Joel T.Cramer, PhD, FNSCA, FACSM, FISSN; CSCS,*D; NSCA-CPT,*D

Dr. Cramer is currently an Assistant Professor and Co-director of the Biophysics Laboratory in the Department of Health and Exercise Science and Adjunct Assistant Professor in Industrial Engineering at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Cramer received a bachelor's degree in Exercise Science from Creighton University in 1997 and a master's and doctorate iDr. Joel Cramern Exercise Physiology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2001 and 2003, respectively, under the mentorship of Dr. Terry J. Housh.

Dr. Cramer has conducted and published numerous studies that focus on the noninvasive assessment of muscle function in journals such as Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, Muscle & Nerve, the European Journal of Applied Physiology, the Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology, Electromyogrpahy and Clinical Neurophysiology, the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, and the Journal of Neuroscience Methods.

In particular, Joel has studied the relationships among muscle force production, surface electromyography (EMG), and mechanomyography (MMG) during isometric, isokinetic, and dynamic constant external resistance muscle actions.

There are 3 basic areas by which we have examined the EMG and MMG signals:

  1. EMG and MMG amplitude and frequency responses during ramp and step isometric muscle actions,
  2. the acute effects of stretching on muscle force production, EMG, and MMG, and
  3. comparing different digital signal processing techniques that are commonly used to extract information from the time and frequency domains of the EMG and MMG signals. Understanding the patterns of response of the EMG and MMG signals may provide information regarding the interactions between motor unit recruitment and firing rate that are necessary to modulate skeletal muscle force production, which may be unique for healthy young, middle-aged, older adults, and those with neuromuscular diseases.

Joel serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research and is a regular reviewer for journals such as Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise and the European Journal of Applied Physiology. He is also the Chair of the NSCA Research Committee, and he has attended and regularly presented at each NSCA National Conference since 1995. Joel has also attended and presented at each American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Annual Meeting since 1999 and is a member of the International Society of Electrophysiology and Kinesiology (ISEK).

In July 2005, Dr. Cramer received the Outstanding Young Investigator of the Year Award from the NSCA.