Q&A with Professor John Cronin of AUT

ATH/AUT Blog

<John Cronin Video>

After the exciting announcement of Athlete Training and Health’s partnership with Auckland University of Technology (AUT) earlier this year, we wanted to check in with Professor John Cronin. We were curious to hear about his take on our partnership, the future of the ATH/AUT relationship and where he sees sports science research headed. Read on to see more!

What makes you the most excited about the partnership between ATH & AUT?

First and foremost is partnering with good people with a similar vision. ATH’s vision and aspirations, particularly around producing great coaches, align perfectly with AUT’s mantra of producing great graduates. There is a natural alignment between both organisations that will impact meaningfully in the Strength and Conditioning industry. 

ATH’s projected growth and the challenge of ensuring we have a pipeline of great practitioners and researchers to fill that are also exciting. 

What made you choose ATH as a partner?

There’s a huge demand of North Americans wanting to study with us in New Zealand. I had discussions with Micheál Cahill, ATH VP of Performance and Sports Science, and shared AUT’s vision of partnering with a number of universities in the US to deliver our PhD there. Micheál, to his credit, saw a different way of doing things and the rest is history. We are in constant communication and I think in every sense it is a true partnership as we are always looking out for each other’s best interests and evolving together. 

Learn more here about our Performance Coach Internship and Mentorship program developed with AUT.

What is your favorite area of research?

I have been researching how to improve human movement for many years; running faster, jumping further etc., but five years ago I met a chap in Malaysia who had invented wearable resistance suits (compressive garments to which you attach light weights) called Lila Movement Technology.

Since then I’ve been fascinated with the technology and its applications, and even after five years of focused research, I know we are only skimming the surface of its potential utility. We are just starting to get sport-specific wearable resistance research underway world-wide, which is very exciting. It’s a gamechanger and I feel very fortunate to be at the forefront of researching this technology.

What do you see as the biggest research opportunity in sports performance?

I believe we shouldn’t over complicate things and you need to get the big boulders in place in teams/organisations before research will make a difference. If we concentrate too much on the one percent, without ensuring that the 95% required to make great athletes and teams are in place, we’re likely to set ourselves up to be less than the best.

How does the U.S. compare to the rest of the world in sports performance training? Are there any key differences and or trends between the U.S. and other areas of the world in sports performance?

I can’t really comment about US practice as no doubt there will be some of the same old and elsewhere, you’ll find innovative cutting-edge practice being. However, I would say there is a lot more sport science being implemented throughout the USA sport system as compared to a decade ago. There used to be a philosophy that the “cream would rise to the top no matter what we do, because we have so much talent.” However, I think this has changed and most likely gone to the other extreme where teams are getting constantly bombarded with sport science, the latest widget and training systems, etc. The challenge now is to filter the noise and find the right people to apply the science and provide easily digestible information to drive improved performance and success.

What would you like to see come from ATH on a research-level from our performance coaches?

I believe all coaches should be asking how to drive better performance whether it’s in return to play, better recovery, improved sleep, making athletes faster, increasing motivation and adherence or anything else.

If we are asking those questions, we need to find those answers in a systematic manner.  Then we need to share this information with our colleagues. This is the research process. I would like ATH performance coaches to have the most enquiring of minds, hungry to find better ways of doing things in an evidence-based manner, and thereafter meet regularly to share and critique findings. If the organisation has such a mindset with each coach responsible for raising the bar and challenging each other to be better, then everything else will take care of itself; better trainers–and therefore better client/athlete outcomes.

To learn more about the programs developed with AUT, download our Internship/Mentorship brochure. Visit our Careers page if you’re interested in joining our team!

About Professor John Cronin, Professor, Strength and Conditioning, Head of International Partnerships at AUT:

John has research interests in human movement/ sport performance research particularly around the strengthening of muscle, these themes span high performance sport to long-term athlete development. He has additional interest around sport technology research. John has published over 300 peer-reviewed papers as well three book chapters; 60 invited or keynote presentations at national and international conferences/symposia and over 100 national or international conference presentations. He has supervised 18 PHD and 25 Masters students to completion. John is currently supervising 22 postgraduate students (20 PhD, 2 Masters).

About AUT: The Sports Performance Research Institute New Zealand (SPRINZ) is New Zealand’s number one rated sports research institute with a growing global reputation. SPRINZ is a group of dynamic and innovative researchers producing applied research in improving human health, sports performance and long-term athletic development. Each research group collectively contributes to the ever-expanding research, education and industry engagement offering a collaborative approach to improved performance for the sport and recreation sector.