The agreement will enable the university to provide the very best facilities for its teaching, research, student athletes and consultancy work with professional clubs.
The partnership will create unique opportunities for Master’s students to carry out research projects in collaboration with Perform Better using equipment at the Carnegie School of Sport’s new state-of-the-art strength and conditioning laboratory.
Results from the research will be used to help monitor specific performance metrics as well as further enhance and develop Perform Better’s product capabilities to assist performance coaches across the world in elite sport.
Perform Better has fully equipped the laboratory, which forms part of the £45m Carnegie School of Sport building, with 12 Olympic standard lifting platforms, two of which have embedded force plates, an agility space and access to the outdoor athletics track. The 4,100 sq ft facility will provide capacity for squads of athletes to train together, and the flexibility needed at this time for high performance training to be socially distanced.
Perform Better has a longstanding relationship with Carnegie School of Sport through the provision of other sport performance equipment. The new laboratory includes the latest in jump, reaction and sprint analysis systems and technologies.
Other equipment supplied includes eight Elite Power Racks, Eleiko discs and bars, dumbbells and benches, leg press, Run Rockets plus a range of strength and conditioning ancillary equipment.
Research in the laboratory will be carried out on the Optojump Modular system, the Microgate Witty SEM Reaction system, and the 1080 Sprint Analysis system amongst other technologies developed by the leading sports science and performance equipment business.
The ground-breaking agreement comes as the university prepares to open the doors of its new £45m state-of-the-art Carnegie School of Sport building at its Headingley Campus to students and staff from the beginning of the new academic year.
The new Strength and Conditioning Laboratory in the Carnegie building is one of Perform Better’s Regional hubs alongside Welsh Rugby Union National Performance Centre- Cardiff, St George’s Park National Football Centre- Burton-on-Trent, Oriam Scottish National Performance Centre- Edinburgh, Mercedes AMG Performance Centre- Brackley, Manchester Institute of Health and Performance, the new Leicester City FC Training Ground and Arsenal FC Training Ground.
Alastair Yule, Director of Perform Better, said: “We are extremely proud to be entering into this partnership with Leeds Beckett University, which is renowned for being one of the leading sporting research institutions in the UK.
“As an alumni of the Carnegie School of Sport myself I am fully aware of the high regard that the university and its facilities are held in and we are excited about the opportunities this partnership will bring.”
Peter Mackreth, Dean of the Carnegie School of Sport, added: “Our strength and conditioning laboratory, featuring state-of-the-art equipment provided through this partnership with Perform Better, provides an ideal environment for advanced training of students, professional sports people, research, and the development of future coaches and conditioners.
“This important partnership will enable a number of our Master’s students to undertake important research programmes in the laboratory strengthening the links between our research and industry. We are especially pleased that through the partnership, we are welcoming back to campus alumni Alastair Yule, who through his work has contributed to the strength of sport in the UK.”
The Carnegie School of Sport teaching and research building will be a base for undergraduate, postgraduate and research programmes and will provide a hub for the elite athletes who use the university’s sports performance expertise.
Wider facilities at the new Carnegie School of Sport building include two world class environmental chambers, an indoor 60m athletics track, collaborative lecture theatres, changing and recovery facilities, a café, and a number of networking spaces for students, staff and visitors that will foster inter-disciplinary collaboration and knowledge sharing.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter