Our strength and conditioning course is the ideal route into the booming sports industry. We'll equip you with the specialist skillset, self-discipline, experience and valuable industry contacts to help you find success. You’ll follow in the footsteps of graduates who have won Olympic medals and are now making an impact for organisations including Nike and Brentford FC.
Guided by tutors who are active sports professionals, you’ll gain an expert understanding of sport and exercise theory. Here, you’ll learn what it takes to push athletes to their peak potential and develop strength and conditioning programmes for sportspeople who are at the top of their profession.
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.
Using our modern facilities, you’ll get to grips with everything from performance analysis and rehabilitation to strength and conditioning and physical development.
You’ll spend 50 hours each year gaining hands-on experience and developing your professional experience through work experience placements in the industry.
Our partnerships with professional sports teams such as Tottenham Hotspur and Saracens Rugby Club means you’ll be able to build valuable professional contacts while you study.
Due to Covid-19 we are following guidance from BASRaT and Public Health England regarding SSR’s contact with their colleagues during the teaching of practical based skills, this includes full PPE to ensure the safety of all staff and students.
In eventualities where we are unable to be face to face in the laboratory or classroom or other practical clinical settings, we aim to use virtual tools to help you develop key practical skills.
The availability of placements is subject to the co-operating organisation, and we are working closely with our partners to ensure that as many as possible are available although this may be affected by the pandemic. In the event that placement hours cannot be completed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we will encourage students to complete relevant online CPD courses to enhance their learning which can be used towards their portfolio instead.
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You will study the full spectrum of sport and exercise science theory, including the methods of enhancing sports performance, the scientific methods of enquiry and a knowledge of the human response to exercise. A large part of your studies will be practice-based at our StoneX Stadium, home of Saracens Rugby Club, and you will take part in 150 hours of clinical practice throughout your degree (50 hours per year). (Access will be dependent on social distancing requirements due to Covid-19.)
This course offers a broad programme of study, preparing you for a range of sport and exercise science careers working with both sports teams and elite athletes, as well as with people across all levels of fitness, including young people and the elderly.
As well as the gaining an in-depth understanding of the scientific methods of training and performance, necessary to becoming a successful Strength and Conditioning Specialist, you will also have a detailed understanding of:
This module will provide a broad understanding and the fundamental knowledge of the key academic skills required for you to successfully complete your undergraduate degree. You will know the underlying core and theoretical frameworks for research methods and academic writing by demonstrating your understanding of data collection and analysis, literature, sourcing literature, the components of research and by identifying strengths and weaknesses.
On completion of this module, students will gain an understanding of aspects of strength and conditioning for a range of sports performers. Students will develop their knowledge by examining the principles and concepts of training theory from a variety of sources. By understanding these broad principles, students will become proficient in training, planning and practically be able to execute a simple movement screen to highlight functional strengths and weaknesses, as well as performing weightlifting derivatives and plyometric exercises.
This module aims to provide students with a broad knowledge of anatomy to develop an understanding of the principals of movement. Students will explore the function of the skeletal system and identify the joints range of movement and type structuring the human skeleton. This will provide a platform to understanding how bones interact with muscles in order to produce primary movement at joints. Students can then utilise the knowledge gained and apply this to advancing their coaching skills across a wide range of sports.
The aim of this module is to introduce the underlying theoretical frameworks of health and fitness, to provide students with the confidence and practical skills to deliver effective training sessions. Students will develop their coaching knowledge through a variety of topics, ranging from the benefits and risks of physical activity, the development and maintenance of health, fitness, and understand how to optimise and monitor sports performance. The theoretical sessions will support students to undertake complex and routine practical performance tasks, orientated around developing effective coaching skills, both on an individual and group basis.
To introduce and apply key scientific concepts and principles across the three main sports science disciplines of physiology, psychology and biomechanics. Students will gain a broad understanding of human movement, physiological mechanisms that underpin these movements and core psychological concepts that affect health and sporting performance. Students will learn how to work effectively in a team by carrying out practical investigations in all three sport and exercise disciplines.
This module is aimed at transforming the personal and professional outcomes of undergraduate students at Middlesex University. By working in partnership within and beyond sporting disciplines, learners will be challenged to transfer skills and harness free-thinking knowledge from a range of inter-related sectors. Utilising multi-department collaboration, students will harness expansive information from experts within Support and Wellbeing, Employability, Learning Enhancement and the Students Union through a practice-oriented educational environment. Through applying broader educational principles, students will have new opportunities to develop innovative skills that inspire a life-long aptitude for individually and co-operatively solving problems within inclusive socio-economic development, the sustainability of communities and the underlying concepts of equity, health and wellbeing.
This module will provide the students with the skills to analyse a range of academic information, comparing alternative methods and techniques. This will involve them collecting and synthesising this information to inform a subject specific research question. The student will have knowledge of well-established research methods and concepts evidenced by the awareness of inconsistencies, gaps, and limitations within literature.
This module will provide students with a detailed knowledge of well-established concepts within human movement and programming skills. This allows them to identify and produce effective training programmes from a range of sources to allow athletes to be monitored, tested and communicated to appropriately.
Furthermore, an understanding of how to collect and synthesise information related to movement patterning to avoid injury and maximise performance are key skills. This allows students to interact effectively with a team and provide feedback applicably to athletes and coaches.
The aim of this module is to provide detailed knowledge of key biomechanical, physiological and psychological theories and concepts that can affect sport and exercise.
You will explore the mechanical basis of human movement, develop your understanding of the chronic physiological adaptations to sport and exercise and learn how to optimise performance through psychological techniques.
You will interact effectively within a team to gather data and be required to interpret and analyse their findings in the form of a scientific report.
This module will provide students with a detailed theoretical knowledge of performance analysis concepts and practical skills to prepare them for work in an applied performance analysis environment.
Learning to collect, analyse and present relevant performance-related data to understand how performance analysis can be utilised in sport.
They will learn the roles and responsibilities of the performance analyst developing and adapting interpersonal and communication skills to a range of sporting scenarios and audiences.
The aim of this module is to provide detailed knowledge of key concepts and theories of sport and exercise nutrition that can influence sporting performance.
You will explore the physiological and biochemical basis of sport and exercise nutrition and develop your understanding of applied strategies to enable an adaptation in sporting performance.
This module builds on the personal and professional outcomes of undergraduate students that were secured at level 4. By continuing to work beyond sporting disciplines, learners will be challenged to provide opinions and back this up with reasoning and evidence throughout a range of inter-related sectors. Utilising multi-department collaboration, students will appraise, assess and critique the information from subject experts within Support and Wellbeing, Employability, Learning Enhancement and the Students Union.
Through comparing broader educational principles, students will further develop innovative skills that inspire a life-long aptitude for individually and co-operatively solving problems within inclusive socio-economic development, the sustainability of communities and the underlying concepts of equity, health and wellbeing.
This module aims to synthesise existing learning from the students' undergraduate programme, providing an opportunity for students to study independently and investigate a topic in depth.
It fosters academic curiosity; requiring students to use an inquiry-based approach, for the employment and application of research skills thus facilitating the development of higher level of theorising.
Students will select a topic relevant to their degree on which they wish to undertake a substantial in-depth study. Students will judge the reliability, validity and significance of the evidence to support conclusions and/or recommendations.
This module will develop student’s systematic understanding through a wide knowledge base of principles used within the strength and conditioning field. Equally, students will seek to apply knowledge to use up to date equipment and techniques, which can be used to critically analyse performance and evaluate the outcomes. Students will analyse data using a range of established subject-specific techniques and provide output data that is effective in various professional situations.
This module develops the student’s ability to apply the in-depth knowledge and skills gained from prior learning in relation to a professional practice environment. Students will be required to reflect and evaluate their working practice and be able to adopt a problem-solving approach to practice and a working environment. Sport & Exercise Rehabilitation Pathway only There is a compulsory placement module where students will be encouraged to seek short term (minimum of 400 hours) of work experience in a suitable Sport and Exercise Rehabilitation environment; this should be supervised by a suitably qualified practitioner (certified and registered/insured with a professional body; Sports Rehabilitator, Sports Therapist, Physiotherapist, Chiropractor, Osteopath, Sports Medicine doctor, or equivalent, dictated by the programme leader).
Sport and Exercise Science (PE&C and S&C) There is a compulsory placement module where students will be encouraged to seek short term (minimum of 100-hours) of work experience in a suitable Sport and Exercise Science, Strength and Conditioning, PE and Coaching environment determined by your programme; this should be supervised by a suitably qualified practitioner. Suitability of the placement and supervisor is dictated by the programme leader.
This module develops advanced sport science concepts in an interdisciplinary method. Students will examine and analyse their role in optimising sports performance and/or health in a field setting. Students must demonstrate the interdisciplinary nature of how the theoretical principles of coaching, biomechanics, physiology, psychology and strength and conditioning can be integrated and applied to working with a client in the field. This module will enable students to experience and apply appropriate interdisciplinary knowledge, tools and procedures in working with both elite athletes and general populations.
More information about this course
See the course specification for more information about course content:
Optional modules are usually available at levels 5 and 6, although optional modules are not offered on every course. Where optional modules are available, you will be asked to make your choice during the previous academic year. If we have insufficient numbers of students interested in an optional module, or there are staffing changes which affect the teaching, it may not be offered. If an optional module will not run, we will advise you after the module selection period when numbers are confirmed, or at the earliest time that the programme team make the decision not to run the module, and help you choose an alternative module.
Upon graduating, you could find yourself working in health and fitness club management, fitness consultancy, weight management, health promotion, personal fitness training, corporate health advice, sports or physical activity development, medical sales, and the armed forces. There are also career opportunities in teaching and research.
Previous sports graduates have gone on to work in a wide range of roles such as academy performance analyst, personal trainer, fitness instructor, athlete, graduate management trainee, or analysis specialist in prestigious organisations including:
You could also continue your professional studies by taking a British Association of Sport and Exercise Science (BASES) training programme to qualify as an accredited sport and exercise scientist. You can also take further studies to become a physiotherapist or sports rehabilitator.
Our Employability Service can help you to develop your employability skills and get some valuable work experience. We provide workshops, events and one to one support with job hunting, CVs, covering letters, interviews, networking and so on. We also support you in securing part-time work, placements, internships, and volunteering opportunities, and offer an enterprise support service for those looking to start their own business. .
We’ll carefully manage any future changes to courses, or the support and other services available to you, if these are necessary because of things like changes to government health and safety advice, or any changes to the law.
Any decisions will be taken in line with both external advice and the University’s Regulations which include information on this.
Our priority will always be to maintain academic standards and quality so that your learning outcomes are not affected by any adjustments that we may have to make.
At all times we’ll aim to keep you well informed of how we may need to respond to changing circumstances, and about support that we’ll provide to you.
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