[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/gibala_sirc.jpg” caption=”Pictured with Gibala, centre, are Neil McCartney, chair of the Department of Kinesiology (left) and Wayne Kennedy, representative from SIRC Sport Research (right).”]Martin Gibala, associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology and co-director of the Exercise Metabolism Research Laboratory at McMaster University, has been awarded a research award from SIRC Sport Research.

The $2,000 award was based on recent research in Gibala's lab that suggests very brief bouts of high intensity exercise can stimulate improvements in health and fitness that are usually associated with traditional endurance training. The first study from this work, by Gibala's PhD student Kirsten Burgomaster, is published in the June issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology, and it is accompanied by an editorial highlighting the significance of the work.

“One of the major goals outlined in Refining Directions is to provide an innovative and stimulating learning environment … in which the linked concepts of scholarship and teaching can flourish,” said Gibala. “I try to incorporate this philosophy into my own teaching. The SIRC Research Award, which was presented in front of my second year kinesiology class, provided the students with external verification of the University's – and my own – commitment to bring research to the classroom.”

Gibala was selected in the category, “The Impact of Applied Research on Athletic Excellence – High Performance Category:” for his research: Skeletal Muscle Metabolic and Performance Adaptations to Short Sprint Interval Training.

He was presented the award in April in front of his class of 225 second-year kinesiology students.

Gibala has published more than 30 peer-reviewed articles in leading journals and he lectures frequently at international meetings.

SIRC Sport Research is a not-for-profit organization based in Ottawa Canada. Founded in 1973 as a resource for coaches, athletes, sports medicine professionals and sporting organizations, SIRC is a leading source for academic and medical sport research. Their flagship product, SIRC SportDiscus database, is considered to be the primary sport research tool in libraries worldwide.