About This Site

About This Website

This website serves as a resource to support my teaching where I store links to papers and articles of interest for my own reference and for the use of my students. While most of the content is designed specifically to support my students, many of the articles and pages may well be of interest to other educators, emerging professionals and advanced health and fitness professionals.

There is a variety of content on the pages and for some topics there may be an overview whereas other topics simply have links to external websites and journals. It should be noted that whilst many of the links are to academic journals, there are very few posted on this site and most have been found and accessed for free via the internet.

Have you used BenJaneFitness.com with your students? Maybe it was useful in your own work?

If so, I would love to hear how you have used it. Let me know what you think about this website by completing this very short form. Thanks.

Examples of how I use this website in my work

A page of curated resources based on a topic - Physical Activity Guidelines, Intervention Mapping

- - there's a lot on some of these pages but they've often been developed over years and start out as much shorter lists of papers I make myself when first teaching or researching any given topic.
Learning Resources for my students to help with their understanding - Hypertrophy
- - this page is designed to work on 3 levels; skim the sub-titles and sections for the basic ideas, read the simple text for more depth and then eventually students should start working through some of the research papers. Because of this levelling, this page works across most levels of UG/PG courses.
Practical Resources for my students to use - Exercise Programming
- - This page contains a series of forms that a colleague and I developed and have re-used many times since.
A page showing a chronological list of key milestones in an area that I'm researching - Groups Research Timeline
- - Yet again, if you can't find a resource on the internet then other people might find it as useful as you might
A resource to share with your students based on an academic skill they need to develop - Writing Lab Reports
- - Share it before when teaching a topic but also embed it in your Quickmarks so that it's once again given out with your ongoing feedback
Share recommended research methods resources - Qualitative Research Methods
- - Over several years, I engaged with twitter threads where many people have added their own recommended reading. By listing resources that I think I might find useful on this webpage I can also share with my own students and peers.
Record my own work notes as a reminder to myself, but also as a record of my own practise and for sharing with others - Blended Learning Toolbox
- - I use this to find nuggets that I want to store somewhere but many others have found it useful as well.
Post my own conference presentations and background to published articles - ParkLives project

About Me

I'm a senior lecturer at Plymouth Marjon University (formerly University of St Mark & St John) and I teach on a range of degrees in addition to being the Programme Leader for the postgraduate MPH Public Health course.

I teach a range of subjects but my main areas of subject expertise are around Health Promotion and the use of exercise for the secondary management of a range of chronic health conditions.

In developing expertise in the area of health promotion and intervention design, I've attended courses on Pragmatic Evaluation and Intervention Mapping and conducted research on corporate sponsorship of physical activity schemes, and exercise referral schemes. Previously I have been a co-applicant on a large-scale RCT into the development of behaviour change aspects of exercise referral schemes using of technology (e.g. e-coachER HTA13/25/20) and currently I am focussing on the facilitation and leadership of groups in exercise referral schemes.

I teach in areas such as health behaviour change, public health, clinical exercise, and strength and conditioning. I'm the Programme Leader of the MPH Public Health Programme at Marjon and a Senior Fellow of Advance HE. In addition to teaching and researching, I'm fortunate enough to be able to maintain my professional practice and I work alongside colleagues delivering exercise programmes for people with cancer, chronic back pain, diabetes and a range of other conditions.

I have extensive experience in developing digital literacies in Higher Education. I have led initiatives that support staff through shared Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) resources and communities of practice, while also establishing innovative new delivery methods. Related work with students has been through my leadership of study skills and research methods modules as well as integrating digital skills development work throughout all of my modules, often as part of assessment requirements. Recently, I spearheaded the University's response to generative AI software, collaborating with colleagues to create marking policies and guidance, as well as offering learning opportunities like "AI for research in public health " for external organisations.

Prior to joining Marjon in 2009 I worked for Plymouth YMCA and had responsibility for overseeing the Fitness Industry Qualifications that the YMCA is well known for. I completed an MSc at Exeter University, a PGCE at Plymouth University and a have a range of fitness qualifications including REPs L4 qualifications.

I've been a qualified, practising fitness instructor since 1992 and in addition to working in formal education since 2000 have spent time in gym management, occupational health, exercise referral schemes, elite youth sports conditioning, teaching exercise to music, personal training, indoor cycling, circuits and the teaching and assessment of industry qualifications.

Latest Academic Work

Jane, B., & Downey, J. (2024). Exercise referral schemes in the UK: mapping provision and aims. Journal of Public Health, fdae057. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdae057

McCormick, A., Pedmanson, P., Jane, B., & Watson, P. (2024). How do new runners maintain their running, and what leads to others stopping? A qualitative, longitudinal study. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 70, 102515. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2023.102515

Morris, A., Bright, C., Cocks, M., Gibson, N., Goff, L., Greaves, C., Griffin, S., Jane, B., Kinnafick, Robb, P., Roberts, M. Salman, D., Saxton, J. Taylor, A., West, D., Yates, T., Andrews, R.C. & Gill, J. (2023) Recommendations from Diabetes UK’s 2022 diabetes and physical activity workshop. Diabetic Medicine https://doi.org/10.1111/dme.15169

Find out more:

Institutional Profile

ActiveChoices - Marjon's exercise referral work

Email: bjane@marjon.ac.uk

Twitter @BenJaneFitness.

LinkedIn: Ben Jane