Creating the practitioners and researchers of tomorrow

Tyson Beach is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education at the University of Toronto where he also holds an appointment in the Graduate Department of Exercise Sciences.

In addition to his teaching and mentoring roles, Tyson directs the research conducted in the Musculoskeletal Biomechanics and Injury Prevention Laboratory. An overarching aim of his research program is to devise tools and techniques to enhance and maintain the capacity of the musculoskeletal system to withstand physical demands of work and sport.

Tyson’s doctoral thesis was completed under the supervision of Dr. Jack Callaghan in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Waterloo. Together with Drs. Stuart McGill and David Frost, they were awarded several grants by the Centre of Research Expertise for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders (CRE-MSD) to tackle the “strains and sprains” problem in the fire service. Using state-of-the-art measurement tools, techniques, and analyses, they demonstrated that there are characteristics of firefighters that may pre-dispose them to musculoskeletal injuries, and a number of these characteristics can be modified using exercise-based interventions designed to alter the habitual patterns of movement coordination and control. Given that many aspects of firefighters’ work cannot be modified based on job (re-) design principles, the research conducted by Drs. Beach, Frost, McGill, and Callaghan has received the attention of fire departments across North America. In fact, their findings are now being used directly to re-develop the Peer Fitness Trainer Education and Certification Programs originally created by the International Association of Fire Fighters, International Association of Fire Chiefs, and American Council of Exercise. Their approach draws on principles and practices of behaviour modification, work physiology, biomechanics, and motor learning and control to engage, inspire, and motivate firefighters to use exercise as a tool to enhance and maintain their health, fitness, and performance.

At the University of Toronto, Tyson and his graduate students are building on his thesis work, again with the support of CRE-MSD. They have received funding to develop pen-and-paper tools that are usable by fire service personnel to identify musculoskeletal disorder hazards in the workplace. The aim is to use this tool in a future Workplace Safety and Insurance Board Solutions for Workplace Change grant application for the purposes of documenting potentially injurious exercise and training practices in firefighters. Like military service members, firefighters have been shown to suffer numerous musculoskeletal injuries during physical conditioning programs. It is hypothesized that the number and severity of such injuries can be controlled through the application of ergonomic principles.

As evidenced above, CRE-MSD not only provides a mechanism to connect researchers with stakeholders to address the burden of musculoskeletal disorders in the workplace, but the support offered by CRE-MSD helps to establish new research programs and opportunities for training graduate students. With this support, Tyson, his students, and collaborators will continue to focus on developing sustainable exercise-based performance enhancement and injury prevention strategies for individuals who engage in non-modifiable, unpredictable, and physically demanding activities (e.g. athletes, firefighters, police officers, and military service personnel).