Category: Applied Physiology

In the recent Journal of Experimental Biology,  Simmons researchers from the Locomotor Performance Lab, present a new equation to better predict a runner’s speed.

Their findings have immediate application for running performance, injury prevention, rehab and the individualized design of running shoes, orthotics and prostheses.

Researchers include Peter Weyand, Glenn Simmons Professor of Applied Physiology and professor of biomechanics in the Department of Applied Physiology and Wellness; Larry Ryan, the lab’s research engineer and physicist; and Kenneth Clark, assistant professor at West Chester University in West Chester, Penn., and formerly with the lab. Read more coverage in the Huffington Post.

Professor Peter Weyand shared his knowledge to break down the biomechanics of XPogo demonstrations at the State Fair of Texas. In this did-you-know story, KERA reporter Courtney Collins gets to the science behind what the high-flying XPogo jumpers do. Read more here.

Weyand holds the school’s Glenn Simmons Endowed Professorship and directs the Locomotor Performance Laboratory.  He is a member of the Applied Physiology and Wellness faculty.

Professor Peter Weyand, director of the Locomotor Performance Lab at SMU Simmons, is part of the Sub2 Project, which is at work to break the two-hour marathon barrier. Weyand is internationally recognized as an expert in human speed. Read more about his SUB2 participation in the New York Times.

Simmons researcher Lindsay Ludlow and Professor Peter Weyand have determined that leading standards for measuring calories burned during walking are inaccurate, and they have calculated a more precise method of measurement.

Their study, Energy expenditure during level human walking: seeking a simple and accurate predictive solution is in the Journal of Applied Physiology, published in the March 1, 2016 issue, and available online at this link.  For more on their research, read here.

Peter Weyand, Ph.D., has been appointed Glenn Simmons Endowed Professor in Applied Physiology and Biomechanics by Dean David J. Chard.

Weyand, an internationally renown researcher in human running performance, teaches and directs SMU’s Locomotor Performance Laboratory. The professorship was endowed by the Simmons family in honor of Harold C. Simmons’ brother, Glenn, and Weyand’s appointment is for five years.

“I hope to be able to use the position to enhance the impact of our departmental and laboratory research and educational efforts,” Weyand says. “This will allow me to initiate a variety of strategic outreach efforts that would not be possible without it.”

Associate Professor Peter Weyand, member of Simmons’ Department of Applied Physiology and Wellness, received the 2013-14 Scholar/Teacher of the Year Award from the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of The United Methodist Church. Weyand, an internationally respected physiologist and biomechanist, was recognized by Provost Paul Ludden at the first general faculty meeting, Aug. 27. The prestigious award was been given to faculty since 1985.

Megan Murphy, clinical assistant professor in Applied Physiology, is featured in SMU’s Browsing Forward, a central libraries publication. In it, she explains how Fondren Library’s Touch Learning Center assists her students through technological methods to learn anatomy. Read story here.