Justin Keogh

Associate Professor Justin Keogh originally trained as an exercise and sports scientist with a strong research and translation interest in the benefits of exercise, particularly resistance training in improving muscular function and athletic performance. This research has focused on power sports such as powerlifting, rugby, sprinting, golf and more recently strongman.

His clinical research is focused on quantifying the treatment- and sarcopenic-related side-effects in cancer survivors and older adults, respectively and in using exercise and nutritional interventions to improve their outcomes. Since 2008, he has led projects examining the barriers, facilitators and motives that cancer survivors and older adults have in performing physical activity. Such research has involved quantitative and qualitative components.

His research achievements in the area of geriatric exercise prescription and sports biomechanics/strength and conditioning have been acknowledged by Fellowships with the Australian Association of Gerontology and the International Society of Biomechanics in Sport.

He currently supervises 8 PhD and 1 Masters of Research students, across a variety of sports including AFL, BMX, swimming and strongman as well as the potential applications of kettlebell training for older adult health and well-being. He is currently on the editorial board for a number of journals including Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, Journal of Sport Science and Medicine as well as Sports Biomechanics. Justin retains a lifelong passion for competitive sport, especially the football and strength sport codes.

He is a former national champion in powerlifting and strongman. His favourite strongman events were the truck pull and farmers walk, with his personal best farmers walk of 150 kg per hand for 20m, still a national record in the under 90 kg class (held in conjunction with Darren Lang).

After retiring from strongman in 2015, he began playing Masters Australian Rules Football in the South East Queensland league. This transition from a strength sport to a team-based sport requiring high levels of endurance has been a perfect case study of applying theories of motor learning and exercise prescription to practice.

Justin’s personal interest include AFL, strongman, playing poker, sampling craft beers and whiskeys, reading fiction and biographies and spending time with his family, especially watching his daughters practice their jujitsu, Ninja Warrior and gymnastics.