BSc (Hons) Strength and Conditioning

Strength and conditioning coaches require a unique mix of scientific knowledge, coaching knowledge, practical expertise and coaching experience. They therefore need to be able draw on knowledge and expertise across a wide range of disciplines and subject areas, and synthesise these areas in the design and delivery of effective training programmes.

Year One: Strength and Conditioning course

Essentials of Resistance Training - 20 credits - Nathan Evans

Resistance training is a key aspect of a strength and conditioning coach’s work. This module is designed provide the student with a range of skills knowledge and competence in the planning and coaching of resistance training to enable them to utilise this training in their strength and conditioning practice.

Monitoring Growth and Long-Term Development across athletic performance - 20 credits - Nathan Evans

The module will provide the student with a basic understanding of the periodisation process along with the prerequisite knowledge and understanding of growth, development and movement to enable the student to design and implement effective long-term player development programmes.

Exercise Physiology - 20 credits - Philippa Laugharne

This module aims to familiarise the student with the language of anatomy and to specifically establish their knowledge and understanding of human musculo-skeletal anatomy, as an underpinning subject of exercise physiology and biomechanics.

Coaching Speed, Agility and Endurance Development - 20 credits - Paul Bunce

This module aims to provide students with the underpinning knowledge and practical skills to enable them to design, implement and effectively coach speed agility and endurance development programmes.

Coaching the Fundamentals of Strength and Conditioning - 20 credits - Peter Ashcroft

This module is designed to provide the student with an understanding of the foundation scientific principles underpinning the training process. Students will develop an understanding of the principles of training, components of fitness and the role of the coaching process in the delivery of strength and conditioning.

Introduction to Screening, Prevention and Recovery - 20 credits - Dr Kate Louise Williams

The module will introduce students to the theory and practice of movement screening, sports injury prevention and recovery modalities and to develop practical competency in basic first aid, and prevention and/or management of soft tissue injury.

Year Two: Strength and Conditioning course

Designing and Administering Strength and Conditioning Programmes - 20 credits –Paul Bunce

The module will provide the student with the required knowledge, skill and competence to be able to design, plan lead and manage a working strength and conditioning programme.

Weightlifting - 20 credits - Nathan Evans

This module will enable students to acquire the knowledge, skill and practical competency to become a competent beginner coach in weightlifting and basic Olympic weightlifting exercise.

Sports Nutrition - 20 credits - George Rose

This module aims to provide the student with an appreciation of how nutritional interventions influence sport and exercise performance, especially the use and purported benefits of selected dietary manipulations. 

Monitoring, Testing and Evaluation in Team Sports - 20 credits - Dr Morgan Williams

The module aims to provide the student with an introduction to contemporary issues and protocols used for athlete monitoring and testing in an applied environment and the ability to analyse data and to produce an athlete report of an assessment.

Research Methods - 20 credits - Dr Morgan Williams

This will build on the student’s understanding of research methods and broaden and deepen your appreciation of the range of approaches to research using research for both qualitative and quantitative methods.

Optional modules:

Rehabilitation of Sports and Exercise Injuries - 20 credits - Dr Kate Louise Williams

This module will develop a student’s knowledge and understanding of the early and intermediate rehabilitation of common musculoskeletal injuries and illness sustained in the sports and exercise environment, such as; tissue mechanics and stress-strain curves; exercise selection and prescription.

Sport Placement - 20 credits - Huw Wilcox

Students will be provided with the opportunity to conduct their work-related experience within a number of key vocational areas related to the sports industry.

Exercise for Special Populations - 20 credits

This module will provide the student with an understanding of the physiological and medical issues associated with access to physical activity among special populations. The student will learn to design and evaluate appropriate exercise programmes that are suitable for individual needs among a diverse range of special population groups.

Year Three: Strength and Conditioning course

Advanced Methods in Strength and Conditioning - 20 credits - Nathan Evans

This module will provide the student with the required knowledge and practical competency to allow for the effective delivery, monitoring and evaluation of advanced methods and training interventions suitable for a wider range of athletes.

Applied Science in Strength and Conditioning - 20 credits - Dr Morgan Williams

This module aims to develop a higher level of knowledge and understanding regarding the anatomical, physiological and biomechanical basis of the training process and planning and evaluation of effective training programmes.

Coaching Special Populations - 20 credits - Nathan Evans

This module will enable the student to acquire and display the knowledge, know-how, skill and competence to become a specialist in delivering varied programmes of strength and conditioning to a variety of populations.

Optional modules:

Applied Professional Project (Online) - 40 credits - Chris Emsley

This module aims to provide the student with a platform upon which they can enhance the effectiveness of their workplace experience and develop their vocational skills.

Dissertation - 40 credits - Dr Stuart Jarvis

This will enable the student to design and conduct an independent study and to be able to critically evaluate scientific data and literature.

Work Based Learning - 20 credits - Huw Wilcox

The module is designed to provide a platform upon which the learner can enhance the effectiveness of the workplace experience and reflect on these experiences. For their chosen professional activity the student will be expected to develop independent learning based on experience in the workplace.

Advanced Rehabilitation of Sports and Exercise Injuries- 20 credits - Anthony Carter

This module will allow the student to develop an array of massage techniques and understand how to appropriately record and effectively implement these skills when applying various treatment strategies.

Full time students study six modules in each year (three per semester). Each module has a two hour lecture each week with an additional two hours practical application, linked to this theory. This ensures that the learning reflects the applied nature of the industry.

This is supplemented with dedicated gym time, where students will have the opportunity to become an active coach in our sports performance programme.

There is a range of teaching and learning methods, including formal lectures, practical workshops, and critically applied practical experience.

Each aspect of the strength and conditioning course is underpinned by extensive practical experience in the hands on delivery of strength and conditioning, an essential capacity for employment in the field.

You are taught by in small groups by strength and conditioning experts, in a strength and conditioning environment. 

Your studies will be underpinned by the latest research undertaken by the University’s Sport, Health and Exercise Science Research Group which collaborates locally, nationally and internationally with partners from industry and academia to provide world-leading knowledge and impact. For you, this means you will be taught by academics who are at the forefront of their specialist field.

Stressing the applied nature of this level 4 strength and conditioning course, assessment will be closely tied to the tasks strength and conditioning coaches will be required to perform as industry practitioners.

While formal exams are used to assess theoretical knowledge, the majority of assessments are in the form of practical assessments and applied portfolios of training inputs the students have designed and delivered – for example, programme design and programme management.