Understanding the skeletal, muscular, cardiovascular, respiratory, neural and energy systems is essential in the sport and exercise science sector. You will learn how these systems work together to enable participants to take part in a huge variety of sport and exercise activities in normal conditions, in hot conditions and at altitude. This knowledge will enable sport and exercise professionals to help improve athlete performance for specific events and also when performing in different environmental conditions.

This unit will develop your knowledge and understanding of how the human body produces movement as well as the factors that can contribute to making the performance of movement more effective. It will prepare you for progression to higher education or a career in sport science, coaching, or the fitness industry.

Understanding the role of a sports scientist or allied health practitioner is paramount in monitoring and evaluating an individual’s sport and exercise performance. Using a range of assessment methods, this unit will apply testing protocols commonly used by the sports scientist and health professional in both field- and laboratory-based settings. The unit will explore the use of clinical assessments to enable you to appreciate the stages involved when planning, administering and interpreting the outcome of testing protocols.

There has long been an appreciation of the role of research in sport and exercise sciences. Research has been central to the growth and development of each of the different disciplines in sport and exercise sciences, with sport and exercise scientists recognising the need for a strong evidence base behind their day-to-day work with clients. This evidence base helps sport and exercise scientists offer their clients the best quality of support. The first step towards this is having a clear understanding of and skill set in the area of research methods

The fitness training industry is booming with both sporting and non-sporting people going to gyms and engaging with trainers or fitness coaches. Sports coaches and athletes are always striving for the marginal gains that will lead to improved performance and success. Specialised fitness training provides the tools and framework to identify the key performance factors and target fitness training programmes for an athlete’s improvement.

In this unit, you will gain an understanding of how to establish effective working relationships with individuals and groups of participants, which is essential in order to ensure that participants trust you and come back for business. You will also explore ways in which to help to support participants to encourage regular participation in physical activity. You will explore the types of exercises that can be used for both individual exercise sessions and group-based classes. You will then plan and instruct an individual and a group-based exercise session before carrying out a review of your sessions, allowing you to identify your strengths and areas for improvement in planning and instructing.

In this unit, you will examine the impact of technology on sport and exercise. You will explore the types of technology and personal equipment available to sport and exercise performers and investigate how technology aids sport and exercise performance. You will then explore how technology is used to measure and analyse sport and exercise performance. Finally, you will examine the ethical considerations that impact on the use of technology in sport and exercise .