Strength and Conditioning with Sandwich Placement

The course is closely aligned to the UK Strength and Conditioning Association (UKSCA) competencies areas, which are:

• Scientific knowledge
• Strength & Conditioning skills
• Professional competencies

You will begin the course by learning about the core sciences, physiological functions of the body during/in response to training, and applied functional anatomy & movement.

As the course progresses you will develop specific skills such as athlete evaluation and monitoring, how to implement a sports specific training programme, and technical knowledge of weight lifting, plyometrics, speed & agility, aerobic & anaerobic endurance, and flexibility

By the end of the programme you will have developed competencies in designing and planning sessions, delivering Strength and Conditioning coaching sessions, communication skills, and health & safety principles.

Typical module structure:

Introduction to Exercise Physiology

Analysis of Human Movement

Introduction to Biomechanics of Human Movement

Motor Learning

Training and Conditioning Principles in Practice

Research Skills for Sport & Exercise Science

Science in Performance Coaching

Principles of Personal Training

Training Principles for Sports Performance

Motor Control & Performance

Analysis of Sport Performance

Research Methods and Analytical Procedures

Professional Project

Optimising Training and Performance

Applied Sport Science in Coaching

Professional Practice

Sports Injury & Rehabilitation

Who will teach me?

You will be taught by academic staff who are at the cutting edge of their fields. Our staff are active researchers who publish text books and peer reviewed journal articles. Our staff don’t just teach from text books, they’re the people who write the text books!

Amongst the high profile contributing to this course are:

Andy Lane, Professor of Sport Psychology. Andy has authored more than 200 peer refereed journal articles, given numerous keynotes talks, and is on editorial boards of prestigious journals in sport sciences (Journal of Sports Sciences), Sports Medicine (Journal of Sports Science and Medicine), psychology (Personality and Individual Differences) and education (Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism). He has edited five books including the book Case Studies in Sport Science and Medicine), a co-authored work with Prof Greg Whyte, and his recent book on sport psychology and nutrition in running, co-authored with colleagues at the University. Professor Lane is regularly asked for comment on TV, radio, websites and newspapers. For example, he worked with Adidas on videos with Glenn Hoddle and Mathew LeTissier on penalty taking (see video 1 and video 2 for example). He has also led high profile research projects such as the BBC Science Lab “Can you compete under pressure?" project fronted by former Olympian Michael Johnson.

Mark Niemz has worked in the area of athletic development since 2005 after completing his MSc in Strength and Conditioning (S&C) at the University of Edinburgh. Since then he has been involved as a practitioner in the physical preparation of athletes within a number of settings, including working with world class high performance sports programmes as an S&C Coach with the English Institute of Sport, and working with talented student-athletes in school and university environments. Mark is an accredited coach and member of the UK Strength and Conditioning Association, and continues to practice as an S&C coach and consultant alongside his role as lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton.

Mark’s experience of delivering S&C services to elite athletes has included working with several Olympic sporting programmes within the UK high performance system, including GB Triathlon, GB canoeing, GB Water Polo and British cycling. Currently he delivers S&C support to athletes from a range of sports, including triathlon, golf and rugby.

You can find more information about the Institute of Sport and Human Science staff research on our Research Centre for Sport Exercise & Performance webpage.