Brendan Pinto (BSc '15, Kinesiology) first took up swimming to improve his fitness, but enjoyment and skill in the sport led him to take it up competitively.
But in 2011, the summer before starting his undergraduate studies at Waterloo, he suffered a leg injury while cross training that resulted in nearly a year of recovery.
"Not being able to swim for the first time had a huge impact on me psychologically, socially and physically," Pinto says. "A year is a long time to keep having symptoms without any clear idea of whether I'm getting better or not."
The injury left bruising throughout his leg and left him wondering if he'd have the injury for life.
Pushing on despite the challenges, he recognized the importance of avoiding injuries and focused on learning about effective tools to help prevent and rehabilitate injuries through courses in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences (KHS). He also volunteered his time participating in studies conducted in KHS, which provided him with valuable exposure to the world of research. As he recovered, he went on to work as a personal trainer and strength and conditioning coach on campus and in the Waterloo community.
"These experiences helped me recognize how much more we need to know about the human body, how it functions and how it adapts so that we can create more effective interventions" Pinto says. "Even with my injury, there were so many different perspectives on why it happened, and the truth is, I don't know. There's just so much about the body that we don't know."
How the brain responds
Inspired by his professors during his undergraduate studies and the impact they made with their research, Pinto pursued his PhD under the supervision of Dr. Jack Callaghan.
"Jack is a world-renowned researcher and has created a great learning environment," Pinto shares. "He was very supportive in letting me pursue my interests and provbided excellent guidance and mentorship throughout my journey."
Pinto joins 267 other Faculty of Health graduates at the University of Waterloo's 129th convocation this fall, where he will receive his PhD in Kinesiology with a specialization in Biomechanics.
Pinto shares that when it comes to coaching movement to avoid injury or reduce strain on muscle tissue, there is a noticeable gap in the research. Recognizing that researchers and professionals didn't really know how changing someone's back posture - to avoid injury - could influence their ability to exert force, led Pinto to choose his thesis topic on movement assessment and intervention.
His PhD research investigated how coaching posture and trunk muscle coordination could influence lifting strength. He uses his findings to inform recommendations for injury, pain and performance.
"Some research came out that suggested, in order to increase your lifting strength, you have to pick postures that would increase your risk of injury," Pinto shares. "That seemed really weird, which drove me to take a closer look and collect the data to make clearer inferences."
Moving to Florida
Pinto has begun a postdoctoral appointment with Dr. Daniel Ferris at the University of Florida, persuaded by the opportunity to learn innovative brain imaging techniques.
He explains that there's a middle zone between instructing an individual's movement and them carrying out the instruction. The person has to perceive what is said and then apply it to their own perception of their bodies and what they are capable of.
"I've noticed that a person's perception is a huge component to the motor behaviour of the mechanics they exhibit," Pinto says. "There's a lot to be learned about how we can modify the way the human body controls movement."
He adds, "Dr. Ferris is a pioneer in mobile brain imaging, using electroencephalography (EEG) to capture the brain activity as someone is moving, which I think could be a great tool to further understand how people perceive and control their own movements."
The goal of changing the way someone moves is, of course, to help reduce injury risk and improve physical performance.
"To enhance performance and injury resilience, people may need training to become more capable of adjusting the way that they move," Pinto says. "Learning more about how the sensorimotor system functions and adapts can help develop the strategies to prevent many injuries."
