Traditional (No Specialization)
Students choose at least one course from each core topic area. Additional courses may be taken as electives.
Core Courses (18 credits)
Fundamentals in Exercise Physiology
This course reviews macrotraumatic and microtraumatic inflammatory processes, factors affecting inflammation and healing, and the role of exercise in controlling the onset or course of an inflammatory response.
This course examines the underpinnings of exercise physiology specifically with a focus on the acute and chronic physiological responses to exercise. Topics covered in this course include the systemic and cellular adaptations that occur in response to exercise as well as principles of effective training paradigms to elicit physiological changes.
This course covers advanced concepts in integrative physiology and exercise, focusing on metabolism and endocrine exercise physiology, skeletal muscle contraction and fatigue, cardiovascular and hemodynamics regulations, and respiratory exercise physiology. The course emphasizes acute responses to exercise and environmental challenges in both health and disease.
This course will introduce genomics, genetics principles, and technologies relevant to sports and human performance. It will analyze the evidence for the role of genetic variation in power, endurance, trainability, and injury. It will encourage developing analytical skills to critically reflect on the promise and practical applications of sports genetics.
This course is dedicated to the creation of exercise prescriptions specifically tailored for various health-related conditions. The course will begin by examining the specifics of cardiovascular and resistance exercise prescription for the healthy adult. Then the course will move to pharmacology that is often seen with common health-related issues. Lastly, the class will cover prevalent chronic disorders and how well-crafted exercise prescriptions can improve the condition of the client.
This course is designed to examine the responses of the body during and after exposure to extreme environmental conditions. Topics will include high-altitude, deep-water diving, extreme temperature environments, microgravity/outer space, and high-stress environments. The course will also have sections detailing possible diseases and conditions relating to exposure to those extreme environments.
Fundamentals in Assessment
This course provides in-depth coverage of musculoskeletal anatomy as a foundation for evaluating the muscular control of joint movements in any exercise. Students leaving this course will have a firm grasp of movement-based anatomy and be able to apply that knowledge to exercise prescription, fitness assessment, corrective exercise modalities, and strength training practices.
This course focuses on teaching and applying the principles of statics, kinematics, and kinetics to kinesiological systems of the human body in movement and sports skills. We cover especially lower body conceptual joint mechanics and examine the functional human movements of walking and the squat.
This course examines the fundamental concepts of human movement and the effects of movement impairments on musculoskeletal injury risk. It includes evidence-based program design recommendations and the practical skills necessary to successfully identify and correct movement impairments in an active population. Topics include assessing human movement dysfunction, the corrective exercise continuum, and corrective exercise strategies. Content will prepare students to sit for the NASM Corrective Exercise Specialist certification.
Fundamentals in Behavioral Aspects of Performance
This course surveys the cognitive, social, behavioral, and neurophysiological factors that influence performance in sport and other motor performance endeavors. Topics covered include examining how motivation, emotion, attention, performance attributions, confidence, and psychological consequences of injury influence performance; how psychological skills training programs that develop skills in goal setting, emotion regulation, attentional focus, attributions, self-efficacy, self-talk, and mental imagery influence performance; and how skills are acquired, expertise is developed, and practice structures can leverage the mechanisms of human learning to facilitate optimal skill acquisition.
This course reviews principles of motor skill development as well as conditions affecting motor skill development and retention in physical education activities.
This course explores mental and psychological techniques and strategies to improve performance and achievement in sport and exercise. This course has a prerequisite of APK 5404.
Fundamentals in Exercise Conditioning
This course addresses the principles of designing training programs of varying duration aimed at improving muscular strength, power, speed, agility, endurance, balance, stability, and hypertrophy. Emphasis will be placed on creating and administering evidence-based periodized training programs and ensuring safe and productive technique of fundamental exercises in each modality.
This course is designed as the next step after attainment of the CSCS credential. It addresses advanced physiological, biomechanical, and exercise program design principles relevant to the practice of strength and conditioning. Emphasis is placed on making informed decisions from available data when designing training programs to optimize athletic performance. It prepares students for advanced strength and conditioning and sport science certification exams including the CSCCA’s SCCC and NSCA’s CPSS.
This course is designed for students with limited (<2 years) or no experience in the strength and conditioning field. It examines fundamental concepts in bioenergetics, biomechanics, cardiopulmonary responses, and skeletal muscle function and adaptation. Includes evidence-based program design and practical skills necessary for success in fire and rescue, law enforcement, and military careers. It is best suited for students interested in working with either non-athletic (but still physically active) and/or tactical athlete populations. Content will prepare students to sit for the NSCA Tactical Strength and Conditioning Facilitator and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist certification.
Fundamentals in Sport Nutrition
This course addresses the aspects of nutrition that are related to exercise performance. Emphasis will be placed on the bioenergetics systems, the components of nutrition, nutritional and body composition assessments, ergogenic aids, and diet modifications for physically active individuals and athletes. The course prepares students to sit for a variety of industry credentials related to sports nutrition, but emphasis is placed on preparation for the CISSN exam.
This course is dedicated to sport supplements and their effects on athletes. The course will begin by examining common aspects of nutrition and how supplements influence macronutrient intake and general human physiology. Then the history of sports supplements will be reviewed along with current regulations that govern sports supplements. Lastly, supplements that are currently being sold and used throughout the world will be reviewed and discussed.
Fundamentals in Research
The course is designed to introduce basic research methodology and design, which includes statistical analysis techniques used in applied physiology and kinesiology. Students will demonstrate their knowledge of the course materials by analyzing, interpreting, and summarizing research writing in professional journals and by planning a research study.
Examines fundamental concepts related to the acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of data relevant to the outcome of human performance across myriad physical and cognitive domains, including sport, exercise, tactical operations, and medical professions. Addresses the use of statistics and broader fields of data science, artificial intelligence, analytics, and technology management necessary to evaluate performance and strategically adjust training methods to enhance performance.
Program Electives (12 credits)
Individual research projects under faculty guidance.
On-site, full-time practical experience in the field.
Dozens of approved sites are available across the country and new sites can be added via an approval process.
Prerequisites are (1) completion of two terms of course work applicable to specialization, (2) permission of adviser, (3) written application, and (4) site approval.
This course will provide an overview and study of the main skills utilized by athlete development specialists including how to manage the intersection of elite athletes and sport media, athlete career transitions, and the fundamentals of athlete personal finance.
This course looks at the legal effects of regulating and managing amateur and professional sports and wellness programs. Topics include injury liability, risk management, constitutional rights of athletes, and contract negotiation.
This course is taught in a seminar-style manner, with student-led presentations and discussions. Through the reading of journal articles and book chapters, as well as review of current events, students will use sociological concepts, theories, and research to critically examine social issues in sport. These issues include, but are not limited to: racism, sexism, classism, discrimination, homophobia, violence, the media, and the influence of sport on youth culture, family life, and the economy. This course relies heavily on student interaction and participation.
With the massive growth of revenues within the sports industry over the past 25 years, competent managers within the sport industry must have a sound understanding of finance topics — loosely defined as the management of money — and how to use them in their everyday managing duties. This class will equip aspiring sport managers with the skills to enhance their financial decision-making in a management role, and show them how to apply concepts to the continually evolving landscape of the sports industry.
Athlete Development Specialization
Students choose at least one course from each core topic area and must complete the specific set of electives outlined below.
Core Courses (18 credits)
Fundamentals in Exercise Physiology
This course reviews macrotraumatic and microtraumatic inflammatory processes, factors affecting inflammation and healing, and the role of exercise in controlling the onset or course of an inflammatory response.
This is an introductory exercise physiology course aimed at graduate students who possess an undergraduate-level understanding of human exercise physiology. This course is designed to give students a fundamental knowledge of the acute and chronic responses to exercise. The overriding concept of the class is how exercise challenges the body’s normal “homeostasis,” and we will use this to illuminate the ways we function (or don’t!). Particular attention will be given to understanding the mechanisms of how these responses occur. In addition to textbook material, the course will use primary literature to understand the basis of physiological concepts and to explore emerging concepts. Students will be expected to be active participants through class discussions and presentations.
Fundamentals in Assessment
This course applies the principles of kinematics and kinetics to the human body during movement, with an emphasis on how these principles affect injury prevention and performance enhancement. It connects statics, kinematics, and kinetics with the kinesiological systems that control our movement and our athletic skills.
This course examines the fundamental concepts of human movement and the effects of movement impairments on musculoskeletal injury risk. It includes evidence-based program design recommendations and the practical skills necessary to successfully identify and correct movement impairments in an active population. Topics include assessing human movement dysfunction, the corrective exercise continuum, and corrective exercise strategies. Content will prepare students to sit for the NASM Corrective Exercise Specialist certification.
Fundamentals in Behavioral Aspects of Performance
This course surveys the cognitive, social, behavioral, and neurophysiological factors that influence performance in sport and other motor performance endeavors. Topics covered include examining how motivation, emotion, attention, performance attributions, confidence, and psychological consequences of injury influence performance; how psychological skills training programs that develop skills in goal setting, emotion regulation, attentional focus, attributions, self-efficacy, self-talk, and mental imagery influence performance; and how skills are acquired, expertise is developed, and practice structures can leverage the mechanisms of human learning to facilitate optimal skill acquisition.
This course reviews principles of motor skill development as well as conditions affecting motor skill development and retention in physical education activities.
This course is part of a two-course series in tandem with APK 5404 Sport Psychology. The courses collectively examine the cognitive, social, behavioral, and neurophysiological factors that influence performance in sport and other motor performance endeavors. Specific topics covered in APK6408 include examining how psychological factors and psychological skills training programs can be leveraged to enhance performance from the perspectives of youth sport, expertise development, practice structure, diversity, leadership, teams, athlete burnout, athlete coping, and athlete transition.
The field of sport psychology actively promotes the scientist-practitioner model. Utilization of the scientist-practitioner model involves the ability to consume and appropriately apply contemporary theory and scientific findings to the practice of applied sport psychology. Accordingly, this course will explore how science and theory inform practical application of psychological skills interventions.
Fundamentals in Exercise Conditioning
This course addresses the principles of designing training programs of varying duration aimed at improving muscular strength, power, speed, agility, endurance, balance, stability, and hypertrophy. Emphasis will be placed on creating and administering evidence-based periodized training programs and ensuring safe and productive technique of fundamental exercises in each modality.
This course is designed as the next step after attainment of the CSCS credential. It addresses advanced physiological, biomechanical, and exercise program design principles relevant to the practice of strength and conditioning. Emphasis is placed on making informed decisions from available data when designing training programs to optimize athletic performance. It prepares students for advanced strength and conditioning and sport science certification exams including the CSCCA’s SCCC and NSCA’s CPSS.
This course is designed for students with limited (<2 years) or no experience in the strength and conditioning field. It examines fundamental concepts in bioenergetics, biomechanics, cardiopulmonary responses, and skeletal muscle function and& adaptation. Includes evidence-based program design and practical skills necessary for success in fire and rescue, law enforcement, and military careers. It is best suited for students interested in working with either non-athletic (but still physically active) and/or tactical athlete populations. Content will prepare students to sit for the NSCA Tactical Strength and Conditioning Facilitator and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist certification.
Fundamentals in Sport Nutrition
This course addresses the aspects of nutrition that are related to exercise performance. Emphasis will be placed on the bioenergetics systems, the components of nutrition, nutritional and body composition assessments, ergogenic aids, and diet modifications for physically active individuals and athletes. The course prepares students to sit for a variety of industry credentials related to sports nutrition, but emphasis is placed on preparation for the CISSN exam.
This course is dedicated to sport supplements and their effects on athletes. The course will begin by examining common aspects of nutrition and how supplements influence macronutrient intake and general human physiology. Then the history of sports supplements will be reviewed along with current regulations that govern sports supplements. Lastly, supplements that are currently being sold and used throughout the world will be reviewed and discussed.
Fundamentals in Research
The course is designed to introduce basic research methodology and design, which includes statistical analysis techniques used in applied physiology and kinesiology. Students will demonstrate their knowledge of the course materials by analyzing, interpreting, and summarizing research writing in professional journals and by planning a research study.
Examines fundamental concepts related to the acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of data relevant to the outcome of human performance across myriad physical and cognitive domains including sport, exercise, tactical operations, and medical professions. Addresses the use of statistics and broader fields of data science, artificial intelligence, analytics, and technology management necessary to evaluate performance and strategically adjust training methods to enhance performance.
Program Electives (12 credits)
This course will provide an overview and study of the main skills utilized by athlete development specialists, including how to manage the intersection of elite athletes and sport media, athlete career transitions, and the fundamentals of athlete personal finance.
This course looks at the legal effects of regulating and managing amateur and professional sports and wellness programs. Topics include injury liability, risk management, constitutional rights of athletes, and contract negotiation.
This course is taught in a seminar-style manner, with student-led presentations and discussions. Through the reading of journal articles and book chapters, as well as review of current events, students will use sociological concepts, theories, and research to critically examine social issues in sport. These issues include, but are not limited to: racism, sexism, classism, discrimination, homophobia, violence, the media, and the influence of sport on youth culture, family life, and the economy. This course relies heavily on student interaction and participation.
With the massive growth of revenues within the sports industry over the past 25 years, competent managers within the sport industry must have a sound understanding of finance topics — loosely defined as the management of money — and how to use them in their everyday managing duties. This class will equip aspiring sport managers with the skills to enhance their financial decision-making in a management role, and show them how to apply concepts to the continually evolving landscape of the sports industry.
Integrative Strength & Conditioning Science Specialization
Students complete a specific set of core courses and electives. One elective, Tactical Strength & Conditioning, is a requirement.
Core Courses (18 credits)
Fundamentals in Exercise Physiology
Choose one course.
This course reviews macrotraumatic and microtraumatic inflammatory processes, factors affecting inflammation and healing, and the role of exercise in controlling the onset or course of an inflammatory response.
This course examines the underpinnings of exercise physiology specifically with a focus on the acute and chronic physiological responses to exercise. Topics covered in this course include the systemic and cellular adaptations that occur in response to exercise as well as principles of effective training paradigms to elicit physiological changes.
Fundamentals in Behavioral Aspects of Performance
Choose one course.
This course surveys the cognitive, social, behavioral, and neurophysiological factors that influence performance in sport and other motor performance endeavors. Topics covered include examining how motivation, emotion, attention, performance attributions, confidence, and psychological consequences of injury influence performance; how psychological skills training programs that develop skills in goal setting, emotion regulation, attentional focus, attributions, self-efficacy, self-talk, and mental imagery influence performance; and how skills are acquired, expertise is developed, and practice structures can leverage the mechanisms of human learning to facilitate optimal skill acquisition.
This course reviews principles of motor skill development as well as conditions affecting motor skill development and retention in physical education activities.
This course is part of a two-course series in tandem with APK 5404 Sport Psychology. The courses collectively examine the cognitive, social, behavioral, and neurophysiological factors that influence performance in sport and other motor performance endeavors. Specific topics covered in APK6408 include examining how psychological factors and psychological skills training programs can be leveraged to enhance performance from the perspectives of youth sport, expertise development, practice structure, diversity, leadership, teams, athlete burnout, athlete coping, and athlete transition.
The field of sport psychology actively promotes the scientist-practitioner model. Utilization of the scientist-practitioner model involves the ability to consume and appropriately apply contemporary theory and scientific findings to the practice of applied sport psychology. Accordingly, this course will explore how science and theory inform practical application of psychological skills interventions.
Fundamentals in Assessment
This course examines the fundamental concepts of human movement and the effects of movement impairments on musculoskeletal injury risk. It includes evidence-based program design recommendations and the practical skills necessary to successfully identify and correct movement impairments in an active population. Topics include assessing human movement dysfunction, the corrective exercise continuum, and corrective exercise strategies. Content will prepare students to sit for the NASM Corrective Exercise Specialist certification.
Fundamentals in Exercise Conditioning
This course addresses the principles of designing training programs of varying duration aimed at improving muscular strength, power, speed, agility, endurance, balance, stability, and hypertrophy. Emphasis will be placed on creating and administering evidence-based periodized training programs and ensuring safe and productive technique of fundamental exercises in each modality.
This course is designed as the next step after attainment of the CSCS credential. It addresses advanced physiological, biomechanical, and exercise program design principles relevant to the practice of strength and conditioning. Emphasis is placed on making informed decisions from available data when designing training programs to optimize athletic performance. It prepares students for advanced strength and conditioning and sport science certification exams including the CSCCA’s SCCC and NSCA’s CPSS.
This course is designed for students with limited (<2 years) or no experience in the strength and conditioning field. It examines fundamental concepts in bioenergetics, biomechanics, cardiopulmonary responses, and skeletal muscle function and adaptation. Includes evidence-based program design and practical skills necessary for success in fire and rescue, law enforcement, and military careers. It is best suited for students interested in working with either non-athletic (but still physically active) and/or tactical athlete populations. Content will prepare students to sit for the NSCA Tactical Strength and Conditioning Facilitator and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist certification.
Fundamentals in Sport Nutrition
This course addresses the aspects of nutrition that are related to exercise performance. Emphasis will be placed on the bioenergetics systems, the components of nutrition, nutritional and body composition assessments, ergogenic aids, and diet modifications for physically active individuals and athletes. The course prepares students to sit for a variety of industry credentials related to sports nutrition, but emphasis is placed on preparation for the CISSN exam.
Fundamentals in Research
The course helps students to develop skills in reading, designing, performing, and presenting research effectively. This course is designed primarily for beginning graduate students working on an M.S. in Applied Physiology and Kinesiology.
Program Electives (12 credits)
Individual research projects under faculty guidance.
On-site, full-time practical experience in the field.
Dozens of approved sites are available across the country and new sites can be added via an approval process.
Prerequisites are (1) completion of two terms of course work applicable to specialization, (2) permission of adviser, (3) written application, and (4) site approval.
On-site, full-time practical experience in the field.
This course will provide an overview and study of the main skills utilized by athlete development specialists including how to manage the intersection of elite athletes and sport media, athlete career transitions, and the fundamentals of athlete personal finance.
This course looks at the legal effects of regulating and managing amateur and professional sports and wellness programs. Topics include injury liability, risk management, constitutional rights of athletes, and contract negotiation.
This course is taught in a seminar-style manner, with student-led presentations and discussions. Through the reading of journal articles and book chapters, as well as review of current events, students will use sociological concepts, theories, and research to critically examine social issues in sport. These issues include, but are not limited to: racism, sexism, classism, discrimination, homophobia, violence, the media, and the influence of sport on youth culture, family life, and the economy. This course relies heavily on student interaction and participation.
With the massive growth of revenues within the sports industry over the past 25 years, competent managers within the sport industry must have a sound understanding of finance topics — loosely defined as the management of money — and how to use them in their everyday managing duties. This class will equip aspiring sport managers with the skills to enhance their financial decision-making in a management role, and show them how to apply concepts to the continually evolving landscape of the sports industry.
*Required elective course for the Integrative Strength & Conditioning Science specialization.
