Drake Eserhaut

Assistant Professor of Health Sciences

Drake Eserhaut, PhD, CSCS is a sports physiologist who investigates endocrine and skeletal muscle oxygen saturation responses to both resistance and endurance exercise. Eserhaut has a passion for supporting athletes through research, and the belief that some of the best and most rewarding studies are conducted as a team. At Stetson, he aims to foster engaging hands-on research opportunities for Health Science students in the areas of sports physiology and endocrinology, with the potential to apply their knowledge by providing sports science support to recreational and competitive athletes in the area.

  • PhD, Exercise Physiology, University of Kansas
  • MA, Kinesiology and Sports Performance, University of Northern Iowa
  • BA, Exercise Science, University of Northern Iowa

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Drake Eserhaut

Biography

Drake Eserhaut grew up in Muscatine, IA, where he competed in wrestling and football throughout high school sparking curiosity in the science behind athletic performance. As an exercise science undergraduate at the University of Northern Iowa, Eserhaut began volunteering with Jacob Reed and the UNI strength and conditioning staff where he worked with women’s volleyball and softball in the weightroom and collected subjective data on athlete wellness/fatigue throughout their competitive seasons of play. His undergraduate research experience eventually led to enrolling into graduate schooling and obtaining his Master’s degree at UNI, where his thesis was on methods for the long-term monitoring of athlete wellness/fatigue using scientifically validated questionnaires. During this time Drake also became a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). 

From here, Eserhaut went on to pursue his PhD in the Jayhawk Athletic Performance Laboratory (JAPL) at the University of Kansas (KU), in Lawrence, under the mentorship of Andrew C. Fry. During his doctoral training, Drake learned multiple wet lab procedures for analyzing salivary and blood biomarkers, eventually becoming the lead lab technician for the JAPL’s endocrinology focused research. For his dissertation, Drake investigated the acute physiological responses to blood flow restricted resistance exercise (BFR), with a focus on the sympathetic nervous system where he quantified the rapid catecholamine (ie, adrenaline & noradrenaline) responses to a challenging lower-body weight training protocol performed with blood flow restriction in the lower-extremities. He also worked closely with the KU Women’s Rowing Team during his doctoral training, publishing work on the use of wearable skeletal muscle oxygen saturation sensors for prescribing training intensity zones. In 2025, Eserhaut graduated with his PhD in Exercise Physiology from the University of Kansas, before moving south to DeLand, FL to start his career at Stetson University.

At Stetson University, Eserhaut looks to foster engaging hands-on research opportunities for Health Science students in the areas of sports physiology and endocrinology, with the potential to apply their knowledge by providing sports science support to recreational and competitive athletes in the area. Student involvement in research is a core tenant of Eserhaut’s academic mission. All professions require knowledge, but in the health sciences, it is the ability to apply one’s knowledge for the betterment of others that sets them apart. The provision of hands-on learning through research will permit students to further their education, professional training, and competitiveness post-Stetson.

More About Drake Eserhaut

Areas of Expertise

  • Exercise Endocrinology
  • Endurance Sport Physiology
  • Wearable Near-infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) Sensors
  • Blood Flow Restriction Training (BFR)

Course Topics

  • Anatomy & Physiology II
  • Health and Wellness

  • Longitudinally monitoring blood lactate thresholds and skeletal muscle oxygen saturation kinetics during graded exercise testing in NCAA division I rowers.
  • Endocrine responses to low-load blood flow restricted and high-load resistance exercise in well-trained individuals.
  • Investigating the effects of Growth Hormone isoform variance on health and exercise metabolism in athletic populations.

Select Publications

  • Eserhaut DA*, DeLeo JM, Provost JA, Fry AC. (2025). Endocrine responses to low-load blood flow restricted and high-load resistance exercise in well-trained males. Physiological Reports, 13:e70455. 10.14814/phy2.70455 • Eserhaut DA*, DeLeo JM, Provost JA, Ackerman KE, Fry AC. (2025). Monitoring skeletal muscle oxygen saturation kinetics during graded exercise testing in NCAA division I female rowers. Frontiers in Physiology, 16:1538465. 10.3389/fphys.2025.1538465
  • Eserhaut DA*, Fry AC, Stone MH, Kraemer WJ. (2025). Acute endocrine responses with long-term weightlifting in a 51 year old male weightlifter. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 39(8). 10.1519/JSC.0000000000004963
  • Luebbers PE, Kriley LM, Eserhaut DA*, Andre MJ, Butler MS, Fry AC. (2025). Salivary testosterone and cortisol responses to seven weeks of practical blood flow restriction training in collegiate American football players. Frontiers in Physiology, 15:1507445. 10.3389/fphys.2024.1507445 • Eserhaut DA*, DeLeo JM and Fry AC. (2024). Blood flow restricted resistance exercise in well-trained men: Salivary biomarker responses and oxygen saturation kinetics. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 38(12): e716-e726. 10.1519/JSC.0000000000004913
  • Cabarkapa D, Eserhaut DA, Cabarkapa DV, Philipp NM and Fry AC. (2023). Salivary testosterone and cortisol changes during a game in professional male basketball players. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 37(8). 10.1519/JSC.0000000000004515