Instructor: Dr. Declan Connolly
Office hours: Posted weekly on my door. Please sign up for an appointment
(212 Patrick Gym)
Course Description
The purpose of this course to increase your knowledge about the various
body systems and how they integrate during physical fitness, exercise and
sports performance. The course specifically focuses on the components of
exercise prescription and program design. Learning the concepts of exercise
prescription and physiology will to allow you to connect physical activity,
health and exercise to your chosen discipline. Understanding correctly
how the cardiovascular, pulmonary, metabolic and musculoskeletal systems
etc. are related during exercise will enhance your ability to be an effective
teacher, coach, instructor, trainer or fitness professional. Knowing how
to correctly select, administer and monitor physiological tests will allow
you to maximize the learning experience. Furthermore, understanding the
specifics of selected populations and their needs will enable you to develop
highly appropriate exercise regimes with optimum outcomes. Exercise prescription
varies considerably depending upon the population and the goals. A basic
understanding of the limitations of selected populations is included in
this course.
Course Objectives
Students will learn:
- the basic components of exercise prescription and how these variables
are manipulated during a training program.
- the specifics of selected conditions and the population response
to exercise; populations to be studied include elderly, overweight/obese,
cardiac diseased, pulmonary diseased, athletes, osteoporotic, pregnant
etc.
- the integration of various bodily systems including metabolic, cardiovascular,
pulmonary, musculoskeletal, and hormonal systems.
- how these systems adapt under the stress of physical activity and
sports specific training.
- how to maximize and individualize physical activity for producing
a desired outcome.
- how to select and administer appropriate fitness tests for a chosen
population.
- how to differentiate between different types of physical activity
and the stress they place upon the body.
- how to anticipate and interpret data leading to appropriate intervention.
Required Readings & questions:
Reading packet, which can be purchased on first night for $20.00.
Supplemental reading text(s): (available in the library).
Plowman, S.A. & Smith D.L. 1997. Exercise Physiology for Health,
Fitness and Performance. Needham Heights, MA. Allyn & Bacon.
Mc Ardle, Katch & Katch. 1991. Exercise Physiology: Energy, Nutrition
and Human Performance. Williams & Wilkins.
Robergs, R. & Roberts, S. 1996. Exercise Physiology: Exercise,
Performance, and Clinical Applications.
Foss, ML., & Keteyian, SJ. 1988. Fox's Physiological Basis for
Exercise and Sport. Mc Graw- Hill.
Skinner, JS. 1987. Exercise Testing & Exercise Prescription for
Special Cases. Lea & Febiger.
Grading format
1. Mid-term exam on Monday October 22nd at 5.00pm (40%).
3. Final exam on Monday December 3rd at 5.00pm worth (60%).
Course Outline
08/27/07: Introductory self-knowledge. True-False quiz. An introduction
to concepts of Exercise Prescription. Including frequency, intensity, duration,
& mode. For next class, ACSM position on recommended Quantity and Quality
of Exercise and read article ACSM and AHA position stand on CV screening.
Review discussion questions 1 & 2.
09/10/07: ACSM guidelines for exercise prescription. Fitness Screening for Exercise Lab experiences. For next class read "The acute versus the chronic response to exercise", Thompson et al., 2001, and 'Exercise prescription for the treatment of medical conditions", Rush, 2003.
9/17/06: Cardiovascular & Respiratory Response to Exercise. For next week please read Strath article on use of HR to measure energy expenditure and ainsworth article on energy expenditure compendium.
9/24/06: Energy Expenditure during Exercise. Lecture and Lab. Dress for exercise. For next week answer discussion questions 3. For next week please read ACSM position stands on 'proper and improper weight loss programs" and "appropriate intervention strategies for weight loss".
10/1/06: Exercise Prescription for weight loss. Energetics of obesity. For next week please read Bailey et al. 196 article on bone mineral acquisition and Taaffe Article on bone mineral in swimmers. Also read Hedrick article on "dynamic flexibility training".
10/8/06: Bone and Joint Health. Exercise strategies for osteoporosis prevention and maintenance of flexibility. For next week please read Michael Feigenbaum article on Resistance training for health and disease and NSCA guidelines for resistance training of athletes.
10/15/07: Principles of resistance training program design. How to teach specifics of squat, bench and loading exercises. Midterm next week.
10/22/07: Midterm. For next week read ACSM position stand on Exercise and the older adult.
10/29/07: Exercise programming for older adults. Lab or balance training and coordination. For next week please read Lunbers article and Wolfe article on exercise and pregnancy.
11/5/07: Exercise Prescription during pregnancy. Lab experiences: Please dress for exercise. For next week please read Malina article on Physical growth of young athletes and ACSM opinion statement on Physical fitness in children and youth.
11/13/07: Exercise programming for Children and consideration of developmental issues. No readings for next class enojoy your break.
11/20/07: No class! Happy Thanksgiving!
11/27/07: Principles of Fitness testing and assessment for the general population. Lecture and Lab. The Cooper Fitness Tests.
11/27/.06: Developing exercise program progressions and basic assessments.
12/3/07: Final exam 5.00pm
No class September 4th, November 19th
Last revised August 14th,
2007