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BIDDEFORD, Maine

Lara Carlson gives presentation at American College of Sports Medicine Conference

Lara A. Carlson, Ph.D., FACSM, associate professor in the Westbrook College of Health Professions, gave a talk at the 61st Annual Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) conference in conjunction with the 5th World Congress on Exercise in Medicine (EIM).  The conference was held May 27-31, 2014, in Orlando, Florida.

Carlson’s research presentation was titled “Physiological Strain of Stock Car Drivers During Competitive Racing.” The purpose of the research was to quantify the thermoregulatory and physiological strain associated with competitive stock car driving.

Carlson found that heat strain experienced by motorsport athletes competing in National Association for Stock Car Automobile Racing (NASCAR) may be significant enough to impair performance or even result in a life-threatening accident. There is a need to carefully quantify heat strain during actual NASCAR race competitions in order to faithfully represent the magnitude of the problem and conceptualize future mitigation practices.

While at the conference, Carlson caught up with Sports Illustrated's Greatest Female Athlete of the 20th Century, Jackie Joyner-Kersee. The two originally met at the 1993 World Championship Trials/U.S.A. Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon, where Carlson was competing in the women's hammer event and Joyner-Kersee in the heptathlon.

Also during the conference, Carlson also participated as the drummer for a presentation given by J. Timothy Lightfoot, Ph.D., FACSM, of Texas A&M. Lightfoot was selected to give the Presidential Lecture titled "Rockin' Physiology: Finding Exercise Physiology Questions in Uncommon Places.”

Carlson and band members, including Lightfoot, who played the bass, were fitted with heart rate monitors that transmitted real-time data to the projection screen via telemetry to a packed audience. Lightfoot has recently been examining the physiological responses in individuals who participate in the performing arts.

Carlson started playing the drums just over a year ago and this was her first live performance. 

 

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The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.