Assoc. Prof. Andrew Townshend

I completed my doctoral thesis (PhD) at QUT in 2010, which examined how runners self-select speed when running over hills. In 2012 I joined ACU as a lecturer in the discipline of Exercise Science in the School of Behavioural and Health Sciences. From 2013-2017 I was course coordinator for the Bachelor of Exercise and Sports Science and in 2016 and 2017 led HEPP and TSAR (Taskforce for Student Attrition and Retention) funded projects investigating reasons for student attrition. I have been Head of Discipline (Exercise Science) 2020-current and during this time I have lead successful accreditations of the Bachelor of High Performance Sport and Bachelor of Psychological Science/Bachelor of Exercise and Sports Science as well as two projects supported by OADLTE on the Research-Teaching Nexus in FHS. I have supervised four PhD students and three Honours students to completion and am currently leading projects investigating aspects of successful endurance performance.

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles

Speranza MJA, Gabbett TJ, Greene, DA, Johnston, RD, Townshend AD. (2018). Relationship between 2 standardized tackling proficiency tests and rugby league match-play tackle performance. International Journal of Sports Physiology & Performance, 13 (6), 770-776.

Murray NB, Gabbett TJ & Townshend AD.(2018). The use of relative speed zones in Australian Football: Are we really measuring what we think we are? International Journal of Sports Physiology & Performance, 13 (4), 442-451.

Speranza MJA, Gabbett TJ, Greene, DA, Johnston, RD, Townshend AD, O'Farrell, B. (2018). An alternative test of tackling ability in rugby league players. International Journal of Sports Physiology & Performance, 13 (3), 347-352.

Speranza MJA, Gabbett TJ, Greene, DA, Johnston, RD, Townshend AD. (2017). Tackle characteristics and outcomes in match-play rugby league: the relationship with tackle ability and physical qualities. Science and  Medicine in Football, 1(3), 265-271.

Murray NB, Gabbett TJ, Townshend AD & Blanch P. (2017). Calculating acute: chronic workload ratios using exponentially weighted moving averages provides a more sensitive indicator of injury likelihood than rolling averages. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 51(9), 749-754.

Townshend AD, Franettovich Smith MM & Creaby MW.(2017). The energetic cost of gait retraining: A pilot study of the acute effect. Physical Therapy in Sport, 23, 113-117.

Murray NB, Gabbett TJ & Townshend AD.(2017). Relationship between pre-season training load and in-season availability in elite Australian Football players. International Journal of Sports Physiology & Performance, 12 (6), 749-755.

Murray NB, Gabbett TJ, Townshend AD, Hulin B & McLellan CP. (2017). Individual and combined effects of acute and chronic running loads on injury risk in elite Australian footballers. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, 27 (9), 990-998.

Stein JG, Gabbett TJ, Townshend AD & Dawson BT. (2015). Physical qualities and activity profiles of sub-elite and recreational Australian football players. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 18 (6), 742-7.

Stewart IB, Townshend AD, Rojek AM & Costello, JT. (2013). Bomb disposal in the tropics: A cocktail of metabolic and environmental heat. J. Ergonomics, S2:001.

Townshend AD, Worringham CJ & Stewart IB. (2010). Spontaneous pacing during overground hill running. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 42 (1), 160-9.

Townshend AD, Worringham CJ & Stewart IB. (2008). Assessment of speed and position during human locomotion using non-differential GPS. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 40 (1), 124-32.

Conference Publications

Townshend AD, Worringham CJ & Stewart IB (2010). The effects of an individualised pacing strategy on running performance over an undulating course. Proceedings of the 4^th Exercise and Sports Science Australia (ESSA) conference and the 6^th Sports Dietitian&rsquos Australia update. Gold Coast, Queensland, 9^th &ndash 11^th April.

Townshend A, Worringham C & Stewart I (2008). Speed regulation during hill running: A field study using GPS, ECG, accelerometry and a portable metabolic analyser. 13^th Annual Congress of the European College of Sports Science (ECSS). Estoril, Portugal, 9^th &ndash 12^th July.

Townshend AD, Worringham CJ & Stewart IB (2008). Assessment of speed and position during human locomotion using non-differential GPS. Proceedings of the 3^rd Australian Association for Exercise and Sport Science (AAESS) Conference and the 5^th Sports Dietitian&rsquos Australia Update: From Research to Practice. Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, 27^th &ndash 30^th March

Dr Townshend is interested in the following areas of research

• Investigation of pacing strategies in distance running and team sports
• Examining individual variation in response to interval training
• Evaluation of variations in parameters predicting performance in distance runners
• Field tests of aerobic capacity
• Analysis of factors influencing student attrition in ACU's B. Exercise and Sport Science

Research funding

HEPP T & L grant ($20,000)-2016- Investigating reasons for attrition in the Bachelor of Exercise and Sport Science to increase retention and student success.

TSAR T & L grant ($18,631)-2017- Increasing retention in the Bachelor of Exercise and Sport Science

• Exercise Physiology
• Endurance performance
• Exercise prescription for improvement of cardiovascular fitness