STUDY

To understand why exercise can benefit both health and physical performance, one must first understand how the body responds to exercise. Sport and exercise scientists of many professional disciplines are often required to investigate cell, tissue, organ and system physiology, drawing rational and objective conclusions from a variety of tests, measurements and data. Where you eventually apply this knowledge can be incredibly varied, ranging from laboratory research of molecular or cell physiology, clinical settings of cardiac or respiratory physiology, strength and conditioning of athletes, or analysing data for talent identification and team sport performance. Therefore, it is not only necessary to understand how a person’s physiology responds and adapts to exercise, but to also understand how we make valid and reliable measurements of performance.

Psychological variables contribute to people's engagement in sport, exercise, and physical activity, their enjoyment in these contexts, and their success in achieving their individual goals by performing these tasks. It is therefore not surprising that sport and exercise psychology (SEP) is an equal partner compared to other disciplines in sport sciences.  

In this module, students learn to identify SEP as a scientific field and familiarize themselves with SEP as a potential future work specialization. Since this is an introductory module, students will learn to understand how sports and exercise experiences can be analysed from a psychological point of view, which important variable clusters are examined in SEP and how these clusters are largely related to one another.  

Two sets of variables that students will study in more detail are motivational and emotional concepts. Both types of concepts are important to understand why, and to what end people practice sport, exercise, and physical activity, and how enjoyable these tasks are for them.

This module will provide students with a thorough understanding of the critical principles of sports and exercise biomechanics. Students will explore the core principles of mechanics and employ this knowledge in sports and exercise motion analysis. Students will investigate how the abstract principles of mechanics are used to quantify human motion. Furthermore, the module will introduce students to the many applications of biomechanics in sports and exercise, such as enhancing performance, developing sporting technique and sports equipment design.

The Sport and Exercise Science domain is ever-increasing in both popularity and diversity with regards to specialist intervention. Key components in health, wellbeing and performance are now delivered through Strength and Conditioning professionals. Strength and Conditioning specialists require a diverse skill set to deliver practical solutions to help athletes and clients achieve their individual goals. As such not only do Strength and Conditioning coaches need to draw upon the three main pillars of Sport and Exercise Science (i.e. Physiology, Psychology and Biomechanics), but they also need to develop excellent ‘soft-skills’ (e.g. decision making, communication, empathy etc.). The aim of this module is to combine delivery of the fundamental theoretical knowledge with practical delivery experiences so that students can gain an understanding of ‘real-life’ scenarios. There will be strong links across other modules to affirm learning and challenge students to consider the applications of theory to practice. Topics will include the ability to perform basic needs analysis, ensure appropriate health and safety, deliver fundamental exercises (e.g. squat, bench press and deadlift) and consider training programme design, among others.

A successful career in a sport and exercise sciences-based discipline requires the individual to demonstrate a range of core competencies, including the application of scientific knowledge and technical skills; an understanding of research; self-evaluation and professional development; communication; problem-solving and impact; management of self, others and practice; an understanding of the delivery environment, and professional relationships and behaviours. Being able to recognise and start to develop their abilities in these core competencies, will allow students to begin their trajectory towards becoming employable graduates.

All sports science students must possess a thorough understanding of the principles of scientific enquiry. The scientific method and logic, research and analysis techniques, questioning and communication, form the foundation of all science-based disciplines. It is also vitally important that a student identify and acknowledge ethical issues in scientific enquiry. Students must demonstrate an understanding of the value of critical thinking; a thorough comprehension of the scientific method and how it is applied to their disciplines, and potential graduate professions.

Students must be to explain the reasons why exercise can be beneficial for physical health and explain the basis of performance in a variety of sports, including how it may improve over time. This module develops the fundamental human and exercise physiology knowledge gained during Level 4. In Sport and Exercise Physiology, content focuses on developments in research-derived evidence, detailing how molecular, cellular, tissue, organ and system levels of human physiology respond and adapt to sport and exercise training. The ability to learn from contemporary research evidence is vitally important for those wanting to advance their knowledge and apply research-informed practice in the field of health and exercise or sports physiology. Furthermore, students must build confidence in delivering tests and services that assess player/athlete components of fitness, making sense of their results, and planning the best course of action based on their interpretation.

Psychological variables contribute to people's engagement in sport, exercise, and physical activity, their enjoyment in these contexts, and their success in achieving their individual goals by performing these tasks. It is therefore not surprising that sport and exercise psychology (SEP) is an equal partner compared to other disciplines in sport sciences. 

In this module, students learn how important aspects that define psychological experiences are related. This will help them better understand concepts related to performance and social behaviour, the impact coach leadership has on athletes, and self-regulation. Students will appreciate that psychological variables interact with one another in a dynamic network that, when combined with other physical and physiological variables, explains athletic experiences and performance.

Biomechanics is the study of movement, which necessitates its practice as an applied science. The aim of this module is to further students’ theoretical knowledge of human motion analysis and apply this in an even more hands-on learning environment. Students will explore the practical aspects of kinetic and kinematic motion analyses, and consider how these techniques are used to define movement analysis in sports and exercise. Students will go on to explore other laboratory research techniques essential to the real-world study of biomechanics. This will also involve introductory considerations of the interaction between the exercise/sports performer, their equipment, and the environment. Students will explore the neural determinants of motor learning, how new movement patterns are developed and performed with greater efficiency to facilitate improved sporting performance.

Strength and Conditioning specialists need to design and implement training programmes for a diverse range of exercise/sport participants. This necessitates that the specialist has an in-depth knowledge of a range of complex training modalities, which can be individually tailored to their clients’ short- and long-term training requirements. This module continues to develop the theoretical cornerstones of Strength and Conditioning (e.g. strength, power, speed, endurance, agility, etc.) and maintain learning through real-world exercise/sporting scenarios. Students will explore further training principles which add more advanced techniques to their foundation knowledge such as Olympic Weightlifting, Inertial (Flywheel) and Velocity Based Training, amongst others. Students will also explore the most modern techniques to assess and monitor internal and external training load in sport participants.

Health promotion is an important part of public health. It is fundamental that students have an awareness of the approaches, strategies, methods, underpinning theories/models in health promotion and the various settings where health promotion can be applied in order to improve health and wellbeing. For students with an interest in physical activity and its promotion for health, it is important to appreciate a number of approaches in health promotion, one of which is behaviour change, and to develop an understanding of planning, implementation and evaluation of health promotion interventions.

Graduates of the sports sciences need to understand how research, experimentation and numerical analysis of data drive their professions forward. This module prepares students for further study and employment by providing an understanding of what science is and how it works, and of the importance of inferential statistical analysis of scientific data. It also prepares students for the Dissertation modules in later years of study. This module will develop students’ working knowledge of the principles of scientific research, and in particular, the planning and design of experiments and use of various methodologies. Students will refine skills for literature searching, and the preparation of papers for publication and/or oral presentation to the scientific, sports and general public communities. 

The Dissertation will provide an opportunity for individuals to develop an area of scientific interest arising from their sport and exercise science discipline. It will enable students to further develop skills learnt throughout the programme such as enquiry-based learning, problem solving, critical thinking, and reflection. Students will engage with the principles of primary research and/or literature review to further their understanding of the evidence base. This module will enable students to utilise intellectual, decision-making, and possibly practical skills in novel situations, and provide a mechanism by which students can demonstrate autonomy and self-direction, whilst undertaking a real problem-solving approach to a research topic. The focus of the Dissertation will be a research-based study, which will either be original research (including data collection and hypothesis testing) or a review of the scientific literature.

Achieving success in sport requires athletes to be conditioned to cope with the rigours of training and competition. Strength and conditioning specialists need to prepare athletes to compete in peak condition, which is a complex task, and so it is vitally important that they understand relevant physiology to enable effective design and implementation of testing, training and recovery programmes. This module will develop sport and exercise physiology, and strength and conditioning content that we have learned at earlier levels of study. We need to explore why we respond and adapt to training stimuli, at a slightly deeper level including advanced physiology, and importantly learn how to apply that knowledge so we can better support athletes in a variety of sports.

Therefore, we will need to review how we can test/monitor our athlete/player performance, and when we should test/monitor them. In order to design effective training programmes we must understand the time-course of a number of physiological adaptations, as performance will only improve if the training stimuli is able to produce the adaptations that enable performance to improve. We do this by revisiting the fundamental principles of frequency, intensity, time and type, and ensure they are utilized in a way that evidence tells us should lead to improvement for the specific performance requirements of the athlete’s/player’s sport. And finally, we need to review how we avoid ‘overtraining’ athletes/players, by making sure that training load is managed, and recovery is as well planned for as the exercise training sessions.

Physical inactivity and its associated lifestyle diseases is a global concern. Physical inactivity can lead to a myriad of health problems including respiratory, cardiovascular, metabolic, and musculoskeletal disorders and diseases. Research shows that exercise can help to prevent many conditions and ameliorate the effects of certain disorders and diseases. Furthermore, exercise referral programmes may also be used for rehabilitation purposes following serious health events (e.g. post-operative and myocardial infarction patients). This module will explore topics within applied clinical exercise physiology, exercise referral and sports medicine requiring the student to critically appraise contemporary research evidence.

Biomechanics plays a pivotal role in optimising human motion, reducing the risk of injury, and maximising the effectiveness of intervention strategies. Sport and exercise biomechanists must be able to identify potential injury gait features and consider their clinical and practical significance. To this end, the biomechanist must synthesise and interpret data from a movement analysis, and offer insight into possible corrective strategies to restore function, reduce the rate of physical deterioration, or improve sporting performance. This module will also evaluate the application of ergonomic aids and consider their use within areas of strength and conditioning.

Good nutrition should ensure we consume the best range of foods to aid our health and sport performance. This module will focus on the demands of exercise training and competition, in both general population and elite sport settings. Well-designed nutrition strategies can help individuals achieve their health improvement goals, and aid performance and recovery to support the demands of training and competition for athletes. 

Good nutrition supports physiological adaptations that are induced by well-designed training programmes. Therefore, the physiology of exercise conditioning and nutrition are inseparable, whether that be for general health or sport performance. And good sport performance is impossible without good fundamental health. Poor nutrition will very likely not allow for positive training adaptations to take place. The challenges in implementing an effective nutrition strategy in both general population and elite sport settings are immense, but it is a vitally important aspect of health and performance, so we must ensure we use good evidence-based practice when possible.

Psychological variables contribute to people's engagement in sport, exercise, and physical activity, their enjoyment in these contexts, and their success in achieving their individual goals by performing these tasks. It is therefore not surprising that sport and exercise psychology (SEP) is an equal partner compared to other disciplines in sport sciences.  

In this module, students learn to analyse sports contexts and practices from a psychological point of view. They will learn to use different tools like interviews, questionnaires, and observations. Students will learn where to find information, how materials are adapted to different contexts, how information is collected, how data is analysed, and how results are presented. In addition, students will learn to analyse psychological challenges in sport exercises and develop basic procedures to adapt these challenges and facilitate the strengthening of psychological skills.

A successful career in the sports sciences requires the individual to demonstrate a range of graduate skills, including the critical application and communication of scientific knowledge, leadership, self awareness, and a commitment to continuing professional development, amongst others. This module is designed to assist you in developing a portfolio of resources in preparation for applying for your first graduate position. You will have opportunities to explore a range of professional issues and be encouraged to reflect on your learning, development, and experiences so far, as well as developing strategies for continually maintaining up to date with current evidence-based practice and self development. The module will introduce you to the principles of coaching and supervising and further explore and contextualise accountability, resilience, leadership, enterprise, entrepreneurship, and innovation in the sports sciences, with input from alumni where possible.