Post-graduate Researcher

Department: Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation

Mehdi is based at the English Institute of Sport working with British Cycling as a PhD student. His research focus is the neuromuscular determinants of maximal power in elite sprint cyclists. Prior to starting his PhD, Mehdi gained his undergraduate degree in Biomedical Science at the University of Manchester and his Master’s in Physiology at King’s College, London. Mehdi has carried out research positions in Brazil, the Peruvian Andes and Germany, where he worked at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne.

Qualifications

MSc
BSc (hons)

Overview of Doctoral Research

Physiological determinants of peak power output in sprint cycling

There is a good understanding of determinants that influence performance in cycling such as air resistance, body mass and the positioning of the rider. Physiologists and biomechanists at the English Institute of Sport have been capturing high-resolution force-velocity and power data from a range of elite track cyclists that span a multitude of different training stimuli and performance for many years. One key physiological marker in track sprint cycling is peak power output (PPO). However, the specific physiological determinants that relate to PPO are not well understood and have only been limited to anthropometric studies, which have had conflicting results. Elite athletes typically experience a range of training stimuli, intuitively causing different adaptations to skeletal muscle depending on the different stimuli. It would therefore be interesting to investigate what are the underlying physiological adaptations during certain phases of strength and power training and how these stimuli affect the muscle architecture, neuromuscular system and more importantly, performance.

Publications/Outputs

Simpson, L. P., & Kordi, M. (2016). Comparison of Critical Power and W′ Derived from Two or Three Maximal Tests. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 1-24.

Kordi, M., Belavý, D. L., Armbrecht, G., Sheikh, A., Felsenberg, D., & Trudel, G. (2015). Loss and re-adaptation of lumbar intervertebral disc water signal intensity after prolonged bedrest. Journal of musculoskeletal and neuronal interactions, 15(3), 294-300.

Puthucheary, Z., Kordi, M., Rawal, J., Eleftheriou, K. I., Payne, J., & Montgomery, H. E. (2015). The relationship between lower limb bone and muscle in military recruits, response to physical training, and influence of smoking status. Scientific reports, 5.

Kordi, M., Beck, A., Damann, V., Godard, B., Kluge, G., Pruett, C., & Evetts, S. (2013). Fitness, Blood, and Urine Measurements from the 2009 European Astronaut Selection Medical Examination. Aviation, space, and environmental medicine, 84(12), 1286-1290.

Kordi, M., Kluge, N., Kloeckner, M., & Russomano, T. (2012). Gender influence on the performance of chest compressions in simulated hypogravity and microgravity. Aviation, space, and environmental medicine, 83(7), 643-648.

Kordi, M., Cardoso, R. B., & Russomano, T. (2011). A preliminary comparison between methods of performing external chest compressions during microgravity simulation. Aviation, space, and environmental medicine, 82(12), 1161-1163.