Introduction
Study in Cambridge for a rewarding career as a strength and conditioning coach. Learn about exercise science, movement, coaching and rehabilitation – then apply your knowledge across different population groups.
If your ambition is to be a strength and conditioning coach and be able to work across the fitness and health industry, this course is for you.
At ARU, we're proud to be ranked number 1 in the country for sports science courses in the Guardian League Table 2021.
This is an exciting and diverse course where you'll discover that strength and conditioning is more than just gym work. You'll help athletes to develop the speed, agility, endurance and strength they need to compete at the highest levels. You'll consider correcting movement patterns to improve efficiency or avoid injury; and adopt different coaching methods for the different performers you work with. At times, you’ll need to understand how to progress the rehabilitation of an injured client.
But there are options outside of professional sport too, with an emerging and urgent need for qualified fitness professionals to engage the community in physical activity. You’ll consider different populations in the community and how you could support their differing needs. As mentioned, strength and conditioning professionals will work alongside rehabilitation specialists so providing a seamless transition for the client back into sport or being active in the community again.
Our Sport and Exercise Science course is aligned to UK Strength and Conditioning Association standards and endorsed by the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA), so you'll graduate ready to work in the UK’s burgeoning sport and fitness industry or to continue your learning journey to postgraduate study. Find out more about our approved and accredited courses.
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Our BSc (Hons) Strength and Conditioning with Rehabilitation degree allows you to focus on the areas that really interest you, gain fitness industry qualifications, and obtain valuable work experience on an optional placement year.
Based in our specialist, accredited labs in the Cambridge Centre for Sport and Exercise Science, you’ll learn how to help people develop their speed, agility, endurance and strength – whether they’re professional athletes training for elite competitions or local clients seeking to improve their physical activity levels. With different equipment at your disposal, you can track, monitor, correct and capture different data on performers to support your learning and development towards your career goal.
You’ll have opportunities to specialise in biomechanics or exercise physiology from Year 2, and to conduct your own research or take a work placement in Year 3.
Supported by our highly-experienced strength and conditioning specialists, sports therapists, coaches, health and exercise professionals and world-leading researchers, you’ll learn how to rehabilitate, recondition, and maximise the potential of sportspeople safely and ethically. There’s the chance to hear from world-leading guest speakers too, through our Excellence in Sports seminars.
As you’d expect from a university that’s passionate about sport, you’ll find an array of sports clubs and societies here.
And to top it all off, there’s financial support for talented athletes.
Facilities and accreditation
Specialist equipment
At ARU you’ll be based in our Cambridge Centre for Sports and Exercise Science. Its specialist exercise testing and human movement labs feature:
- a strength and conditioning suite (3 lifting platforms, open physical conditioning space)
- a rehabilitation clinic
- a 3D motion capture suite
- notational analysis software
- heart-rate monitors
- GPS monitoring technology
- breath-by-breath oxygen-analysis systems
- accelerometers
Multiple ways to learn
As a Strength and Conditioning with Rehabilitation student, you’ll be able to:
- learn from highly experienced lecturers, including practising sport therapists, coaches and conditioning specialists. Our team currently includes a Paralympian World Record holder, a Scottish Women’s Rugby player and a judo champion
- get bespoke opportunities to gain experiences in the strength and conditioning domain
- take an optional placement year and gain additional work experience
- join student-led sports clubs and societies
- hear from guest speakers at our Excellence in Sport seminars
- become a qualified fitness professional.
The Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity
This course is endorsed by the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA), meaning employers will view you as 'job ready' for roles in sport and physical activity.
Careers
As our course is aligned to UK Strength and Conditioning Association standards, you’ll be able to work as a strength and conditioning coach as soon as you graduate.
You also have the option to work as a gym instructor or personal trainer if you complete our optional modules, and become a qualified member of The Register of Exercise Professionals (REPs).
This course is endorsed by the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA), the professional development body for the UK's sport and physical activity sector, and the sector's only chartered professional body, meaning employers will view you as "job ready" for roles in sport and physical activity.
You might choose to be self-employed or work for a team or organisation, with professional or recreational athletes, or with inactive or older people.
Whichever path interests you most, you can be sure that you’ll graduate with the knowledge, skills and abilities that industry needs. We work with employers, and they help us review what we teach and how we teach it – offering hands-on, practical opportunities to learn through work-based projects, internships and placements.
Graduation doesn’t need to be the end of your time with us, of course. You might decide to stay at ARU and study a postgraduate degree such as our MSc Sport and Exercise Science. Take advantage of our Alumni Scholarship and get 20% off your fees.
4 years with foundation
This year will prepare you for the rest of your course. We’ll focus on general skills such as researching and referencing, numeracy and ICT, and communication. But we’ll also start to look at sports psychology, and scientific disciplines including biology, chemistry and physics. Plus, there’s a focus on using maths to understand and manipulate data.
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