EDUCATION
Luke Duffield ’26, a student in Pat Casey’s Exercise Physiology class, undergoes a VO2 Max test at Plymouth State University’s Human Performance Center.
Exercise Physiology | SCI 402 W
ant to learn how to run faster? Jump higher? Get stronger? We’ve got a class for that. “I love how motivated the students are to learn,” says Pat Casey, who teaches an Exercise Physiology course each fall. “Clearly they’re hanging on to what you’re talking about because they’re personally invested in it.” That personal investment is a key draw for the class, a semester-long exploration of the body’s energy systems and their role in athletic performance. Students begin by learning the basics of muscle anatomy and physiology and the different energy pathways that power those muscles. They then learn how different training modalities—from
29 | Holderness School Today
intervals to strength training to rest and recovery—affect performance. In many cases, the students become their own test subjects, hopping on treadmills and exercise bikes to study lactate threshold, VO2 Max, and other fundamentals of exercise science. For the students, it’s a once-ina-lifetime opportunity to learn from the best. Before he became a science teacher and the school’s head Nordic skiing coach, Casey spent four years as a coach on the U.S. Ski Team. As a coach, Casey—who earned his degree in exercise and sports science from the University of Utah—worked as a liaison between the country’s top Nordic athletes and the team’s physiologist. With his science background, he was
the perfect person to help carry out—and explain—the exhaustive physiological testing that all of his athletes underwent each year. In a way, he’s doing much the same thing with his Exercise Physiology class at Holderness. His goal is to educate his students to the point where they can advocate for their own physiological needs in college and beyond. “Once they get the training principles, I’ve really accomplished one of my goals—which is that they can leave this class and go talk to any trainer or coach or physio or PT and have a language that’s common with those people,” Casey says. •