Bowerman Sports Science Center

Congratulations Dr. Kieran Abbotts! 🎓

Kieran’s dissertation peels back the layers to explore what happens within skeletal muscle during exercise. Specifically, he investigated how changes in the skeletal muscle environment influence mast cells and histamine release. But the story doesn’t end there. He also examined the “effect” side of the cause-and-effect relationship by testing how blocking histamine’s actions influenced oxygen supply-demand balance and exercise performance, providing new insight into the role of histamine during exercise.

What makes you efficient uphill? 🏔️

New research in the Journal of Applied Biomechanics shows that ankle plantar flexor work is the key biomechanical predictor of better running economy on steep (10%) uphill grades.

✅ Not the hips
✅ Not the knees
➡️ The ankles do the work when the grade gets steep

Trail runners in the study also showed:

• Better uphill economy
• Greater ankle contribution

📌 Coaching takeaway: If you want to improve uphill performance, train the calves.

Check out Rachel Robinson's recent publication here: https://lnkd.in/g88siBmu

LeBron uses everything from ice baths to compression tech—but here’s the twist:

You don’t need NBA resources to recover like a pro.

The article explains which recovery strategies are backed by science—and which simple ones anyone can start today.

👉 If you want to stay active longer (without burning out), this is worth your read.

https://time.com/article/2026/04/20/lebron-james-longevity-workout-recovery-strategies/

👩‍🚀 From microgravity to molecular changes: UO researcher, John Halliwill, talks about spaceflight physiology.

Read it here: https://naturalsciences.uoregon.edu/news/studying-effects-space-flight-human-physiology