Towards a healthier lifestyle through exercise and effort

Sports science courses are known for their focus on high performance sports and top athletes. However, concerns regarding the health of the nation, particularly our high levels of heart disease, have made the study and promotion of exercise in relation to health increasingly important.

The BSc in sports and exercise science in UL was introduced in 1993 to combine the elements of sports, exercise and health to give graduates the widest possible choice of future careers.

"The study of sports and exercise science involves the study of exercise in relation to health and the study of sport from the perspective of science," course director PJ Smyth says. "A lot of modern diseases, such as heart disease, are related to a hypo-kinetic, or under-active, lifestyle. Lack of activity is well recognised as a problem by the health boards, so they now employ activity offices whose emphasis is on preventing disease."

The course involves the study of sport and exercise through the scientific perspectives of physiology, psychology and biomechanics, all of which have a bearing on both top athletes and people needing help with general fitness and health.

"Physiology is the study of the systems of the body. We look at the effects of training on them from the sports perspective and from the perspective of getting fit," he says.

People tend to think of sports psychology in terms of high-level professionals - and while this is correct to an extent, Smyth says, sports psychology also has implications in motivating people towards a healthier lifestyle.

Biomechanics is the study of the application of physics on the body. "We're analysing movement and studying the application of forces to learn how to move more efficiently." This could involve analysing a video of an athlete taking a high and identifying any problems they might have, or it can be applied to gait analysis of people recovering from strokes.

Students also learn training methods and how to apply them. They study injuries and their causes and learn about rehabilitation - although they are not qualified to practice as physiotherapists. The course also requires the study of an elective subject. Students may choose from marketing and management, a modern European language or law and insurance.

Each of the major disciplines within the course involves both lectures and laboratory hours with practical experiments. In third year students undertake a six-month work placement. It is quite practical, but Smyth says students need to realise that there is quite a strong academic element as they will by studying for a science degree.

"Some of our students are heavily involved in sport and others are not so heavily involved, but they all have to have a liking for science - it's not enough just to like sport and fitness."

While some people enter the course with the minimum science requirements of an ordinary-level B3 in either a maths or a science subject - but not home economics - and do quite well, ideally candidates should have physics, maths and chemistry.

Jobs for graduates are well distributed among the sports, leisure and health sectors. Employment statistics are fairly good, with just two out of the 29-strong class of 2000 still seeking employment last May. Recent graduates have found employment with the IRFU and FAI as development officers and fitness coordinators, in the national training centre monitoring and advising elite athletes or with the Irish Sports Council. Others have gone into coaching education or sports science consultancy with firms in Ireland and England.

Some 15 of the class of 2000 either went on to further academic study or further professional training. "It's usually best to gain a graduate diploma or master's," Smyth says, particularly if you wish to branch into biomedical sciences or the health sector.

"Some graduates have done master's in health promotion and work with the national rehabilitation centre as health promotion officers and others have gone one to physiotherapy training where they'll get exemptions for their degree. Between the sports jobs and increasing opportunities in the health sector, they have a huge variety of options open to them."