Human Performance Lab research

The Human Performance Laboratory (HPL) conducts exercise physiology research on humans, with an approach that covers the whole body response down to the cellular physiology and molecular biology level—a whole body to gene approach.

The following are ongoing areas of research in the HPL.

Aging & Exercise

The main focus of this research is to gain a better understanding of the alterations in skeletal muscle with aging and resistance training.

We have found that older men and women do respond in a positive manner at the cell level to resistance training. However, the cellular adaptations are different compared to young individuals that are subjected to the same exercise stress.

We have also expanded this area into examining the aerobic exercise responses and the effect this different exercise stimulus might have at the cellular level in reversing sarcopenia in older women and men.

The enzyme cyclooxygenase appears to play a major role in the regulation of skeletal muscle and tendon adaptations to exercise. Common over-the-counter drugs like Acetaminophen (Tylenol) and Ibuprofen (Advil) block this enzyme and alter the short-term responses and chronic adaptations to exercise.

This research has two important implications:

  1. Understanding how drugs consumed by millions of people around the world daily, many of them older individuals, may interfere with or enhance the body’s adaptations to exercise.
  2. Expanding our understanding on the cellular regulation of how the body adapts to exercise.

Read more.

This area of research is aimed at understanding the genetic triggers that regulate muscle growth and atrophy in aging muscle. In particular, we are interested in the gene expression of key biomarkers at rest and in response to acute and chronic exercise.

This evolving area of research has resulted in several publications and continues to add insight into the molecular regulation of muscle adaptation.

In addition to our targeted gene approach, we have recently completed studies examining the entire human genome in response to acute and chronic exercise training in the young and old. We have defined a new method to complete these genome-wide analyses on isolated human muscle fibers, allowing for a muscle fiber-type specific approach to genetic studies in human muscle adaptation.

The HPL has been working with NASA since 1994 to understand how the body adapts to the microgravity environment of space, and the role that exercise can play in offsetting the negative effects.

These studies have examined astronauts following a 17-day mission aboard the Space Shuttle (LMS), astronauts and cosmonauts onboard the International Space Station (ISS) for 6 months, and continues today with crew members currently onboard the International Space Station.

The main focus of this research has been to conduct whole muscle and single muscle fiber contractile function measurements to better understand how muscle deteriorates in the microgravity environment and the specific exercise paradigm that could serve as a countermeasure to preserve human skeletal muscle mass and function for long duration space exploration.

In conjunction with our space flight studies, we have completed numerous studies using ground-based models of space flight, namely bed rest and unilateral lower limb suspension.

These studies have followed volunteers during simulated space flight durations of 3, 12, 17, 21, 35, 60, and 90 days and have been completed in the HPL, NASA facilities in California, European Space Agency (ESA) and National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) facilities in Toulouse, France, and in Stockholm, Sweden.

The focus of this research is to complement our space flight studies and extend our understanding the muscle responses to disuse at the whole muscle and myofiber level, and the impact of specific exercise countermeasures.

These studies continue today in conjunction with the NASA exercise countermeasures team at Johnson Space Center, with a long duration bed rest study examining the next generation exercise prescription that is being implemented on the ISS.

Both the space flight and ground-based research has the potential to contribute significantly to humans on Earth who become bed ridden due to injury or illness and the expanding aging population that is challenged with muscle weakness and late-life disability. Read recent research.

The HPL has been involved in a variety of applied research topics since its inception, including carbohydrate metabolism, heat stress, gastric emptying and fluid balance, and over-training and tapering in runners, swimmers, and cyclists.

This applied approach continues today with a recent focus on adaptations to training for a marathon or training during a cross-country season, and the influence of tapering on physiological adaptations and performance.

Read recent research.

HPL Researchers Work with Champion Runner Colin Jackson

The HPL has been a part of a multi-disciplinary examination to better understand what makes a world-class athlete. Researchers studied the whole muscle and myocellular characteristics of Colin Jackson, a sprinter and hurdler who won a silver medal at the Olympics and won two IAAF World Championships. Watch a BBC feature on Jackson and his work with the HPL

The HPL has been a part of a multi-disciplinary examination to better understand what makes a world-class athlete. Researchers studied the whole muscle and myocellular characteristics of Colin Jackson, a sprinter and hurdler who won a silver medal at the Olympics and won two IAAF World Championships. Watch a BBC feature on Jackson and his work with the HPL.

Studies to date have investigated the effect of maturation on exercise metabolism, the influence of a positive family history for diabetes on the metabolic response to submaximal exercise, and the effect of carbohydrate sports drinks on exercise metabolism and anaerobic exercise performance.

Studies assessing the effect of stimulant medication use on the physiological and perceptual responses to exercise and the impact of an acute bout of exercise on measures of attention and impulsivity in this population have been conducted.

Futures studies are being developed that will examine more closely the impact of stimulant medication on the cardiovascular response to exercise and the role in which exercise may serve as a means to curtail disruptive behavior in children with ADHD.

Imboden, M. T., Swartz, A. M., Finch, H. W., Harber, M. P., & Kaminsky, L. A. (2017). Reference standards for lean mass measures using GE dual energy x-ray absorptiometry in Caucasian adults. PloS one, 12(4).

Imboden, M. T., Welch, W. A., Swartz, A. M., Montoye, A. H., Finch, H. W., Harber, M. P., & Kaminsky, L. A. (2017). Reference standards for body fat measures using GE dual energy x-ray absorptiometry in Caucasian adults. PloS one, 12(4).

Harber, M. P., Kaminsky, L. A., Arena, R., Blair, S. N., Franklin, B. A., Myers, J., & Ross, R. (2017). Impact of cardiorespiratory fitness on all-cause and disease-specific mortality: Advances since 2009. Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases.

Imboden, M. T., Nelson, M. B., Kaminsky, L. A., & Montoye, A. H. (2017). Comparison of four Fitbit and Jawbone activity monitors with a research-grade ActiGraph accelerometer for estimating physical activity and energy expenditure. Br J Sports Med.

Ozemek, C., Whaley, M. H., Finch, W. H., & Kaminsky, L. A. (2017). Maximal heart rate declines linearly with age independent of cardiorespiratory fitness levels. European journal of sport science, 17(5), 563-570.

Kaminsky, L. A., Imboden, M. T., Arena, R., & Myers, J. (2017). Reference standards for cardiorespiratory fitness measured with cardiopulmonary exercise testing using cycle ergometry: data from the Fitness Registry and the Importance of Exercise National Database (FRIEND) Registry. In Mayo Clinic Proceedings (Vol. 92, No. 2, pp. 228-233).

Koontz, Nicole Lyn, Johnson, Zoe G, Whaley, Mitchell H., Kaminsky, Leonard A., Harber, Matthew P., American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting: "Fasting plasma glucose is associated with the heart rate response to maximal exercise." (June 2017).

Imboden, Mary Tuttle, Swartz, Ann, Harber, Matthew Paul, Kaminsky, Leonard A., American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting: "Reference standards for lean mass measures using GE Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry." (June 2017).

Burke, Thomas J, Ostojic, Kelsie, Koontz, Nicole Lyn, Kaminsky, Leonard A., Harber, Matthew P., American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting: "The influence of exercise volume on cardiorespiratory fitness and cardiovascular disease risk factors." (June 2017).

Selen Razon, Association for Applied Psychology Annual Conference: The Fitbit Phenomenon: Perceived Usefulness and Best Practices. Razon, S., Wallace, A., Ballesteros, J., Koontz, N., & Montoye, A. Ball State University Muncie, IN. (September 2016).

Cody Altherr – The Influence of an 8-Week Total Body Resistance Exercise Training Program on Autonomic Function in Apparently Healthy, Young Adults

Nicholas Carlini – The Influence of COCOZEN on Performance and Cardiovascular Function

Adam Grim – The Prognostic Power of VE/VCO2 Slope to Predict All-Cause Mortality in Apparently Healthy Adults

Elizabeth Martin – The Relationship between 24hr Central Ambulatory Blood Pressure and Arterial Stiffness

Courtney Mudd – The Relationship of Aortic Stiffness and Age-Related Hearing Loss in Sedentary Older Adults

Emily Rabalais – The Influence of COCOZEN Supplementation on Arterial Stiffness and Central Blood Pressure in Middle-Aged Adults

Derek Young – PAI Monitor Usability for Cardiac Patients


Read More Published HPL Research

Visit our faculty’s personal profile pages to read their published work, or visit PubMed for a historical listing of the HPL peer-reviewed research.

Read Faculty Bios
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