Dr. Trent Herda is an assistant professor in the Dept. of Health, Sport and Exercise Sciences and the Director of the Neuromechanics Laboratory and Hawk Fitness Academy at KU-Lawrence. His primary research interests include examining the effects of acute and chronic exercise and obesity on muscle composition and motor unit behavior. Of particular interest to the Neuromechanics Laboratory is quantifying alterations in the composition of the muscle (i.e. muscle size, intramuscular fat, etc.) as a result of endurance- and resistance-training exercise interventions and, subsequently, the effects of changes in muscle composition may have on motor unit behavior and the neural costs to match force tasks. The Hawk Fitness Academy is a youth exercise program that is designed to improve muscle strength, agility and balance while teaching exercise techniques that can be used throughout adulthood.