Exercise & Sports Studies

Mission

The undergraduate Exercise and Sports Studies (ESS) program prepares students with the necessary academic knowledge and skills to excel in careers in the health and fitness industry, the allied health professions, and the multifaceted sports industry.

Through a comprehensive and diverse portfolio of courses that encompass the liberal arts, specialized content-specific coursework, and applied internship experiences, the ESS program prepares each student to excel in careers that are meaningful and stimulating. 

Above and beyond professional career preparation, the ESS program is also designed to prepare students for graduate-level study in academic areas encompassing the Exercise Sciences and Allied Health Professions. The ESS program is tailored to prepare students for various credential exams.

Student Learning Outcomes

Student learning outcomes for the four-year B.S. degree in ESS are as follows:

• Understand ESS credentialing, certification, and career options available upon graduation.
• Demonstrate an understanding of human anatomy, physiology, and metabolism within the physically active population.
• Understand basic principles of human biomechanics and its relationship to exercise selection, execution, injury prevention, and athletic performance.
• Understand acute responses and chronic adaptations to exercise stress, and the implications for health and athletic performance.
• Explain how nutritional factors affect health, fitness, and athletic performance.
• Understand the role that physical activity has on chronic, lifestyle disease prevention, mortality, and morbidity.
• Identify contraindications and risks to exercise among the physically active, as well as methods for screening and identification.
• Describe, execute, and evaluate resistance, cardiovascular, flexibility, and plyometric exercises.
• Demonstrate knowledge of commonly administered physical fitness and exercise tests
• Design individualized and specific training programs that maximize performance and health through various methods of exercise prescription and program design.
• Understand the components of safe and effective exercise and/or athletic facilities.
• Understand the basic legal principles of sport and physical activity and develop risk management strategies aimed at increasing safety and minimizing liability

• Apply basic theories of exercise psychology, behavior modification, and leadership within exercise, sport, or fitness settings.