Sport, Physical Activity and Health Promotion

This module will build your understanding of the relationship between physical activity and the entire lifespan of a person. You’ll learn how to conceptualise evidence-based methodology, investigate epidemiology, data analysis, and participate in discussions on physical activity in the child and adolescent stage, and pre-and postnatal stage, while forming an understanding of enhancing physical activity in the older generations. You’ll discover how your research findings can be used effectively to inform public health and clinical guidelines, and gain an understanding of creating individual customised interventions for various stages of a person’s lifespan.

What are the main factors that motivate you to eat healthily and adopt healthy lifestyles? In this module, you’ll be discovering how the reasons behind consuming certain foods are important in relation to the improvement of lives globally, and in post-industrialised nations.

To be healthy and active, our diet must comprise of certain foods to meet our energy and nutritional requirements and our lifestyle habits must include activities that promote health. In some circumstances, unhealthy food and lifestyle choices become of concern in relation to adverse health consequences.

This module will allow you to examine the approaches to motivate behavioural health change in relation to improved human health, by addressing nutrition, exercise and other relevant factors.

This module investigates the factors that influence or impact the health of a population. You’ll be looking at social determinants of health from an international perspective. Bio-socio-economic elements all play a part, such as education, employment, gender and culture. You’ll be drawing on evidence from low, middle, and high income case examples. You’ll also get the opportunity to look at the interdisciplinary approach to tackling health inequalities, and how this influences and impacts the public health of a nation.

Learn the prevention and treatment concepts behind promoting and enhancing the nation’s health, from how physical inactivity impacts human health to formulating behavioural changes strategies. You’ll have the opportunity to investigate evidence from scientific literature pertaining to the role that physical inactivity plays in the resulting conditions and illnesses of obesity, insulin resistance syndrome, cancer and development of cardiovascular disease.

In this module you’ll develop your knowledge of both quantitative and qualitative research and concepts related to research design methods, analysis and interpretation of findings in Sport and Health Sciences. You’ll consider ethical considerations fundamental to the research process in the field.

You’ll also be given the opportunity to create your own research proposal, developing the ability to effectively present evidence-based results. Through lectures delivered by expert academics, you’ll gain methodology knowledge, critical thinking skills and the strong insight required to identify relevant areas of research in Sport and Health Sciences.

In this module, you’ll be trained in developing the theoretical knowledge and practical skills needed to create evidence-based exercise interventions for the enhancement of physiological and psychological health in clinical populations, including rehabilitation settings.

You’ll draw on knowledge to devise specific custom exercise plans and modalities to improve physiologically-related mechanisms such as muscle strength, cardiovascular and immunological associations, and psychologically-related mechanisms such as anxiety, depressions, and fatigue.

By the end of this module, you shall be able to competently design exercise interventions that encourage good health habits and behaviours. This module aims to broadly align to recognised awarding bodies in GP exercise referral schemes, enabling you the best chance of accreditation after successfully completing this module.

How does food play an important role in our lives? Explore this question and more on this module. Throughout your studies, you’ll discover the societal and biological nutritional links from disease prevention, maintenance and therapeutic perspectives. You’ll enjoy weekly lectures that build upon and apply the knowledge gained during Nutrition Biochemistry and Metabolism (NUTR5004) in the previous semester.

Your learning journey will take you beyond the lecture room, introducing you to cutting-edge laboratory-based class techniques using specialist dietary analysis software, and preparing you for the career world. You’ll explore three broad sections: Nutrigenomics; which focuses on the role of gene expression and the genetic susceptibility to disease stages, chronic diseases, and specialist topics such as vegetarianism and alcohol.

In this module you’ll be introduced to the theoretical background behind metabolic energy and human metabolism. You’ll learn about nutritional biochemistry in foods and how excessive consumption or suboptimal intake can impact internal biological mechanisms at a molecular, cellular and whole-body level.

This module serves as a precursor to NUTR5008 Applied Human Nutrition, where you’ll also gain an informative insight into the role of energy and nutrients in the various stages of the life cycle and their associations with chronic disease risk.

Once you graduate you can expect to be equipped for careers in public health, clinical nutrition/dietetics, or the food industry to name a few.

In this module, you’ll be taking your understanding of sports and exercise to the next level. You’ll get to put your existing knowledge and theory into practice by honing your ability to understand, write and deliver individualised or group training programmes.

You’ll focus on the key concepts of physical conditioning for all levels of performers. Defining the training principles behind sports and exercise programmes, you’ll create the backbone of successful sports and exercise training interventions, to set goals, prevent injuries, maintain year-round fitness, and recognise different physical requirements, whether it be for a specific sport, or a specific target group or individual.

In this module, you’ll be amidst the action and working with expert staff and patrons already assigned to the field of Sport and Exercise, under a supervised work-based learning experience, designed to complement your professional and technical skills.

You’ll build on your professional knowledge, practical leadership skills and vocational competencies, embarking on a journey of self-discovery in terms of applying your theory to Sport and Exercise concepts. Participating in this placement will enhance your employability and will also open up avenues to investigate and identify your future career direction options and professional development opportunities.

In this module, you’ll study how the psychology behind sports concepts can enhance sports performance. You’ll delve into how to present evidence-based interventions and apply this knowledge in real-world settings.

Strategic-thinking abilities, problem-solving skills, data management, and confidence in communicating your ideas will all be developed under the guidance of your tutor on this module. You’ll be offered this module as part of your programme of study under exceptional circumstances, and at the discretion of your module tutor.

In this module, you’ll be given the opportunity to create your own project/dissertation on a specific area of knowledge in relation to fields of sport and exercise science, sport, coaching and physical activity and health promotion. You’ll work one-to-one with a supervisor, developing and enhancing your research while utilising academic literature critically and analytically to support your findings. You’ll get to choose your topic and will be encouraged to get involved with both practical hands-on collection of data and desk-based study. You’ll explore a range of issues which will widen your knowledge and increase your awareness of future career paths.

Interested in creating interventions that enhance recovery, health, and mobility after injury across a range of populations? Then this module is for you. You’ll get to grips with both theoretical knowledge and practical skills in the area of exercise and training of clinical populations with long-term health conditions. On completion of this module, you will be accredited with a Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA) award, indicating your successful completion of the module.

In this module you’ll be considering the determinants that cause public health inequalities across the nation, and how positive effective practice can improve societal public health.

On completion of this module, you will be confident enough to develop public health plans that will make a difference to communities.

You’ll develop both practical and theoretical knowledge of the strength and conditioning spectrum, including evidence-based practice, rehabilitation and working with special populations. You’ll enhance your abilities to work collaboratively with peers and plan interventions that provide solutions to real sporting problems. On completion of this module, you’ll be well prepared to achieve accreditation with recognised awarding bodies associated with strength and conditioning.

In this module you will study the factors influencing human energy regulation and the development and treatment of obesity. This includes the concept of energy balance and discusses the measures and implications of basal metabolic rate (BMR) and the factors controlling energy intake and energy expenditure as part of the body’s internal balancing act. Development of overweight and obesity is controlled by environmental, socioeconomic, genetic and diet-related factors. Understanding these factors and the methods for measuring energy requirement are important for energy regulation and prevention of obesity.

Dr Catherine Graham, Module Lead: 'This module links many aspects together, from biochemistry to treatment and prevention. This is a fantastic module, full of debates, and combining the creative with the scientific.'

You’ll gain a detailed insight of nutrition-based theory and practice within a clinical setting. You’ll investigate the processes behind approaches to clinical nutrition and explore the general principles that underlie most clinical cases. Your study will touch on human energy requirements during health, disease states, the management of nutrition-related diseases, and the uses of clinical dietary therapy and therapeutic diets. You’ll gain the confidence in identifying supporting evidence for clinical practice and will focus on nutritional management of common diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, gastrointestinal disorders, and renal/liver disease. In addition to lectures, you’ll have the opportunity to put your problem-solving skills to the test with hands-on interactive practical laboratory experience. Put your knowledge into action within the real world by exploring the potential application of various methodologies as part of your coursework.

You’ll get to grips with the biomechanics of the human body in this module, and will develop your theoretical knowledge, technical, practical and transferrable skills in the area of exercise. Most importantly, you’ll be encouraged to identify the strengths and weaknesses of emerging, industry specific technology, and its application to exercise and health. You will learn how to critically analyse technology data and apply the findings within your field of expertise to real-word problems.

This optional module will provide you with valuable work experience, and will not require you to take time out of your studies. You shall be able to continue your studies in other modules concurrently in the semester and there will be no additional fees to these opportunities beyond normal tuition fees. The module themes will be organised and facilitated by the department, however, you may be able to organise your own experience with approval by the work experience module lead.

This module involves individual or group work on an appropriate topic constructed under the supervision of the module leader, with prior approval of the field committee. This study may be work based, enabling you to gain recognition and academic credit for learning gained through your professional practice or employment or from an in-depth study of your own high level sporting performance. A learning contract is agreed between you and a supervising member of staff in the semester prior to the one in which the study is to be undertaken, and this must be approved by the Subject Examination Committee. Only once the learning contract has been formally approved will the module be registered on your programme of study.