that, we can target exercise to each athlete for best results."
Mike McGuigan, Turfrey's supervisor and professor of strength and conditioning at AUT's Sports Performance Research Institute New Zealand, says applied research can have significant benefits for sport.
"Ryan's project is a great example of how practitioners can combine research and practice while earning a higher degree, ultimately benefitting the sport and athletes."
While the research is focused on rowers, it may have potential for other sports. However, at present Turfrey is wary about letting others in on what may be a secret weapon in the build-up to major international competitions.
"The research may well be embargoed and remain in house," he says.
Turfrey has been based at High Performance Sport New Zealand since 2010, after working there on placement as part of his Bachelor of Sport and recreation study at AUT. When a position arose with the New Zealand BMX team in the lead-up to the 2012 London Olympics, he was offered a full-time role, combining work with completion of his Masters of Sport and Exercise, before moving into a permanent role with the rowing squad.
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