EXSC515 - Exercise Prescription for Sports Injury Management Across the Lifespan

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Unit rationale, description and aim

With increased participation in sport across the lifespan there is an increased need for rehabilitation programs to support individuals to recover from injuries sustained during this activity. The purpose of this unit is to support specific populations (ie, children, adolescents, adults, older adults, postnatal women, etc.) and those individuals who present with changes in performance during sport participation due to injury or pre-existing conditions. In this unit you apply principles of sport performance under adverse environments and conditions. You will develop specialised skills in specific populations, as well as interpret the link between decline in physiology and sport performance. Finally, this unit integrates the use of current research, critical thinking and the interpretation of that research to inform evidence based practice. The aim of this unit is to apply specialist concepts of strength and conditioning to develop safe and effective rehabilitation programs, exercise prescriptions and interventions to allow a person to return to pre-injury performance levels.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Critically analyse current evidence and demonstrate specialist knowledge of exercise prescription that may impact sport performance and participation in physical activity and sport across the lifespan (GA8, GA10)

LO2 - Demonstrate specialised skills in testing, exercise prescription with respect to the individual to improve performance for specific populations (GA1, GA5, GA7)

LO3 - Apply sound theoretical knowledge and skill for the development of individualised exercise prescription through the use of advanced strength and conditioning concepts (GA3, GA4, GA6)

Graduate attributes

GA1 - demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity 

GA3 - apply ethical perspectives in informed decision making

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA6 - solve problems in a variety of settings taking local and international perspectives into account

GA7 - work both autonomously and collaboratively 

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

GA10 - utilise information and communication and other relevant technologies effectively.

Content

Topics will include: 

• Growth and development and its impact on movement 
• Monitoring maturation and growth in the competitive youth or adolescent 
• Return to sport performance in the adult sport participant 
• Return to sport performance in the older adult 
• Aged-related physiological change 
• Return to sport performance in those with pre-existing conditions 
• Return to sport following pregnancy 

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

ACU Online

This unit uses an active learning approach to support students in the exploration of knowledge essential to the discipline. Students are provided with choice and variety in how they learn. Students are encouraged to contribute to asynchronous weekly discussions. Active learning opportunities provide students with opportunities to practice and apply their learning in situations similar to their future professions. Activities encourage students to bring their own examples to demonstrate understanding, application and engage constructively with their peers. Students receive regular and timely feedback on their learning, which includes information on their progress.

Assessment strategy and rationale

In order to best enable students to achieve unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes, standards-based assessment is utilised, consistent with University assessment requirements. A range of assessment strategies have been purposefully designed for the assessment of learning outcomes reflecting the principles of authentic assessment design and include: 

• Assessment Task 1: a written assignment to assess student learning of unit content and
• Assessment Task 2: an oral presentation to assess student understanding and application of unit content. 

Students must achieve a cumulative grade of at least 50% across all assessments.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Bø K, Artal R, Barakat R, et al. Exercise and pregnancy in recreational and elite athletes: 2016/2017 evidence summary from the IOC expert group meeting, Lausanne. Part 5. Recommendations for health professionals and active women. British Journal of Sports Medicine 2018;52:1080-1085.

Davenport MH, Marchand AA, Mottola MF, Poitras VJ, Gray CE, Jaramillo Garcia A, Barrowman N, Sobierajski F, James M, Meah VL, Skow RJ, Riske L, Nuspl M, Nagpal TS, Courbalay A, Slater LG, Adamo KB, Davies GA, Barakat R, Ruchat SM. Exercise for the prevention and treatment of low back, pelvic girdle and lumbopelvic pain during pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Sports Med. 2019 Jan;53(2):90-98. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2018-099400. Epub 2018 Oct 18. PMID: 30337344.

McQuilliam SJ, Clark DR, Erskine RM, Brownlee TE. Free-Weight Resistance Training in Youth Athletes: A Narrative Review. Sports Med. 2020 Sep;50(9):1567-1580. doi: 10.1007/s40279-020-01307-7. PMID: 32578028; PMCID: PMC7441088.

Stone MS, Glenn JM, Vincenzo JL, Gray M. Comparison of Exercise Performance in Recreationally Active and Masters Athlete Women. J Strength Cond Res. 2018 Feb;32(2):565-571. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000002351. PMID: 29369956.