ISESA Podcast

With the 2025 season approaching, Bruce chats with Dr. Shane Malone (TU Dublin) about all things pre-season for the team sports. We discuss Shane’s brand new research (co-authored with Martin Buchheit) which suggests we may have become too reliant on GPS, marking the return of heart rate as a critical monitoring tool. Shane reveals why the traditional aerobic slog might be working for your midfielders but failing your explosive corner-forwards due to diminishing returns. Also discussed:The New Rules: How the "solo-and-go" and the 2-point arc might spike high-speed running demands this yearSport Science 3.0: Why combining Internal Load (Heart Rate) with External Load (GPS) is the futureThe Research: A breakdown of the 2025 "Dose-Response" paper—Endurance vs. Hybrid vs. Speed profilesPractical Coaching: How to stop the "January Spike" in injuries and why you need to treat your speed merchants differentlyReferences:Malone, S. & Buchheit, M. (2025). Dose-Response of Heart Rate Load and Performance in Gaelic Football. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we explore the powerful intersection of social enterprise, sport and exercise science and health promotion. Steve O'Connell, founder of The Football Cooperative, and Dr. Paula Carroll, Senior Lecturer at SETU and Principal Researcher on the Football Co-operative projects join me in studio to chat about their amazing collaboration. We discuss how a simple game of pick up football has evolved into an award-winning social enterprise. We dig into the reality of recreational football as a tool for physical and mental health and Paula breaks down the incredible data behind it, including the staggering €17.60 social return on investment for every €1 spent.Our talking point include:Where it all began: How Steve turned a personal need for flexible football into a nationwide movementThe research: Paula explains how they measure "social value" and validate the impact of community sportWide ranging benefits: not just for men's health, but family, relationships and the wider communityScaling and developing: how the research has helped secure funding and scale a grassroots idea into a national projectYou can find out more here:Football Co-Operative websiteFootball Co-Operative on LinkedInPaula Carroll @ SETU Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is a re-release from last year to coincide with Science Week 2025. Our vision at the Irish Sport and Exercise Science Association is to enhance the health, well-being and performance of individuals through sport and exercise sciences. With that vision in mind and looking to the future, we thought it would be a good idea to put out an episode aimed at anyone who might want to know more about studying sport and exercise science - from current secondary students, to parents, teachers and guidance counselors or someone considering a return to 3rd level education - this is the episode for you. In this short form episode, we will give you the broad strokes of what studying sport and exercise science at 3rd level is all about, what the university experience might entail and importantly, what career opportunities are out there for graduates.Sharing this episode is particularly important. We would love to reach as many schools, guidance counsellors, teachers, students and parents as possible, so please send this episode to anyone you think might be interested! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lynne Cantwell is inductee number 174 in to the World Rugby Hall of Fame. With 86 appearances in green, Lynne is still Ireland's most-capped women's rugby player. In an international career that spanned 13 years, she appeared at no less than four Rugby World Cups and one Rugby Sevens World Cup. As a player, Lynne was integral to Ireland’s most iconic achievements, including their 2013 Six Nations Grand Slam and their magnificent victory over New Zealand at the 2014 Women’s Rugby World Cup. Now working as the Head of Women’s Strategy for the IRFU, Lynne continues to be a guiding light in the Women's Game. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Niamh O’Brien is the Lead Performance Analyst for the Irish Para Swimming Team. She has just returned from working at the World Para Swimming Championships in Singapore where the Irish Team secured an astonishing 7 medals. Niamh is a really interesting guest - she is a relative newcomer in the world of high performance sport and only recently graduated from her undergrad in Sport Science and Health in TUD. This hasn't stopped her from making a strong impression on those around her which has resulted in her capitalizing on all opportunities and becoming somewhat of a trailblazer in her own career. In this episode we discuss the work of a performance analyst and Niamh's impressive career trajectory, making it of particular interest to current undergraduate and postgraduate students who are wondering how to get a foothold in their own career. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.