Grove City College’s Exercise Science Department is a research juggernaut, pushing the envelope of knowledge in nutrition, exercise metabolism, human performance, and cardiometabolic health with nearly a dozen publications in just the last year.
The department’s body of work examining the impact of diet on athletic performance is gaining international recognition and interest beyond academia.
Much of that recognition has been driven by two recent papers: an American Journal of Physiology-Cell Physiology study that earned the American Physiological Society’s Best Impact Paper Award, and an Endocrine Reviews article that synthesized more than 100 years of research across more than 160 studies on carbohydrate ingestion, exercise metabolism, and physical performance. That publication generated major international media and social media attention, with an estimated global reach approaching half a billion.
“The paper’s reach highlights the novelty and significance of the work we do here at Grove City College and shows it is resonating not only with researchers, but also with the broader public, coaches, and health and fitness professionals,” said Dr. Philip Prins, department chair and co-author of many publications.
Part of the novelty of the work is that it often re-examines long-standing assumptions in sports nutrition, particularly on the effects of high- and low-carbohydrate diets on performance and endurance. “That is certainly part of the story, but I would frame the work more as mechanism-driven research that re-examines prevailing ideas,” Prins said.
“We’re studying how the body regulates blood sugar, insulin, blood lipids, blood pressure, and fuel use in response to nutrition, supplementation, and exercise,” he said.
Many of the studies have been strengthened by collaborations with internationally recognized researchers in the field, including Tim Noakes, Andrew Koutnik, Jeff Volek, Dominic D’Agostino, and Alex Buga.
The work that has garnered the most attention takes on a longstanding assumption that peak athletic performance is best fueled by a high-carb diet. The most recent findings indicate that low-carb diets do not impair endurance performance and suggest that maintaining blood glucose may be more important for performance than maximizing carbohydrate intake.
“Those findings speak directly to current debates in the health and fitness industry about fueling strategies, carbohydrate dosing, and performance,” Prins said.
Research within the department is helping shape discussion in the health and fitness industry, particularly in sports nutrition, endurance performance, and metabolic health. “It is shaping the scientific debate, reaching large public audiences, and influencing how athletes, coaches, and practitioners think about fueling, performance, and metabolic health,” Prins said.
In addition to the Prins-led research, which has made up the bulk of recent publications, Exercise Science Department faculty explore a diverse range of research questions, including ketogenic supplements, the effects of exercise on brain activity, environmental stressors on exercise performance, occupational performance in extreme conditions, and general human and sport performance.
Faculty members take the lead in the research, but students are a critical part of the process, Prins said. “None of this work would be possible without a large group of undergraduate students, most of them in Exercise Science, who help carry out these studies,” he said.
Their work often earns them co-authorship alongside their faculty mentors and collaborators at other institutions. That is a critical credential for students who want to pursue graduate education in the field, but Prins said the hands-on experience they gain by being actively involved in the research process, especially data collection and study execution, is just as important.
Associate Professor of Exercise Science Jeffrey Buxton published a pair of papers last year on palm cooling. The data indicated the recovery technique involving cooling the palms between efforts could improve repeat high-intensity performance in female athletes and may serve as a perceptual aid during high-load resistance exercise.
Buxton, who has also done work in quadrupedal movement training, said some of the department’s research explores novel questions. That work continues to gain recognition for its originality, rigor, and real-world impact.
“Across our body of work,” Prins said of the department’s research, “we have not simply added to the academic literature, we have helped challenge some of the field’s most established assumptions and push the conversation toward more evidence-based, individualized recommendations.”
Grove City College’s principled stand against accepting any federal funding extends to the grants that many colleges and universities rely on to conduct scientific research. The Exercise Science Department’s work is supported by the College’s Swezey Fund for Scientific Research and Instrumentation, industry partners, and private contributors. To support research at Grove City College, visit gcc.edu/give.
For more about Exercise Science at Grove City College, visit gcc.edu/exer.