Year

2023

Credit points

10

Campus offering

No unit offerings are currently available for this unit

Prerequisites

Nil

Incompatible

EXSC510 Strength and Conditioning for Performance and Rehabilitation

Unit rationale, description and aim

To optimise athlete and/or team performance, strength and conditioning coaches working in high performance sport require advanced knowledge of theoretical concepts, and the practical skills to apply this knowledge. This unit develops this knowledge and skills for contemporary practice, with a focus on emerging research, innovation and practical application in areas such as warm up, altitude training, high-intensity interval training, and speed training. This focus on innovation and application also addresses evidence-based and ethical challenges faced by the practitioner. Students will also gain the practical skills required to deliver high quality training sessions.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Communicate emerging research and practices in strength and conditioning and their application (GA4, GA10)

LO2 - Analyse, interpret and report the outcomes of athlete assessment protocols and their application (GA4, GA5, GA10)

LO3 - Plan meaningful interventions for athletes, directed at enhancing performance and reducing the likelihood of injury or illness (GA1, GA2, GA3, GA4, GA5, GA10)

Graduate attributes

GA1 - demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity 

GA2 - recognise their responsibility to the common good, the environment and society

GA3 - apply ethical perspectives in informed decision making

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA10 - utilise information and communication and other relevant technologies effectively.

Content

Topics include: 

  • Blood flow restriction training; 
  • Velocity based training and testing;
  • Speed and agility training;
  • Altitude training;
  • Other contemporary and/or emerging practices in strength and conditioning.  

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

ACU Online

This unit uses an active learning approach to support students in the exploration of knowledge essential to the discipline. Students are provided with choice and variety in how they learn. Students are encouraged to contribute to asynchronous weekly discussions. Active learning opportunities provide students with opportunities to practice and apply their learning in regards to strengrth and conditioning in situations similar to their future professions. Activities encourage students to bring their own examples to demonstrate understanding, application and engage constructively with their peers. Students receive regular and timely feedback on their learning, which includes information on their progress.

Assessment strategy and rationale

In order to best enable students to achieve unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes, standards-based assessment is utilised, consistent with University assessment requirements. A range of assessment strategies have been purposefully designed for the assessment of learning outcomes reflecting the principles of authentic assessment design and include:

  • Assessment Task 1: Written summaries to assess comprehension and reflection on unit content.
  • Assessment Task 2: Critical appraisal and application of literature. 
  • Assessment Task 3: Oral presentation to assess students' ability to search and synthesise the literature and to apply the evidence in a high-performance sport environment.

Students must achieve a cumulative grade of at least 50% across all assessments.

Overview of assessments

Brief Description of Kind and Purpose of Assessment TasksWeightingLearning OutcomesGraduate Attributes

Assessment Task 1

Week(s) in review 

Requires students to engage with the weekly content and demonstrate their comprehension. 

10% 

LO1

GA4, GA10

Assessment Task 2

Article review 

Requires students to critically appraise, summarise and disseminate information.  

40% 

LO1, LO2

GA4, GA5, GA10

Assessment Task 3

Pitch to the Coach (Oral Presentation)

Requires students to search and synthesise the literature and to apply the evidence in a high-performance sport environment

50% 

LO1, LO2, LO3

GA1, GA2, GA3, GA4, GA5, GA10

Representative texts and references

Coutts, A. J. and S. Cormack (2014). Monitoring the training response. In Joyce D & Lewindon D, High-Performance Training For Sports. Champaign IL: Human Kinetics: pp 71-84. 

Cormack, S. and A. Coutts (2016). Monitoring Training Load. In Joyce D & Lewindon D, Sports Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation. London: Routledge. pp 380-391. 

McGuigan, M. R. and S. J. Cormack (2011). Biochemical Monitoring in Strength and Conditioning. In Cardinale M, Newton R & Nosaka K. Strength and Conditioning: Biological

Patterson, S. D., Hughes, L., Warmington, S., Burr, J., Scott, B. R., Owens, J., ... & Loenneke, J. (2019). Blood flow restriction exercise: considerations of methodology, application, and safety. Frontiers in physiology, 533.

Van Cutsem, J., Marcora, S., De Pauw, K., Bailey, S., Meeusen, R., & Roelands, B. (2017). The effects of mental fatigue on physical performance: a systematic review. Sports medicine, 47(8), 1569-1588.

Weakley, J., Mann, B., Banyard, H., McLaren, S., Scott, T., & Garcia-Ramos, A. (2020). Velocity-Based Training: From Theory to Application. Strength & Conditioning Journal.

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