Geoff Power

• Human Health and Nutritional Sciences

• Exercise science and biomechanics
• Human health
• Mechanisms of disease

• Aging
• Biomechanics
• Fatigue
• Healthy aging
• Human performance
• Muscle Contractility
• Muscle Mechanics
• Sex-specific issues related to human health and disease

We investigate neuromechanical aspects of movement across the lifespan. We use various approaches and tools (cellular level to whole human) to explore the underlying mechanisms of superior/impaired performance.

Skeletal muscle is a remarkable tissue which regulates many metabolic processes, generates heat and is the basic motor of locomotion allowing us to meaningfully interact with our environment. When a muscle is activated at various lengths it produces a given predictable amount of force. However, when that muscle is actively lengthened or shortened those predictions go out the window. We actually know very little regarding dynamic muscle contraction. My research program focuses on muscle contractile properties and gaining a deeper understanding of how muscle works. I use altered states to tease out some of these fine muscle details such as muscle fatigue, aging, and training.

Electromyography, Dynamometry, ultrasound, muscle mechanical testing, muscle contractile testing, in vitro muscle preparations, tissue mechanical testing, Human Participants, Animal Models.
My program can be split into 2 major approaches: 1) Human neuromuscular and 2) in vitro human & in vivo/in situ animal work. The tools and techniques we use for approach 1. include (but are not limited to): Surface/indwelling EMG, Dynamometry, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, Electrical stimulation and Ultrasound imaging. For approach 2. we use: single permeabilized muscle fibres/bundles collected via needle or surgical biopsy, and, in situ and in vitro whole muscle preparations. We use gel electrophoresis to identify muscle fibre type (SDS-PAGE) and protein isoform size and content (SDS-VAGE). Through these approaches we can test various aspects of muscle mechanics such as force, velocity, power, and stiffness to gain insight into muscle cross-bridge kinetics.

Electromyography, dynamometry, force transducers, ultrasound, muscle single fibre mechanical testing systems, animal whole muscle activation and mechanical testing systems, soft tissue mechanical testing systems.

Ruhr-University Bochum (Germany); University of Padua (Italy).

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