Zach McClean, PhD candidate
Applied Sport Scientist · Strength & Conditioning Coach
McClean Performance Consulting
Zach McClean works with sport scientists, coaches, and clinicians to translate athlete data into applied, decision-relevant insights for performance and return-to-performance contexts. His work focuses on rigorous analysis, practical interpretation, and systems-based approaches that align with the real-world constraints of elite sport environments.
Experiences & Environments
Zach is a PhD candidate at the University of Calgary within the Integrated Neuromuscular Sport Performance Lab, where he has led the collection and analysis of athlete performance data from over 900 athletes.
He holds a Master of Science specializing in neuromuscular and cardiovascular responses to fatigue, as well as a Master of Kinesiology specializing in exercise testing and prescription for both clinical and high-performance populations.
Zach has worked across professional and university sport settings as a strength and conditioning coach and sport scientist.
He has contributed within interdisciplinary high-performance teams, balancing scientific rigour with the practical constraints of daily training and competition to support athlete health and performance outcomes.
Zach specializes in the consolidation, management, and analysis of large sport science datasets. Drawing on expertise in exercise physiology and advanced analytical methods, he translates complex data into clear, practitioner-friendly outputs that directly support decision-making.
He also works with organizations to automate athlete monitoring and reporting systems, enabling scalable, consistent, and decision-focused use of performance data.
Across research, applied practice, and data systems, Zach’s work is guided by a single priority: helping practitioners make better decisions in environments where uncertainty and consequences are real.