Physiology and Nutrition of Sport and Exercise

Case Study:  Goal setting, exercise and dietary recommendations (First Sit)

Introduction

One of the key roles of a Sport and Exercise Scientist is to help to improve the health or sport performance of athletes or individuals.  This process of support normally involves a needs analysis, to determine the goals of the client, before providing the client with evidence based recommendations on how to modify training and diet.

The primary aim of this assessment task is to assess your ability to make evidence based, training and nutritional based recommendations to optimise a client’s fitness, health or sport performance.

The module will be summatively assessed by the submission of an individual written report accompanied with an appendix.

Task

For this assessment, you will be expected to provide an evidence-based:

1. rationale for the fitness, health or performance goals of your client,
2. exercise recommendations, for one week, to optimise fitness, health or performance, and
3. dietary recommendations to support the one week’s exercise recommendations.

To undertake this assessment you will be required to work in groups of 4 or 5 and identify, from within your group, someone who would make a suitable client for your case study. You will work with this client and undertake a battery of tests, dietary analysis and interview, to identify the needs of the client and submit the full results of the client assessment in the form of an appendix to this assessment (see non-assessment requirements).

All data collection will be undertaken in the timetabled practicals, attendance is therefore essential for you to fully engage in an authentic role of a sport and exercise scientist and gain the most from the practical experience this module offers.

You must include a word count at the end of the assignment before the References list.

The assessment is worth 100% of the overall module grade.

Submission type:                                             Online (Blackboard)

Turnitin[1] used:                                                  Yes

Feedback method:                                          Online / Inline

Feedback type:                                                 Electronic / Inline

In-Module Retrieval (IMR)[2] available:     Yes

Non-Assessment[3] Requirements:            Yes

Word Length, Duration and Penalties

The word length of this assessment is 1500 words. This word limit excludes figures, tables, appendix and references. Further details of the breakdown of the word count can be found in the Assignment Guidance at the end of this document.

Two grades will be deducted for work which exceeds the word limit by more than 10%.

Format

Your work must be submitted in Microsoft Word (*.doc or *.docx). Assessments not submitted in this format will receive a mark of zero.

Non-Assessment Requirements

As part of this module’s non-assessment requirements, you must submit your appendix (which contains the client data you have collected and interpreted as part of the learning experience of this module). There is a separate Appendix Submission Point for you to submit your appendix.

Your appendix can be identical to other members of your group or you might have customised it to suit your specific requirements. In either case, each student must submit the appendix individually,

• If your appendix is submitted within 24 hours of the assessment deadline then the assessment mark will be capped at the minimum pass grade, irrespective of if the assignment was submitted on time.
• If you do not submit the appendix within 24 hours of the assessment deadline you will receive a mark of zero for the assignment irrespective of if the assignment was submitted on time.

Handing-In Details

Please submit your assessment on the date and time specified in My Student Record – Module Delivery and Assessment – Assessment Statement.

There is a 24 hour late submission policy where work will be accepted for marking, but capped at the minimum pass mark. Please see note on non-assessment requirement.

Feedback will normally be available fifteen working days after the hand-in date. You will be notified when feedback becomes available.

Assignment Guidance

DESCRIPTION

Justification of the client goals (approx.300 words)

– This must include reference to the needs analysis (appendix) as well as the literature to support the one or two goals you have prioritised. In this section you must present the arguments for why the goal(s) is/are a priority for your client.

Training recommendations for one week to optimise fitness, health or performance (approx. 600 words)

– A table showing daily training recommendations with supporting justification in the text. Include evidence of the reported effectiveness of the training recommendations. Where appropriate, an indication should be given of which phase of training the programme represents (preparatory or in-season for example).

– You are only required to provide the generic description of the recommended exercises, state what type of training is required (e.g. eccentric training of quadriceps) and why you do it (e.g. linear sprint speed has been shown to improve by 3%).

-The relationship between the training sessions should be justified as should the need for recovery and any technical and tactical training where appropriate.

The dietary recommendations to support the training recommendations (approx. 600 words)

– The recommendations should be specific to the training program and the client, i.e. include reference to the needs analysis data on body composition and/or dietary analysis.

– Specific recommendations are required to support the client during the week of training that you are recommending i.e. state the type of macro or micro nutrient, the form it should be ingested, when it should be ingested, and the quantities (kJ or g). Do not include specific foods or a food diary.

References and Referencing

– Use of American Psychological Association (APA) 6th edition referencing system

Presentation

Appropriately structured with due regard to the normal conventions of scientific writing