Strength and Conditioning MSc

This degree is the ideal sports and exercise science route for students who aspire to work with elite athletes. Learn how to plan and deliver training programmes, monitor progress and deliver feedback to coaches. Being a fully recognised profession in elite sport, almost all professional clubs now employ a minimum of one strength and conditioning coach. This course will provide you with the knowledge and skills to work with athletes in any sport and of any age.

Why study MSc Strength and Conditioning* at Middlesex University?

Learn from noted academics who also work with professional athletes and clubs. This course will facilitate your accreditation from relevant strength and conditioning awarding bodies (NSCA and UKSCA) and provide supervised work experience with high-level athletes (for example, in professional football, rugby, and with Olympic and Paralympic athletes). Alongside designing and implementing evidence-based, sport-specific training programmes, you will master a number of exercise techniques, including Olympic lifting, speed agility and plyometrics. You will also develop research and data analysis skills, and the ability to present findings to a team.

You will gain experience as a strength and conditioning coach and scientist through our work-placement module. In our partnership with Saracens Rugby Club, you’ll have access to the fantastic resources at StoneX Stadium, including the brand new £23 million redevelopment project of the West Stand which offers state-of-the-art facilities as a top educational and high performance centre for teaching and research excellence. With some of the most advanced equipment in the UK, you will be able to utilise the new specialist spaces, simulation suites, specialist labs, plus much more. You will build invaluable industry contacts and we maintain contact with many of our graduates who have gone on to work in professional sports.

Course highlights

• Based in London, we are surrounded by the greatest density of top sports clubs and organisations in the UK
• We believe that all our graduates should be high achievers both practically and academically. As a result, we actively encourage students to publish their dissertation through peer-reviewed journals and conferences
• This course will facilitate your accreditation from relevant strength and conditioning awarding bodies and provide supervised work experience with high-level athletes
• The majority of our staff are active sports professionals involved in coaching and sport performance. Able to maintain close links with the industry, they can ensure current professional practice informs your studies
• Small class sizes allow you to receive the personal attention required to thrive in your studies
• As a student of this course you'll receive a free electronic textbook for every module.

Listen to the course introduction

Study at our world-class facilities: The London Sports Institute

*Please note this course is subject to review.

Please note this course only runs in October

What will you study on the MSc Strength and Conditioning?

As part of the course you will carry out physiological and biomechanical assessments of athletes and interpret the data so as to monitor and tailor training interventions. You will also develop research skills through both a critical review of literature and the undertaking of laboratory or field-based investigations.

The programme can be studied over one year full-time or part-time over two or three years. Lectures take be pre-recorded and online, with attendance on campus occurring during the first Wednesday of every month from 10.00am to 5.00pm, to go through laboratory and practical content.

Alternative arrangements will be put in place is social distancing requirements due to COVID-19 restricts access to specialist facilities or face-to-face interaction.

Modules

We are regularly reviewing and updating our programmes to ensure you have the best learning experience. We are taking what we have learnt during the pandemic and enhancing our teaching methods with new and innovative ways of learning.

We aim to model a wide range of teaching strategies and approaches on the course which you can adapt to your own setting.

How will the MSc Strength and Conditioning be taught?

All of the theory based content will be pre-recorded and made available online. Attending campus will be every other week where you will gain knowledge and skills from attending laboratory and practical sessions. This will involve group work, small discussions and directed learning towards the skill set needed to be a strength and conditioning coach.

Assessment

You will be assessed by a variety of methods including seminar presentations, written assignments, laboratory reports, unseen examinations (online or on campus) and practical demonstrations.

Teaching and learning from 2022

We are regularly reviewing and updating our programmes to ensure you have the best learning experience. We are taking what we have learnt during the pandemic and enhancing our teaching methods with new and innovative ways of learning.

We are currently reviewing our approach to teaching and learning for 2023 entry and beyond. We've learned a lot about how to give you a quality education - we aim to combine the best of our pre-pandemic teaching and learning with access to online learning and digital resources which put you more in charge of when and how you study. We will keep you updated on this throughout the application process.

Your timetable will be built around on campus sessions using our professional facilities, with online sessions for some activities where we know being virtual will add value. We’ll use technology to enhance all of your learning and give you access to online resources to use in your own time.

The table below gives you an idea of what learning looks like across a typical week. Some weeks are different due to how we schedule classes and arrange on campus sessions.

This information is likely to change slightly for 2023 entry as our plans evolve. You'll receive full information on your teaching before you start your course.

This information is likely to change slightly for 2024/25 entry as our plans evolve. You'll receive full information on your teaching before you start your course.

Definitions of terms

• Live in-person on campus learning – This will focus on active and experiential sessions that are both:
  • Led by your tutors including seminars, lab sessions and demonstrations We'll schedule all of this for you
  • Student-led by you and other students, like small group work and presentations.
• Live online learning – This will include lectures, tutorials and supervision sessions led by your tutor and timetabled by us. It also includes student-led group work that takes place online.
• Tutor set learning activities – This covers activities which will be set for you by your tutor, but which you will undertake in your own time. Examples of this include watching online materials, participating in an online discussion forum, completing a virtual laboratory or reading specific texts. You may be doing this by yourself of with your course mates depending on your course and assignments. Outside of these hours, you’ll also be expected to do further independent study where you’ll be expected to learn, prepare, revise and reflect in your own time.

Support

You have a strong support network available to you to make sure you develop all the necessary academic skills you need to do well on your course.

Our support services will be delivered online and on campus and you have access to a range of different resources so you can get the help you need, whether you’re studying at home or have the opportunity to come to campus.

You have access to one to one and group sessions for personal learning and academic support from our library and IT teams, and our network of learning experts. Our teams will also be here to offer financial advice, and personal wellbeing, mental health and disability support.

How can the MSc Strength and Conditioning support your career?

This Strength and Conditioning course is for students who would like to develop key skills, acquire a body of knowledge, and gain exposure to the frontiers of the subject. A Strength and Conditioning degree opens the doors to a number of exciting career paths, with excellent career progression opportunities.

With the ever-increasing focus for the sporting world to achieve the best results possible, sport scientists are in demand. Middlesex University has strong links with employers. Opportunities exist as a strength and conditioning coach with the governing bodies of most sporting organisations, as well as with organisations such as the English Institute of Sport. Graduates will also be capable of establishing their own consultancy business or progressing on to additional study.