Thomas Balshaw graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Exercise Science from the University of Cumbria (2006-09) before pursuing a Neuromuscular Physiology-focused PhD (2009-13) at the University of Stirling. He was appointed as a Post-doctoral Research Associate at Loughborough University in 2014 and worked on numerous research projects supported by charity and industry funding prior to accepting his current lectureship role at Loughborough University (2021).
Thomas’s research aims to examine the efficacy of novel resistance training-based interventions, and investigate the underpinning nervous system, skeletal musculature, and tendinous tissue adaptations following such interventions for the purposes of enhancing function, informing exercise prescription/rehabilitation practices, and injury prevention.
Thomas is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy, affiliate member of the Physiological Society and reviewer for several international scientific journals including: Medicine & Science in Sport & Exercise, Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, European Journal of Applied Physiology, and International Journal of Sports Medicine.
Featured publications
- Balshaw, T. G., Maden-Wilkinson, T. M., Massey, G. J., & Folland, J. P. (2021). The Human Muscle Size and Strength Relationship: Effects of Architecture, Muscle Force, and Measurement Location. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, Online ahead of print. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000002691.
- Balshaw, T. G., Massey, G. J., Maden‐Wilkinson, T. M., Lanza, M. B., & Folland, J. P. (2019). Neural adaptations after 4 years vs 12 weeks of resistance training vs untrained. Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports, 29(3), 348-359.
- Balshaw, T. G., Fry, A., Maden-Wilkinson, T. M., Kong, P. W., & Folland, J. P. (2017). Reliability of quadriceps surface electromyography measurements is improved by two vs. single site recordings. European journal of applied physiology, 117(6), 1085.
- Balshaw, T. G., Massey, G. J., Maden-Wilkinson, T. M., Morales-Artacho, A. J., McKeown, A., Appleby, C. L., & Folland, J. P. (2017). Changes in agonist neural drive, hypertrophy and pre-training strength all contribute to the individual strength gains after resistance training. European journal of applied physiology, 117(4), 631-640.
- Balshaw, T. G., Massey, G. J., Maden-Wilkinson, T. M., Tillin, N. A., & Folland, J. P. (2016). Training-specific functional, neural, and hypertrophic adaptations to explosive-vs. sustained-contraction strength training. Journal of Applied Physiology, 120(11), 1364-1373.
- Škarabot, J., Balshaw, T. G., Maeo, S., Massey, G. J., Lanza, M. B., Maden-Wilkinson, T. M., & Folland, J. P. (2021). Neural adaptations to long-term resistance training: evidence for the confounding effect of muscle size on the interpretation of surface electromyography. Journal of Applied Physiology. Online ahead of print. doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00094.2021.
- Maeo, S., Balshaw, T. G., Lanza, M. B., Hannah, R., & Folland, J. P. (2021). Corticospinal excitability and motor representation after long‐term resistance training. European Journal of Neuroscience. Online ahead of print. doi: 10.1111/ejn.15197.
- Miller, R., Balshaw, T. G., Massey, G. J., Maeo, S., Lanza, M. B., Johnston, M., Allen, S & Folland, J. P. (2021). The Muscle Morphology of Elite Sprint Running. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 53(4):804-815.
- Maden-Wilkinson, T. M., Balshaw, T. G., Massey, G. J., & Folland, J. P. (2020). What makes long-term resistance-trained individuals so strong? A comparison of skeletal muscle morphology, architecture, and joint mechanics. Journal of Applied Physiology, 128(4), 1000-1011.