Matthew Weston

Dr Matthew Weston is a Reader in Exercise Science at Teesside University and an accredited Sport and Exercise Scientist with the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences.

Matthew has published extensively in the area of applied sports science, with particular emphasis on the analysis and interpretation of the physical demands of team sports, laboratory- and field-based fitness testing and most recently the programming, monitoring and evaluation exercise to improve sports performance and enhance aspects of health.

Matthew has almost 20 years’ experience of providing sports science support to a range of elite and sub-elite athletes, having worked with sports such as soccer (referees and players), table tennis, kayaking, waterskiing, running, short-track speed skating, rowing, cycling and powerlifting. Highlights of Matthew’s applied work include being the referees’ sports scientist at the 2006 FIFA Football World Cup and leading an interdisciplinary team working on the physical preparation of all football referees involved in the English professional game.

Matthew is an Associate Editor for the Sports Performance section of the Journal of Sports Sciences and a regular reviewer for many of the leading international Sports Science and Medicine journals.

Dr Weston’s research to date has focused on the application of sports science to intermittent sporting activities, and particularly the match and fitness performances of elite soccer referees. More recently, his research themes have moved away from soccer refereeing to research examining wider aspects of sports performance, the benefits of High-Intensity Interval Training (HIT) on health and fitness, and occupational fitness testing. He is the lead investigator on a North-East Ambulance Service funded project focusing on the design and validation of a physical employment fitness test for paramedics. Matthew was also a co-applicant on a multi-centre research team who were awarded a substantial grant by the NIHR Research for Patient Benefit Programme. The research project examined the feasibility of exercising high-risk patients prior to surgical intervention.

Dr Weston is the director of studies for the following PhD programmes: multi-component fitness training in older adults using a novel double-concentric exercise training system (Christopher Hurst); repeated-sprint training in team-sports (Jonathan Taylor); preparation, performance, and recovery of elite US soccer referees (Matthew Hawkey); using differential ratings of perceived exertion to monitor training loads (Shaun McLaren); development and validation of an athlete readiness questionnaire (Francisco Songane).