John Saxton graduated from Loughborough University in 1990 before embarking upon PhD research in skeletal muscle physiology at the University of Wolverhampton and University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA . Following a period of post-doctoral work, he undertook lectureships at Oxford Brookes University and the University of Sheffield, before working as a research physiologist in Health and Safety Executive research laboratories in Sheffield. He then spent 10 years at Sheffield Hallam University, where he led the Active Health Research Group and was Principal Investigator for several randomised controlled exercise trials with clinical populations, including cardiovascular disease and cancer patients. In March 2010, he was appointed to the position of Professor of Clinical Exercise Physiology at UEA.