BNU’s Human Performance Lab features in new Channel 4 health programme

Buckinghamshire New University’s Human Performance Lab has been praised for helping volunteers achieve a “remarkable health turnaround” in a new Channel 4 programme called 21 Day Body Turnaround with Michael Mosley.

The state-of-the-art lab appears throughout the three-part series starting at 9pm on Thursday 27 May as BNU honorary Dr Michael Mosley, a journalist and doctor, asks five volunteers to put their lives in his hands as he attempts to turn their health around in just 21 days.

Initial lab testing of the volunteers reveals they are all likely to be at risk from debilitating conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, chronic inflammation and stress. Most have the aerobic fitness age of someone at least 20 years older. After following Mosley’s exercise and diet regime for 21 days, the tests are repeated with the show revealing how each volunteer benefitted.

Mosley, the show’s presenter, hailed the involvement of the University, from which he received an honorary doctorate in 2015 for recognition of his strong stance on public understanding of science and his media background.

“There’s been a lot of focus on weight gain during the months we’ve all spent at home, but our fitness levels have also suffered. While exercise alone is unlikely to lead to weight loss, one of the key findings from this new series is that you can overhaul your fitness levels in a remarkably short time by following a healthy, low-calorie, intermittent fasting diet, combined with an exercise regime based on high intensity interval training (HIIT).

“The health turnaround the volunteers achieved in just three weeks was remarkable and key to their success were the tests we did at Buckinghamshire New University, where I was delighted to receive an honorary doctorate a few years ago. My volunteers found doing the tests very motivating and were impressed by the expertise of the staff.”

The Human Performance Lab specialises in human physiology, biomechanics and psychology. It plays an important role in assisting and facilitating student learning on a range of sports science academic courses, while also being available to athletes and teams who wish to improve their training and performance with advice from the university’s experienced consultants.

BNU alumni who have used the lab for their studies have gone on to successful careers in sports analysis and coaching at Premier League football clubs and in other sports, while the lab’s sports science consultants currently provide support to Reading FC Women and athletes looking to qualify for this summer’s Tokyo Paralympics.

Dr Mark Homer, Senior Lecturer in Exercise Physiology, said: “We were delighted to host Michael and the show’s participants as they began and ended their brief intervention. It was a great opportunity to showcase what we are capable of in the Human Performance Laboratory and an interesting change from our work with competitive athletes.

“We were able to deliver a range of metrics that helped assess the participants health and fitness – many of which we teach on our undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Apart from opportunities like this, the lab gives us the chance to provide commercial experiences for students in a competitive field.”

Please click here for further information on the Human Performance Lab, including taster sessions for schools and bespoke programmes for sports clubs at all levels. For any filming enquiries across the BNU campuses, please contact commercial.events@bucks.ac.uk