MANX National Heritage is holding two sports science workshops on Saturday at the Manx Museum in Douglas – and those taking part will get the chance to try out training equipment being used by Olympians.
The event is part of the museum’s ongoing Our Sporting Life exhibition and series of events.
By Design is an education company with sports and Olympic expertise and has been invited to run the two workshops to allow the public the chance to learn about the physics of sport in an interactive way – looking at balance, forces, inertia, sound, energy and friction all in the context of different sports
During the two-hour sessions A-level and GCSE students of PE or science, or those hoping to study sport science at university, can take part in practical experiments to illustrate exercise theory and compete in an indoor rowing race.
There will also be state of the art sports equipment used by Olympians in the ‘Olympic training zone’ on hand to test, including watt bikes, photoelectric sprint timing cells, batak reaction boards and an inflatable speed cage all brought to the island with the By Design instructors.
The exhibition’s curator, Katie King, commented: ‘I am so excited that By Design has agreed to visit the Isle of Man to stage one of their innovative and much talked about “Ultimate Sport Science” events.
‘The equipment they are bringing with them is being used to train athletes for London 2012, and it is amazing that we in the island will be able to try it out.’
Katie added: ‘ I am also really looking forward to learning more about the science of sport – to discover how [Mark] Cavendish’s powerful fast twitch muscles give him the edge over his competitors and enable him to power down to victory, making him the fastest man on two wheels.
‘It is set to be a fantastic, fun and energetic event.’
All Team GB’s top Olympians will be training on the type of equipment being brought to the Isle of Man.
By Design will also be running a number of school workshops on Thursday and Friday at the Museum, so a whole host of the island’s youngsters will get a chance to tap into their expertise.
The main event, Ultimate Sports Science, is on Saturday at the museum at 10am until midday and 1pm until 3pm, for all ages.
Tickets are £5 per student/child, £7.50 per adult and £20 family, available from the Manx Museum Shop.