The core objective of project MINDFUL MUSCLES is to develop an innovative, strengths-based educational resource that will incorporate Mindfulness, Acceptance, Self-compassion, and Character strengths in clean sport education targeted to amateur and grassroots sport.
Our goal is to develop and evaluate self-administered, strengths-based educational resources for athletes (self-care/self-administered), and a relevant manual for practitioners to allow them to integrate MASC resources in their daily practice.
The specific aims of MINDFUL MUSCLES are to:
Project MINDFUL MUSCLES is led by Sheffield Hallam University, and implemented across 7 European countries (UK, Finland, Estonia, Netherlands, Serbia, Greece, and Portugal) by an international group of experts.
Project MINDFUL MUSCLES also incorporates an interdisciplinary Community of Practice of Early Career Researchers conducting research in areas related to IPEDs use in sport and exercise settings. The Mindful Muscles Community of Practice aims to:
Sheffield Hallam University is one of the largest public Universities in South Yorkshire, England, with 33.000 students. There are four Faculties (Health & Well-Being; Society & Development; Business School; and Arts, Computing, Engineering & Sciences), and 30 research centres, including the Biomedical Research Centre, Centre for Sport & Exercise Science, Sport Industry Research Centre, and the Centre for Health & Social Care Research. SHU’s strategy to 2020 has a clear mission to promote research with applied focus and high impact for the society and on emerging societal, health, and environmental challenges.
SHU maintains a strong profile in training elite athletes in competitive sports, and also operates the Performance Athlete Support Programme, an initiative that allows talented competitive athletes to balance their life between sports career and University life. SHU has also close collaborations with leading UK sport facilities and organizations, including the English Institute of Sport and the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre. Sheffield Hallam University is known for offering a wide range of nationally excellent and competitive Sport Science qualifications including undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing professional development courses. It is also the home of the Advanced Well-Being Research Centre (AWRC), a research centre that specializes in the promotion of sport and physical activity in the population and that has received financial support from the British government and the European Regional Developmental Fund.
Project MINDFUL MUSCLES is hosted by the Centre for Behavioural Science & Applied Psychology (CeBSAP) at the Department of Psychology, Sociology & Politics, Faculty of Social Sciences & Arts – the largest Faculty of the University with 12000 students and 700 members of staff. CeBSAP maintains a strong track record of research publications and funded projects (by The European Commission/Erasmus+ Sport, the World Anti-Doping Agency, and the International Olympics Committee) on anti-doping/clean sport education. It also has a strong record of research projects and publication in positive psychology, and the application of positive interventions to improve mental and physical well-being in diverse populations.
The goal of the Estonian Center for Integrity in Sports (ESTCIS) is to promote healthy and fair sports by conducting high-quality doping control, anti-doping education for various target groups and contributing to national and international anti-doping cooperation. In addition to anti-doping activities, ESTCIS’s remit has included knowledge in match-fixing, abuse and spectator safety.
The aim of ESTCIS is to promote non-discriminatory, ethical and fair sports in Estonia, contributing to:
Sports Medicine Association of Serbia (SMAS) was established 1995. The essence of the work is sports medicine as a integral part of every sport. Thus, SMAS has more the 1400 registered members from more then 80 national sport federations and universities. SMAS is active on national and also international events. Since its founding SMAS published more the 40 scientific books, 3 text books, organized 6 national congresses of sports medicine, 4 congresses of dietary supplementation and 3 congresses on doping prevention, plus more the 100 educational seminars, all accredited by CME body. SMAS was the base for establishment of Antidoping agency of Serbia. Additionally, SMAS contributes to the improvement of sport science through scientific research and outreach initiatives focused on prevention. SMAS has grown to become one of the most respected institutions in sports for 25 years and become not only a partner of sports organizations in the country, but also a large number of organizations in the world, including the leading sports medicine one ECSS, EFSMA and FIMS.
British Weightlifting (BWL) is the British Governing Body for Weight Lifting and para-powerlifting. BWL is also the leading education provider for Weight Lifting Qualifications. BWL support a large network of weightlifting bodies, clubs and gyms across the United Kingdom, as well as the thousands of people actively involved in Olympic and Paralympic weightlifting disciplines and people at every level of weight bearing activity. As a sport national governing body, BWL is also committed to and responsible for greater inclusivity, improved governance, improved performance and being globally successful, winning medals at Olympics, Paralympics, World and Commonwealth events.
Mainline is a Dutch foundation with a mission to promote health and improve the social position of people who use substances from a harm reduction perspective. Without primarily wanting to reduce substance use itself and based on respect for the freedom of choice and capabilities of the individual.
The Lisbon School of Health Technology (ESTeSL), Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon, covers a gross area of 17,912 m2 and a net area of 14,824 m2.
It includes offices for administrative personal and teachers, administrative areas, classrooms, as well as laboratory space and practical learning areas, auditorium, foyers, library, reprography centre, recreational areas and recreation room/bar.
As a public school, ESTeSL is part of the Health Sciences Polytechnical Institute of Lisbon, along with four nursing schools under the responsibility of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. Since 23 December 1993, ESTeSL has been under a facilities regulation, which may be prolonged for some time.
The Dopinglinkki, which is part of the A-Clinic Foundation, is a multi-functional project that focuses on low-threshold health advisory service, education and information sharing between national and international authorities dealing with different aspects of doping in recreational sport. Dopinglinkki is the only government body in Finland that provides people in fitness training with health counselling on doping issues making it unique. The work is funded by grants from the Funding Centre for Social Welfare and Health Organisations (STEA) and the Ministry of Education and Culture. The project’s web service provides scientifically based information and expert advice on doping issues. It is intended for fitness enthusiasts who use doping substances, their family members and friends, and professionals from different fields who meet users of doping substances in their work. Information is offered in Finnish, Swedish, English and Russian. The non-Finnish language versions have a steady user base outside of Finland (Google Analytics) thus also serving a larger population. The Dopinglinkki website has approximately 45,000 national and international visitors each month.
Dopinglinkki participates actively in European and international networks and events in its field (e.g. Sportvision 2012 Copenhagen, Denmark, Prof. Arne Ljungqvist Anti-Doping Foundation: Doping as a public health issue 2012, Stockholm, Sweden, Conference of Sports Medicine 2013, Helsinki, Finland, 6th IWG World Conference on Women and Sport 2014, 7th Conference of Baltic Society of Sport Sciences 2014, Tartu, Estonia, MOVE Congress 2015, Copenhagen, Denmark, Anabolic Steroids: Evidence and Engagement Conference 2016, Liverpool, United Kingdom, International Congress on Sport, Doping and Society 2017, Madrid, Spain, Doping in Public Health 2017, Oslo, Norway, Erasmus+ Cluster meeting ‘The Integrity of Sport’, Brussels 2018, International conference: Fitness doping and public health, Copenhagen 2019). Dopinglinkki organized the 5th Nordic Conference on Appearance and Performance Enhancing Drugs & Anti-Doping Work 2015 in Helsinki, Finland. Furthermore, Dopinglinkki organised the final international conference of their Erasmus+ Sport project during the Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2019.
Dopinglinkki also provides education and research on doping in recreational sport, especially e-learning courses for the medical doctors, nurses, security (e.g. prison officers, police) and fitness (e.g. personal trainers) industries. By leading the Clean Fitness Commitment network, Dopinglinkki reaches more than 700 fitness centres in Finland. Dopinglinkki does not address doping in competitive sports, it is focused solely on anti-doping work in recreational sport.
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki is the largest University in Greece and in Balkans. The main campus is located in the centre of the city of Thessaloniki, and covers an area of about 33.4 hectares. It comprises 7 faculties which consist of 33 schools, 5 faculties which consist of one school each, as well as 4 independent schools. Some educational and administrative facilities are located off campus for practical and operational reasons. A number of these facilities are located outside the city of Thessaloniki or even in other cities. About 81,500 students study at the Aristotle University (72,140 in undergraduate programmes and 8,360 in postgraduate programmes). There are 2,150 faculty members: 739 professors, 435 associate professors, 634 assistant professors, and 342 lecturers. There are also 11 teaching assistants, 58 research fellows, 248 members of the Special Laboratory Teaching Personnel (S.L.T.P.), 69 of whom belong to category Ι and 179 to category ΙΙ, as well as 15 foreign language teachers and 4 foreign instructors. Faculty members are also assisted by 213 members of the Special Technical Laboratory Personnel (S.T.L.P.). AUTh ranks first among Greek higher education institutions in terms of mobility. In addition, since 2015, Aristotle University runs an Erasmus+ ICM programme in the framework of which 60 agreements have been signed with universities in 29 countries all over the world. AUTH participates in 25 HORIZON 2020 projects in diverse research areas. Ever mindful of rapid change and progress, AUTH constantly update its strategy, policies and everyday practices, in order to meet contemporary local and global demands. The University has been able to determine its strengths and weaknesses and to adopt a holistic internationalization strategy.
The Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences (DPESS) focuses on the promotion of active and healthy lifestyle throughout the lifespan. The DPESS specializes in: a) the social-psychological study of substance use, exercise participation, and lifestyle change across the lifespan, and b) the design and application of health promotion and behaviour change interventions. DPESS has successfully completed 6 projects funded by the World Anti-Doping Agency and 2 projects funded by the International Olympic Committee on the use of doping and nutritional supplements by adolescent and adult athletes, and participates as national coordinator in several ongoing multi-national projects anti-doping and sport integrity funded by the Erasmus+ Sport programme of the European Commission.
On this section we provide a plain language report about the key concepts, approach, and resources developed within Project Mindful Muscles.
The purpose of the report is to support practitioners and policy-makers in the areas of health promotion and education in sport, anti-doping, and harm reduction, in incorporating the Mindful Muscles resources (Modules and Practitioners’ Guide) in their daily practice.
We also provide snapshot videos (below) to further support the wider sharing and utilisation of the Mindful Muscles resources among key stakeholder groups and organisations, and professionals and specialists with relevant expertise and remit.
