Professor to address prestigious international conference in USA

Professor Paul Comfort from the University of Salford is to present a lecture at the upcoming National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) National Conference. This is the largest international conference on strength and conditioning in the world, with the NSCA being the world’s leading authority on the subject. 

Strength and conditioning is the practical application of sports science to improve performance. Paul is the Programme Leader for MSc Strength and Conditioning at the university.

He has been chosen to present the Michael H. Stone Sport Science Lecture, one of the NSCA’s premier lectures. The individual honoured with presenting this talk is selected by Professor Stone and the NSCA research committee. Professor Stone is a previous President of the NSCA and has been working with athletes and publishing research in the field for over 40 years.

Paul said: “It is a true honour and privilege to have Professor Stone recognise my research and impact in the field of sport science and strength and conditioning as suitable to qualify me to present the Michael H. Stone lecture at the 2023 National Conference.

“In honour of Professor Stone’s extensive work on the role of strength on athletic performance, my lecture is entitled ‘Strength: The Foundation of Performance’ and will explore the role of maximum and rapid force production capacity on performance, while discussing the methods used to evaluate force production characteristics to identify the athlete’s training priorities.

“I have been attending this conference since 2013, presenting numerous abstracts with other staff members and students. I’ve also had the pleasure of representing the United Kingdom Strength and Conditioning Association at the NSCA National Conference in 2017, being invited by the NSCA research committee to present on isometric strength testing in 2019 and finally co-presenting with PhD student (now colleague) Dr Nick Ripley in 2021. This year I will also be assisting my colleague Dr John McMahon present a preconference workshop on the use of force plates for jump testing and isometric testing to evaluate athletic performance and training priorities.”

Paul has also previously been recognised with three awards from the NSCA: 

• 2021 National Strength and Conditioning Association – Educator of the Year
• 2020 Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, Editorial Excellence Award, NSCA
• 2019 Strength and Conditioning Journal, Editorial Excellence Award, NSCA

Paul’s colleague Dr John McMahon has also been nominated for the 2023 National Strength and Conditioning Association – Educator of the Year award. The winner is due to be announced in June.