Schools, and specifically Physical Education programmes, have been identified as the most suitable vehicle to promote active and healthy lifestyles among young people (Pate et al., 2006). Resistance Training (RT) is in top five most popular activities among adolescents in Ireland according to the most recent data from the Children’s Sport Participation and Physical Activity survey (Woods et al., 2019). Research by Kennedy et al., (2021) highlighted the paucity of school-based interventions with an RT focus that have been delivered at scale. Therefore, the primary aim of this project is to investigate the feasibility of a school-based programme for improving muscular fitness and resistance training proficiency among adolescents.
The RT4Teens Ireland intervention will be designed to equip teachers with the foundations for introducing RT in a school context. In addition, student participants will be provided with the knowledge, motivation, skills, and confidence to engage in RT.
The RT4Teens-I intervention will be designed to equip teachers with the foundations for introducing RE in a school context. Student participants will be provided with the knowledge, motivation, skills, and confidence to engage in resistance exercise.
Suitable candidates interested in pursuing funding applications for full time postgraduate research at both MSc and PhD level on the RT4Teens Project are being actively sought. A level eight qualification in physical education or related discipline is required, and experience in the delivery of resistance exercise desirable. Please respond to this email with an expression of interest detailing your interest and motivation (100 words) as well as your current QCA. Deadline for receipt of EOIs is Friday, September 12th.
For further information or queries, please contact Brendan.okeeffe@ul.ie
References:
- Pate, R. R., et al. (2006). “Promoting physical activity in children and youth: a leadership role for schools.” Circulation 114(11): 1214-1224.
- Kennedy, S. G., et al. (2021). “Evaluating the reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation and maintenance of the Resistance Training for Teens program.” International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 18(1): 1-18.
- Woods, C., et al. (2018). “The Children’s Sport Participation and Physical Activity Study 2018.”
Brendan O’Keeffe is an Associate Professor of Physical Education. Brendan’s research interests include: the pedagogy of health-related fitness; scalable school-based health promotion interventions; resistance exercise in youth.
You can contact Brendan via email at Brendan.okeeffe@ul.ie @BrendanOK_ or view his research profile on ResearchGate
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