I decided to become an exercise scientist basically because I love sports.
My name is Beth Mooradian and I'm a senior scientist
at the Gatorade Sports Science Institute.
Science is very cool, I love it.
I didn't know I wanted to be a scientist.
As I took classes in exercise physiology
and anatomy I became fascinated with hoe the body works.
I think a scientist has to have a mind that's always questioning
so it's neat to have questions and you can do an
experiment and find out the answer.
[ANNCR] BETH AND THE OTHER SCIENTISTS
AT GATORADE CONTINUOUSLY STUDY HOW THE HUMAN
BODY FUELS AND COOLS ITSELF.
What I do to help amateur or professional athletes is to develop
hydration strategies that are specific to that individual.
To really help them optimize their hydration
and nutrition which ultimately optimizes their performance.
Typically what we do is we have an athlete
come in and they bring their own bike and you can
see Nick here setting their bike up to the computrainer.
This computrainer is connected to a computer that will project the
course that the athlete needs to ride up on the screen.
The computer will also control the bike so that when it's going
up hill it puts resistance on the bike tire and the athlete
will have to shift their gears to be able to get up the hill.
[ANNCR] DURING TEST PRODUCT PERFORMANCE TRIALS, BETH AND HER
COLLEAGUES DRAW BLOOD AND MEASURE OXYGEN INTAKE FROM TEST SUBJECTS TO
DETERMINE HOW CERTAIN INGREDIENTS ARE PERFORMING IN THE BODY.
I love the people I love being able to work with human subjects
and meeting new people and having some new experiences.
With my job I've been able to travel a lot.
I've done some studies out in the Sahara desert in Africa.
I've been able to travel to London and Italy for
conferences and it's been such a great experience just meeting
well-known scientists in the field.
So after this blood draw we're going to get your body weight
and we'l have you start exercising.
We'll set the cycle that we did on your orientation
and then once you sweat we'll put the sweat patches on you.
[ANNCR] THE SWEAT PATCH TEST HELPS MEASURE
THE AMOUNT OF ELECTROLYTES WE SWEAT OUT AS THE BODY COOLS ITSELF.
KNOWING HOW MANY ELECTROLYTES WE LOSE DURING
DIFFERENT LEVELS OF EXERCISE HELPS BETH AND THE OTHER
SCIENTISTS FIGURE OUT HOW MUCH SHOULD GO INTO VARIOUS FORMULAS
OF THEIR PRODUCTS IN ORDER TO HELP ATHLETES RE-HYDRATE.
Some of the hurdles that I face in my job.
Well, when you do human subject research nothing ever happens the way you plan.
People get sick, equipment might break down, so the time line that you developed
to finish your study might be pushed back a
month or maybe six months.
That can be a bit frustrating especially when you're excited to see what the result is.
This is our exercise sensory lab in this laboratory
When a subject comes in we provide them with a small
sample of the test beverage, we then ask the subjects to rate
the beverage using a form similar to this one.
[ANNCR] RATING THE TASTE IS ANOTHER BIG FACTOR. AFTER ALL, IF THE
PRODUCT DOESN'T TASTE GOOD, ATHLETES MIGHT FIND ANOTHER WAY TO REHYDRATE.
I think more women are becoming scientists I want
to say because they're cool.
I think the stereotype is being shattered.
I think a lot of women have been interested in
science for quite a time and now I think they have the opportunity
that they can go into the field and become brilliant scientists.
You can make a good living doing this type of work
In my leisure time I like to spend time with my family and friends.
We're having a Mexican fiesta, Mexican is my favorite food.
I have a Boston terrier his name is Chomper, and Chomper is my baby.
I love working out so I do a lot
of different exercises and activities
I take karate which has spun off to mixed martial arts.
It makes me feel strong, safe and I can pretty much take on anyone.
Sweaty. The most rewarding part of being an exercise
scientist is being able to help people.
When an athlete comes in and maybe they have
cystic fibrosis so they are losing a lot of salt in their sweat.
And this athlete might want to do a ironman triathlon I
can then develop a hydration plan for them and a fuel
nutrition plan for them that can help them be able to complete
that race and you know help them be able to achieve their dreams.
Nothing's impossible, if you have a dream you should go for
it because it's definitely worth it.