Represented England U21 in field hockey and currently enjoys marathon running, golf, squash and cycling.

James has almost 15 years experience in the application of exercise physiology in sporting and occupational settings. Following completion of a BSc in Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Birmingham, he undertook a PhD at the same institution under the supervision of Prof. David Jones and Prof. Asker Jeukendrup. This body of work focused on endurance exercise and the relationship between carbohydrate supplementation, environmental heat stress and performance. During his PhD (2000-2003), James carried out additional physiology consultancy projects with the Ministry of Defence (British Army) and Chelsea Football Club. On leaving Birmingham, James spent eight years working for the UK-based occupational physiology company Optimal Performance Limited (OPL). Initially this involved providing scientific support to the Ministry of Defence (Army, Navy and Air Force), Home Office (Police and Fire and Rescue) and Department of Health (Ambulance Service). Typical projects included development of physical selection standards, auditing the physical demands of training, fitness testing, investigating methods to monitor and prevent heat strain and improve hydration and identification of risk factors for injury. More recently, James has spent four years in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on behalf of OPL, setting up and helping to run a Health and Sports Medicine Centre for the UAE Armed Forces. During this time (2008-2012), he managed a team of health professionals, including: sport scientists; exercise therapists; physiotherapists; dieticians; nutritionists and health educators. James joined the GSSI team in April 2012, initially as Head of the UK Athlete Testing Satellite located on campus at Loughborough University. More recently, he has taken on the responsibility of developing the GSSI Athlete Service Model, as well as managing the team that services Gatorade’s global athletes. Since 2000, he has published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, presented internationally at a range of sport science and occupational physiology conferences and is the current Chair of the ECSS Sports Nutrition Special Interest group.