Andrew Govus

La Trobe University · Sport and Exercise Science

Purpose Orthorexia nervosa involves restricting diet based on quality rather than quantity. Although orthorexia is well reported in many at-risk populations, limited data addresses its presence in individuals with eating disorder history (EDs) or athletes. We aimed to identify the presence and potential drivers of orthorexia in adults with EDs and...

Purpose: Chronic use of the oral contraceptive pill (OCP) is reported to increase C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease in premenopausal females. Methods: A secondary analysis of data from two research studies in eumenorrheic (n = 8) and OCP (n = 8) female athletes. Basal CRP and iron parameters were inc...

Background Hepcidin, the master iron regulatory hormone, has been shown to peak 3–6 h postexercise, and is likely a major contributor to the prevalence of iron deficiency in athletes. Although multiple studies have investigated the hepcidin response to exercise, small sample sizes preclude the generalizability of current research findings. Objecti...

Menstrual health represents a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being in relation to a woman's menstrual cycle. From a health literacy perspective, knowledge acquisition and expertise are dependent upon the degree to which an individual can find, access, understand, critically analyse, and apply health information. Therefore, mens...

Youth footballers need to be developed to meet the technical, tactical, and physical demands of professional level competition, ensuring that the transition between competition levels is successful. To quantify the physical demands, peak match intensities have been measured across football competition tiers, with team formations and tactical approa...

Temporal changes in the total running demands of professional football competition have been well documented, with absolute running demands decreasing in the second half. However, it is unclear whether the peak match running demands demonstrate a similar decline. A total of 508 GPS files were collected from 44 players, across 68 matches of the Aust...

Iron metabolism research in the past decade has identified menstrual blood loss as a key contributor to the prevalence of iron deficiency in premenopausal females. The reproductive hormones estrogen and progesterone influence iron regulation and contribute to variations in iron parameters throughout the menstrual cycle. Despite the high prevalence...

Peak match running intensities have recently been introduced to quantify the peak running demands of football competition, across incremental time intervals, to inform training practices. However, their between-match variation is yet to be comprehensively reported, limiting the ability to determine meaningful changes in peak match running intensiti...

The peak match running demands of football (soccer) have been quantified across time durations of 1-10 min, however, little is known as to when the peak match running demands occur within match play. Data were collected from 44 elite footballers, across 68 fixtures (Files = 413, mean ± SD; 11 ± 8 observations per player, range; 1-33), with peak mat...

Purpose : To examine practitioners’, coaches’, and athletes’ perceptions of evidence-based practice (EBP) in professional sport in Australia. Methods : One hundred thirty-eight participants (practitioners n = 67, coaches n = 39, and athletes n = 32) in various professional sports in Australia each completed a group-specific online questionnaire. Qu...

Purpose: To provide a descriptive analysis of the warm-up (WU) strategies employed by cross-country skiers prior to distance and sprint competitions at a national championship and to compare the skiers' planned and executed WUs prior to the respective competitions. Methods: Twenty-one national- and international-level skiers (11 women and 10 men...

This study investigated the relationship between front foot contact (FFC) ground reaction forces (GRF) during the delivery stride, lower-limb strength, eccentric dexterity and power, and ball release speed (BRS) among pace bowlers. Thirteen high-level male pace bowlers performed double and single leg drop landings; isometric mid-thigh pull; counter...

The recent launch of the new National elite women's football competitions in Australia has seen a 20–50% increase in grassroots female participation. With the growing participation across grassroots to elite competitions, understanding the health of female athletes should be prioritized. In elite level athletes, hormonal contraceptive (HC) use is c...

This study aimed to identify what male coaches of elite female team sport athletes want to know about the menstrual cycle and its influence on athlete health and performance. Using a mixed-methods concept mapping approach, 18 male coaches of Australian female elite football-codes brainstormed what they wanted to know about the menstrual cycle to wo...

Background Huntington's disease (HD) is a chronic, progressive neurodegenerative condition for which there are currently no proven disease-modifying therapies. Lifestyle factors have been shown to impact on the age of disease onset and progression of disease features. We therefore investigated the effects of a nine-month multidisciplinary rehabilit...

Objectives: Serum neurofilament light protein (NfL) is a promising marker of disease onset and progression in Huntington's disease (HD). This study investigated associations between lifestyle factors and NfL levels in HD mutation carriers compared to healthy age- and sex-matched controls. Materials and methods: Participants included 29 HD mutati...

This study investigated the effect of endurance training and regular post-exercise cold water immersion on changes in microvascular function. Nine males performed 3 sessions∙wk-1 of endurance training for 4 weeks. Following each session, participants immersed one leg in a cold water bath (10°C; COLD) for 15 min while the contra-lateral leg served a...

Background: Hypothalamic pathology is a well-documented feature of Huntington's disease (HD) and is believed to contribute to circadian rhythm and habitual sleep disturbances. Currently, no therapies exist to combat hypothalamic changes, nor circadian rhythm and habitual sleep disturbances in HD. Objective: To evaluate the effects of multidiscip...

Fullagar, HHK, Harper, LD, Govus, A, McCunn, R, Eisenmann, J, and McCall, A. Practitioner perceptions of evidence-based practice in elite sport in the United States of America. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2019-Practitioners' perceptions regarding the use and effectiveness of research evidence in sport is not well understood. The purpose of...

Iron plays a significant role in the body, and is specifically important to athletes, since it is a dominant feature in processes such as oxygen transport and energy metabolism. Despite its importance, athlete populations, especially females and endur-ance athletes, are commonly diagnosed with iron deficiency, suggesting an association between spor...

Intensive training periods may negatively influence immune function, but the immunological consequences of specific high-intensity-training (HIT) prescriptions are not well defined. Purpose: To explore whether 3 different HIT prescriptions influence multiple health-related biomarkers and whether biomarker responses to HIT were associated with upp...

Purpose: This study aimed to compare performance and pacing strategies between elite male and female cross-country skiers during a sprint competition on snow using the skating technique. Methods: Twenty male and 14 female skiers completed an individual time-trial prolog (TT) and three head-to-head races (quarter, semi, and final) on the same 1,572-...

Intensified training periods may increase incidence of upper respiratory illness (URI) in athletes (Meeusen et al., 2013, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 45(1), 186–205). Many physiological and nutritional risk factors have been associated with increased risk of URI (Bermon et al., 2017, Exercise Immunology Review, 23, 8–50), including...

New finding: What is the central question of this study? To determine how 14 days of LHTL at simulated altitude alters an individual's metabolomic/metabolic profile? What is the main finding and its importance? This study demonstrated that ∼200 h of moderate simulated altitude exposure showed greater variance in measured metabolites between-person...

Full article can be found here: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)32000-2/fulltext

This study investigated the energy, macronutrient and fluid intakes, as well as hydration status (urine specific gravity; USG), in elite cross-country skiers during a typical day of training (day one) and a sprint skiing competition the following day (day two). Thirty-one (18 male and 13 female) national team skiers recorded their food and fluid in...

This study investigated whether commercially available compression garments (COMP) exerting a moderate level of pressure and/or neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) accelerate recovery following a cross-country sprint skiing competition compared with a control group (CON) consisting of active recovery only. Twenty-one senior (12 males, 9 fem...

Purpose: Iron is integral for erythropoietic adaptation to hypoxia, yet the importance of supplementary iron compared to existing stores is poorly understood. The aim of the present study was to compare the magnitude of the haemoglobin mass (Hbmass) response to altitude in athletes supplemented with intravenous (IV), oral or placebo iron supplemen...

The integrity of Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) is underpinned by understanding normal fluctuations of its biomarkers to environmental or medical conditions, e.g. altitude training or iron deficiency. The combined impact of altitude and iron supplementation on the ABP was evaluated in endurance-trained athletes (n=34) undertaking 3-weeks of simu...

Background Acetaminophen is an over-the-counter drug used to treat pain and fever, but it has also been shown to reduce core temperature (Tc) in the absence of fever. However, this side effect is not well examined in humans, and it is unknown if the hypothermic response to acetaminophen is exacerbated with cold exposure. Objective To address this q...

Purpose: The relationship between pre-training subjective wellness, external and internal training load in American College football is unclear. This study examined the relationship between pre-training subjective wellness (sleep quality, muscle soreness, energy, wellness Z score) on 1) player load and 2) session rating of perceived exertion (s-RP...

Habitual nutritional intakes in cross-country skiers have previously been reported (Fogelholm et al., 1992), however in elite cross-country skiers there is limited knowledge about racespecific nutritional practices, or the prevalence of dehydration and persistent low energy availability (EA). This study aimed to investigate, in the context of a sim...

Background/purpose: The growing volume of movement screening research reveals a belief among practitioners and researchers alike that movement quality may have an association with injury risk. However, existing movement screening tools have not considered the sport-specific movement and injury patterns relevant to soccer. The present study introdu...

Purpose: To investigate the recovery time course of customized wellness markers (sleep, soreness, energy and overall wellness) in response to match play in Division 1-A American Collegiate Football players. Methods: A retrospective research design was used in this study. Wellness data was collected and analysed for two collegiate American footba...

Purpose: To describe the within-season external workloads of professional male road cyclists for optimal training prescription. Methods: Training and racing of four international competitive professional male cyclists (age 24 ± 2 y, body mass 77.6 ± 1.5 kg) were monitored for 12 months prior to the world team time trial championships. Three with...

Children’s engagement in physical activity of a vigorous intensity or higher is more effective at promoting cardiorespiratory fitness than moderate physical activity. It remains unclear how higher intensity physical activity varies between days when schoolchildren participate in physical education (PE) and non-PE days. The purpose of this study was...

Background Subjective and objective sleep disturbances have been reported in premanifest Huntington’s disease (pre-HD). These disturbances have the potential to induce structural and functional changes to the brain, including cognitive deficits, and may facilitate, or even contribute to, disease onset and progression. Treatment of sleep disturbance...

Background Despite immense scientific efforts, there are still no proven drug agents that delay or treat cognitive impairments in individuals with Huntington’s disease (HD). Recent clinical and preclinical data suggests that environmental interventions have a positive impact on many cognitive domains that are affected by HD. There are, however, no...

This study determined whether a composite assessment of intermittent fitness could be used to quantify performance in several anaerobic tasks. Fifty-two male recreational athletes (age: 24.3 ± 4.4 yr; body mass: 85.1 ± 12.2 kg; height: 180.5 ± 7.0 cm) were recruited from various team sports. Participants completed a battery of field tests to assess...

The post-exercise hepcidin response during prolonged (>2 weeks) hypoxic exposure is not well understood. We compared plasma hepcidin levels 3 h after exercise [6 3 1000 m at 90% of maximal aerobic running velocity (vVO 2max)] performed in normoxia and normobaric hypoxia (3000 m simulate altitude) 1 week before, and during 14 days of normobaric hypo...

The post-exercise hepcidin response during prolonged (>2 weeks) hypoxic exposure is not well understood. We compared plasma hepcidin levels 3 h after exercise [6 × 1000 m at 90% of maximal aerobic running velocity (vVO2max)] performed in normoxia and normobaric hypoxia (3000 m simulate altitude) 1 week before, and during 14 days of normobaric hypox...

This study determined the validity and reliability of an incremental double poling protocol performed on a Concept II ski-ergometer and validated this against an existing treadmill ski-striding protocol. Ten well-trained male cross-country skiers (age: 19 ± 1.4 y; height: 182 ± 72 cm; body mass: 76.0 ± 10.8 kg, whole body VO2Peak: 5.2 ± 1.0 L.min-1...

Purpose: To investigate the influence of daily oral iron supplementation on changes in hemoglobin mass (Hbmass) and iron parameters after 2-4 weeks of moderate altitude exposure. Methods: Hematological data collected from 178 athletes (98 males, 80 females) exposed to moderate altitude (1,350-3,000 m) were analysed using linear regression to det...

This 10 min oral presentation was delivered at the 20th Annual European Congress of Sport Science in Malmo.

Purpose: To investigate the influence of 14 days live high, train low (LHTL) altitude exposure (14 h.d-1, at 3,000 m simulate altitude) on resting and post-exercise hepcidin and iron parameter responses in distance runners. Methods: Ten well-trained distance runners (six males, four females) performed a 6 × 1,000 m interval running session at 90% v...

This study investigated the effect of regular post-exercise cold water immersion (CWI) on muscle aerobic adaptations to endurance training. Eight males performed 3 sessions∙wk-1 of endurance training for 4 weeks. Following each session, subjects immersed one leg in a cold water bath (10°C; COLD) for 15 min while the contra-lateral leg served as con...

This study determined the validity and reliability of an incremental double poling protocol performed on a Concept II ski-ergometer and validated this against an existing treadmill ski-striding protocol. Ten well-trained male cross-country skiers (age: 19 ± 1.4 y; height: 182 ± 72 cm; body mass: 76.0 ± 10.8 kg, whole body VO2Peak: 5.2 ± 1.0 L.min-1...

Purpose: This study measured the influence of acute hypoxic exercise on Interleukin-6 (IL-6), hepcidin, and iron biomarkers in athletes. Methods: In a repeated measures design, 13 moderately trained endurance athletes performed 5 × 4 min intervals at 90 % of their peak oxygen consumption velocity (vVO2peak) in both normoxic [NORM, fraction of in...

This study explored the relationship between serum ferritin and hepcidin in athletes. Baseline serum ferritin levels of 54 athletes from the control trial of five investigations conducted in our laboratory were considered; athletes were grouped according to values <30 μg/L (SF<30), 30-50 μg/L (SF30-50), 50-100 μg/L (SF50-100), or >100 μg/L (SF>100)...