Centre staff
Sue Kesterton (nee Green)
Exercise science officer
Phone 0114 225 5630
E-mail s.kesterton@shu.ac.uk
Research interests/ current work
Sue's research and consultancy interests focus on the effect of physical activity, nutrition and smoking cessation on improving cardiovascular health. She has a keen interest in occupational workplace health and plays a key role in the operational management, staff training and delivery of the award winning SHUWellness service. This health screening and lifestyle consultation service is available for staffwithin the university as well as corporate organisations and individuals. The ethos behind the approach taken within the Wellness programme is based on motivational interviewing to help individuals achieve their health and lifestyle related goals.
Sue also actively contributes to a variety of research trials within the Exercise for Health Research Group. During her time at CSES she has been involved in providing physiological assessments, physical activity consultations, exercise prescriptions and supervising individual and group exercise sessions for the following projects
- The physical activity Booster project (2010/11)
- The use of a biological marker, 5-HT2C genotype, as a predictor of motivation, adherence and weight loss in participants of an obesity intervention programme (2009)
- Exercise and Testosterone therapy in hypogonadal male heart failure patients (2008)
- Exercise for fibromyalgia patients - a feasibility study (2007)
- Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Exercise and Immune Function (2006)
- Sheffield Women's Breast Cancer and Exercise therapy project (2005)
Background
Sue studied Biology, Exercise and Health at undergraduate level at Oxford Brookes University in 2002, and successfully completed her Masters at Sheffield Hallam University in Exercise Science and Wellness in 2005. Her interest in the psychological approach to assist individuals to adopt and maintain behaviour change prompted her applied Masters project. This involved providing lifestyle support for type 2 diabetic based on motivational interviewing. She gained a distinction for this project and published an article for the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences journal on the topic of applying motivational interviewing in an exercise setting.
She is an experienced health and fitness instructor, with over 10 years working in the industry, and has expertise in exercise programme development and delivery for various medical conditions. Sue is a specialised Exercise Referral Consultant through the Wright Foundation and Phase IV cardiac rehabilitation instructor with the British Association of Cardiac rehabilitation and has taught on workshops for this course at the University of Leeds. She is accredited as an Advanced Instructor (level 3) with the Register of Exercise Professionals and a specialist Smoking Cessation Advisor through the NHS.
For her own personal fitness she enjoys many outdoor activities in the Peak District including running, cycling and swimming.
