Unit Outline

Upon successful completion of health, exercise and sports prescription the graduate can design, and modify as necessary, safe, appropriate and effective exercise programs, based on best practice, for the apparently healthy population, in a variety of environments that are aligned with the health, fitness and performance needs and goals of clients.

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

On completion of this unit, you will be able to:


1	Identify and describe the principles of current best practice for designing exercise programs, and explain why various exercise types confer health, fitness or performance benefits (as relevant) for the apparently healthy population.
2	Explain in simple, comprehensible language the risks of performing exercise and describe appropriate strategies to address these risks.
3	Design exercise programs that meet the needs of clients, in consideration of: current, best‐practice guidelines for performing exercise, the exercise tolerance, physical function and capacity, and motivation level of the client
4	Integrate knowledge of and skills in exercise prescription with other study areas of exercise science.

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Pre-requisite	CXA232 and CXA237

Alterations as a result of student feedback

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	Practical Assessment	Week 5	20 %	LO2, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 2:	Exercise Delivery	Week 10	5 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 3:	Exercise Prescription Workbook	Week 11	15 %	LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 4:	Exercise Program	Week 12	35 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 5:	Final Exam	Exam Period	25 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Practical Assessment

Task Description:

On the day of the Assessment, you will act as both the Coach and a Client.

As a coach, you will be required to select an upper-body and a lower-body exercise from a box upon entering the gym. You will be given time to set-up any required equipment, before your Client enters the gym. You must then correctly coach your Client through both exercises using the appropriate 5-Step Coaching Method, provide correct spotting technique, and corrective feedback. This includes providing the Client with feedback on their technique, following the appropriate 3-point feedback process, and the opportunity to perform an additional set of the exercise to ascertain effectiveness of provided feedback. Following the coaching process, you will then be required to identify key technique elements and safety considerations for each exercise, name and describe the joint actions and activation of targeted muscles (both prime movers and stabilisers), provide an example of an alternative (regression, progression or variation) of the chosen exercises, and explain their justification for this alternative.

As the Client, you will be coached by another Student in the above process either before or after your individual assessment.

Task Length:

30 minutes

Due Date:

Week 5

Weight:

20 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Demonstrate, explain and coach exercises in an effective and non‐technical manner using the 5-Step Coaching Method for a common upper and lower body resistance training exercise, including appropriate feedback for maintaining/correcting technique.	LO2, LO3
2	Knowledge of functional anatomy, correct resistance training technique (competency and safety), comprehension of how exercises challenge specific muscle groups, and how variations in movement influence target muscle/s.	LO2, LO3, LO4
3	Professionalism and communication.	LO2

Assessment Task 2: Exercise Delivery

Task Description:

In this task you will undertake exercise delivery, completing a work-integrated learning experience with a local School, delivering individualised exercise programs to students. You will be required to attend a series of sessions at the School, to deliver exercise programs in group-based training settings, under the supervision of strength and conditioning coaches.

You will be assessed on your ability to deliver exercise in a safe and effective manner, conduct yourself in an appropriate and professional manner, and communicate effectively with a range of clients and peers.

You must have completed a working with vulnerable people (WWVP) check prior to undertaking this activity.

Task Length:

Due Date:

Week 10

Weight:

5 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Deliver exercise programs that confer health, fitness or performance benefits (as relevant) for the apparently healthy population.	LO1, LO3, LO4
2	Demonstrate appropriate professionalism and communication skills.	LO2

Assessment Task 3: Exercise Prescription Workbook

Task Description:

Students will utilise weekly case-based scenarios during in-class Workshop sessions, to complete weekly exercise prescription tasks. These tasks will be compiled into a workbook submission, covering a range of exercise prescription tasks for differing modes of activity and exercise, including:
• Goal-setting
• Resistance training
• Aerobic endurance training
• Interval training
• Anaerobic training
• Metabolic calculations

Submissions can be made weekly by submitting each weekly activity separately OR upon completion of all weekly activities as a single workbook.

Task Length:

Completed in workbook provided

Due Date:

Week 11

Weight:

15 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Prescribe exercise programs that confer health, fitness or performance benefits (as relevant) for the apparently healthy population.	LO3
2	Student’s ability to develop SMART program goals that are to be informed by client desires/needs, fitness assessment data, needs analysis, guidelines for health, client motivation and other relevant factors.	LO4

Assessment Task 4: Exercise Program

Task Description:

You must design, prescribe and justify, with reference to scientific literature, an effective, enjoyable and safe 12-week exercise program for your assigned client-based case study. This is an opportunity for you to clearly show evidence of the application of principles of training and exercise prescription. The 12-week exercise program, designed to suit the needs of your case-based client, should include the following items:

• Program Goals (10%) – Develop and justify 2 or more SMART program goals (following the SMART goal-setting principles) that are informed by client desires/needs, fitness assessment data, needs analysis, guidelines for health, client motivation and other relevant factors (e.g. logistics, environmental and social considerations).
o The goals must include detail on how they meet each of the SMART goal-setting principles, be relatable to the needs of client, and incorporate supporting evidence where necessary.
o This section should also incorporate evidence of a needs analysis process, to help justify the goals and their suitability for the client.
• Exercise Programming (40%) – Prescribe a 12-week exercise program that incorporates appropriate resistance training and conditioning elements (aerobic training and/or interval training and/or anaerobic training) that are suitable to your clients’ health status and program goals. This section is not included in the final word count and should be submitted as a separate Excel document.
o This program prescription should include all elements of prescription (FITTVPP), and must consider the exercise tolerance, physical function and capacity and motivation level of the client and be designed to meet the program goals. This includes real-world logistics that may play a role in the prescription choices.
o Periodisation and measurement of exercise load should be evident for all exercise sessions, including the use of appropriate intensity prescription details.
o This should be formatted in a way that your client could pick it up and undertake the program. The program can be formatted as you please (template provided if required) with a hard copy of your program and supporting assignment elements uploaded onto MyLO.
• Scientific Justification (40%) – Provide justification to detail how relevant scientific literature has informed all elements of the exercise prescription (including mode, exercise choice, frequency, intensity, duration, volume, progression). This criterion relates to your use and interpretation of suitable scientific literature in developing the content and structure of the program. Your exercise prescription should be informed by primary scientific literature and best practice guidelines.
o Every session prescribed for the 12-week program should contain detail of all session components so the session could be completed as intended from the information provided in the program (e.g. specific activity/mode, warm up/cool down, exercises, sets/reps/rest, duration, intensity, etc).
• Presentation, Grammar and Referencing (10%) – This criterion relates to your adherence to a suitable referencing style, presentation and submission guidelines and scientific writing (and English and grammar) conventions.

Task Length:

3000 words

Due Date:

Week 12

Weight:

35 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Develop SMART program goals that are to be informed by client desires/needs, fitness assessment data, needs analysis, guidelines for health, client motivation and other relevant factors.	LO1, LO4
2	Program content and suitability of the prescription (FITTVPP), considering the exercise tolerance, physical function and capacity and motivation level of the client and be designed to meet the program goals.	LO3
3	Use and interpret suitable scientific literature in developing the content and structure of the program.	LO1, LO3
4	Adherence to a suitable referencing style, presentation and submission guidelines and scientific writing (and English and grammar) conventions.	LO2

Assessment Task 5: Final Exam

Task Description:

Invigilated, closed book written exam with a combination of multiple choice and short-to-medium length answer questions that are guided by case-based scenarios (some calculations required) to assess your knowledge and ability to prescribe and understand the intricacies of exercise prescription and delivery.

Task Length:

3 hours

How your final result is determined

To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes, achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater, and pass any hurdle tasks.

Academic progress review

The results for this unit may be included in a review of your academic progress. For information about progress reviews and what they mean for all students, see Academic Progress Review in the Student Portal.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Academic integrity

Academic integrity is about acting responsibly, honestly, ethically, and collegially when using, producing, and communicating information with other students and staff members.

In written work, you must correctly reference the work of others to maintain academic integrity. To find out the referencing style for this unit, see the assessment information in the MyLO site, or contact your teaching staff. For more detail about Academic Integrity, see Important Guidelines & Support.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.