Steinke Physical Education Center (SPEC)

The Department of Health and Kinesiology's main office is located in the Steinke Physical Education Center (SPEC), built-in 1970 and renovated in 1995. In addition to faculty and staff offices, the facility houses classrooms, a 50m heated indoor swimming pool with a diving well, a bowling alley, racquetball courts, tennis courts, and a computer lab.  The SPEC also houses a gymnasium which is the venue for many TAMUK and community events and is home to TAMUK's NCAA Division II basketball and volleyball teams.

 

Health and Recreation Building (HREC) and Annex

The Health and Recreation Building (a.k.a., The Old Gym), erected in 1928, was one of the first three structures built on the campus of A&M-Kingsville (then South Texas Teachers College). It is now home to one classroom, faculty offices, a full-size gymnasium, and a portion of the Human Performance Laboratory (HPL). The Health & Recreation Annex houses faculty offices, a band hall, tennis courts, and a portion of the HPL.

Human Performance Laboratory (HPL)

For those students interested in the exercise sciences or the testing, measurement, and evaluation of fitness and/or human performance variables, the Department of Health & Kinesiology’s Human Performance Laboratory (HPL) is located in the Health & Recreation Building and Annex.  The HPL is 6750 sq ft devoted to teaching and research in the exercise sciences and comprised of the main lab and seven sub-labs:

Main HPL (HREC 203, 2025 sq ft): The main HPL is a certified Biosafety Level 2 (BSL2) laboratory that serves as the parent laboratory for the department with a focus on exercise testing. Equipment housed within this laboratory includes: standard extended bed treadmill, bi-directional/incline/decline treadmill, stationary cycles (pendulum, basket drop, and rate-independent), arm crank ergometer, Jackson isometric dynamometer (load cell), handgrip dynamometers/manual muscle testers, Biodex single chair isokinetic dynamometer, accelerometers, pedometers, electronic vertical jump tester, sit-and-reach boxes (standard and modified), torso rotation devices, shoulder rotation devices, goniometers, flexiometers, electromyograph (Biopac), metabolic cart, sphygmomanometers (aneroid and mercury column), stethoscopes (single and dual), heart rate monitors, stopwatches, metronomes, refrigerator/freezer, computer stations, athletic training tables, anatomical models, skinfold calipers (Lange), anthropometers, anthropometric measuring tape, physician's platform scales, stadiometer, field scales/stadiometer, miscellaneous blood collection equipment, and field-based/point of care analysis systems for a variety of blood variables (glucose, lipid, lactate, etc.).

Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Function Sub-lab (HREC 208, 350 sq ft): This sub-laboratory provides dedicated space for specialized cardiovascular and pulmonary function testing. Equipment housed within this laboratory includes a dry (bellows) spirometer, computer interfaced spirometer (Fleisch pneumotachograph), peak expiratory flow meters, Scholander chemical gas analyzer, pulse wave velocity/analysis device (Vicorder), stationary cycles (pendulum), athletic training tables, physician's platform scales, and stadiometer.

Exercise Biochemistry Sub-lab (HREC 106a, 300 sq ft):  A certified BSL2 laboratory, this sub-laboratory is dedicated to the analysis of biological samples collected in the HPL’s other BSL2 laboratories. Equipment housed in this laboratory includes ultra-low (-80) freezer, microplate reader, microplate washer, spectrophotometer, refrigerated centrifuge, flake ice maker, water purification system, biosafety cabinet, refrigerator/freezer, miscellaneous blood collection/analysis equipment.

Body Composition Assessment I Sub-lab (HREC 106b, 200 sq ft): This sub-laboratory is one of two labs dedicated to body composition assessment. Equipment housed within this laboratory includes a hydrostatic chamber, physician's platform scales, and a stadiometer.

Body Composition Assessment II Sub-lab (HREC 102, 500 sq ft):  This sub-laboratory is one of two labs dedicated to body composition assessment. Equipment housed within this laboratory includes skinfold calipers (Lange), anthropometers, anthropometric measuring tape, bioelectric impedance analyzer (multi-frequency), air displacement plethysmograph (Bod Pod), dual-energy x-ray absorptiometer (DEXA), physician's platform scales, stadiometer, and athletic training tables.

Motor Behavior Sub-lab (HREC 210-225, 1000 sq ft): This laboratory suite houses resources dedicated to teaching and investigation in the areas of motor learning/control, motor development, and sport/exercise/performance psychology.  The sub-laboratory has a number of individual testing rooms that provide for testing privacy and reduced impact from outside stimuli, as well as a room dedicated to SEPP consulting with an associated observation room via a two-way mirror.  Equipment housed within this laboratory includes reaction/movement/response timers, bimanual coordination tester, grooved pegboard tester, kinesthesiometer, card sorting box, automatic tally maze, Minnesota manual dexterity test battery, cutaneous sensitivity kit, Bassin anticipation timer, steadiness tester (groove and hole), and multi-sensory fitness trainer (SMARTfit). Biofeedback, neurophysiological, and psychological testing equipment housed in the lab includes electroencephalograph (Biopac), Inquisit software, Muse (relaxation training), Halo Sport (tDCS), multiple portable devices to assess HRV and practice arousal regulation techniques (Emwave2, Emwave plus, and BioNomadix Logger (Biopac)). This sub-lab also houses the Digital Motor Learning Studio which is dedicated to analyzing and understanding cognitive psychology and perceptual-motor development in relation to human neuromuscular function and is capable of state-of-the-art virtual and augmented reality simulations through a Microsoft HoloLens 2, two Oculus Quest devices, two Dell Precision 3630 Computer stations, a CSMI HUMAC Balance/Tilt board, and additional gaming hardware and software. Finally, the sub-lab houses the Community Organization Planning Research (COPR) Initiative which serves to provide management, planning, and analysis for various community-serving organizations and initiatives by providing resources to support research and analytical support for, but not limited to, non-profit organizations including community, health, wellness, and other services for the public.

HPL Annex (HREC 230, 2300 sq ft):  This BSL2 sub-laboratory is dedicated to teaching and research in the areas of strength, conditioning, and biomechanics. Equipment housed in this laboratory includes power racks, power lift platform, belt squat platform (Pit Shark), pegboard, an array of resistance training equipment (barbells, dumbbells, medicine balls, kettlebells, plyometric boxes, power ropes, pull up bars, etc.), Schwinn airdyne, rowing machine, electromyography (Biopac), force plates (Kistler), Tendo power analyzer for velocity-based training applications, athletic training tables, physician's platform scales, stadiometer. refrigerator/freezer, ultra-low (-80) transport freezer, miscellaneous blood collection equipment.