Human Performance Lab
The Human Performance Lab (HPL) at Elizabethtown College, in partnership with Orthopedic Associates of Lancaster (OAL), LTD, is a premier facility that specializes in health, fitness and performance testing and training.
We offer services for:
- Athletes
- Students
- The Community
Whether you’re an athlete striving for peak performance, or an individual looking to improve your overall health and fitness, we provide valuable insights that help you reach your goals.
Book a Service Contact US
The Human Performance Lab
Bowers Center for Sports, Fitness & Well-Being
Room 223B
Contact: french@etown.edu | 717-361-1717
Services Offered
The HPL offers a comprehensive range of services designed to assess and support human performance and wellness. From endurance and metabolic testing to movement analysis, strength evaluation, and personalized training consultations, we provide tools to help individuals better understand their fitness, health, and physical capabilities.
Endurance & Fitness Assessments:
These assessments evaluate your cardiovascular capacity, endurance, and overall health and fitness.
- VO2max — Find out your cardiovascular capacity (VO2 max), the #1 predictor of long-term health, lifespan and endurance performance.
- Lactate / Ventilatory Thresholds — Determine your endurance training zones (by heart rate, wattage, pace, etc.) to train smarter, not harder, and reach your goals faster.
- Cycling Specific Tests — Functional Threshold Power Test and other tests upon request.
Metabolic & Body Composition Assessments:
Learn your own unique metabolic rate and body composition. By combining the information obtained from metabolic and body composition assessments, you’ll gain the knowledge needed to develop effective strategies for weight management, nutrition planning, and optimized health and fitness.
- Resting and Exercise Metabolic Rate — Learn how many calories your body burns at rest and during exercise, so you can plan your diet and exercise for optimal fat loss, muscle gain, etc.
- Body Composition — Our medical-grade scanner will measure your body fat percentage, muscle mass and balance, total body and visceral fat, and intracellular and extracellular water. This data helps determine what the optimal body composition and weight is for you. It also provides valuable insights into your metabolism, hydration, and recovery / overtraining.
Movement, Strength & Power Assessments:
Our state-of-the-art camera and force platform systems evaluate the movement patterns that are essential for performance in your sport, as well as for regular activities of daily living (squatting, balancing, jumping, throwing, etc.). By identifying strengths and weaknesses in your flexibility, balance, posture, agility, power and strength, tailored training programs can be designed to improve performance and healthy movement.
- Running / Walking Gait Analysis — Identify how to improve your gait for performance and/or reducing pain.
- General Movement Screen — Assess your performance, injury risk, and recovery with a series of movements testing your total-body flexibility, balance, strength and agility.
- Power and Explosiveness — Test your lower- and upper-body power with vertical jump, power push-up, and other tests using our force platforms.
- Strength — Estimate your 1-rep max on critical strength exercises, or use our force plates to test your maximal isometric lower-body and upper-body strength.
Consultation & Training:
Work with us on a regular basis, in-person or virtually. We’ll help you use your assessment data to reach your health, fitness and athletic goals. We’re happy to work with you one-on-one, or in a group setting, in-person or virtually.
- Consultation — We can help you make sense of new health or performance data, work through changes to your training or nutrition programs, or simply provide moral support as you work toward your goal.
- Training — Let us walk you through your strength, power and cardiovascular training. We will make sure you get the maximum result from each workout.
- Group Presentations — Want to learn more about how proper training, diet and regular testing can improve health and longevity, fitness and performance? We have decades of experience presenting to large and small groups in a variety of settings.
Meet the Director
Joel French
Director of the Human Performance Lab
Dr. French received a Ph.D. in Applied Physiology from the University of Florida with post-doctoral training at University of MN, Department of Cardiology. He also holds an M.S. in Exercise Physiology from St. Cloud State University, MN, and B.S. degrees in Exercise Science and Psychology from the University of Sioux Falls, SD. Dr. French has worked in the medical, health and fitness industries for 25 years as a professor, researcher, director and practitioner for organizations such as Mayo Clinic, the U.S. Olympic Committee, United Health Group, Universities of Florida, Minnesota and Colorado, Orangetheory Fitness, and others.