The course aims to provide students with the knowledge and skills required for designing and implementing tailored physical activity programs. Drawing on the field of physical activity for prevention, the course will also provide the theoretical criteria and practical methods of exercise assessment and planning for healthy subjects. Specifically, the course aims to provide students with the theoretical background necessary to be able to choose among different assessments and to prescribe the appropriate physical activity. In addition, it furnishes students with the specific skills required to carry out assessments and monitor training loads.

Course aims are also pursued by allowing students to put into practice their knowledge during practicum courses in the area of exercise to music classes and in the area of strength exercise and training.

Module I: Course introduction

• Course presentation;
• Physical activity classification and terminology.

Module II: Physical activity for prevention – 4 credits

• Approach to exercise management and possible pathologies;
• Health screening and risk stratification;
• Physical activity as a lifestyle and related methods and tools of assessment of physical activity levels;
• Guidelines for physical activity and exercise in healthy and diseased subjects;
• Key concepts and keywords in the field of exercise testing and prescription;
• Overview of acute physiological responses (adjustments) to aerobic and resistance exercise;
• Overview of chronic physiological responses (adaptations) to aerobic and resistance exercise, and training-related acute responses;
• Exercise testing: maximal and submaximal (field and laboratory) tests of the main indices of cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness and body composition assessment methods;
• Exercise prescription: the parameters to be used and how to use them to tailor a suitable exercise program.

Module III: Exercise to music classes and fitness trends – 1 credit

• Practicum

Module IV: Strength: exercises and training – 1 credit

• Practicum 

None.

Theoretical learning outcomes. The student will possess:

• a proven knowledge and understanding of the theoretical concepts that ground the different methods of exercise testing and prescription in healthy subjects;
• the ability to work, from a practical standpoint, with what is mentioned in the previous point, with the aim of contextualizing and tailoring the concepts for their subsequent correct practical application.

Practical learning outcomes. The student will possess:

• the ability to apply the theoretical concepts in functional assessment and exercise prescription;
• the ability to contextualize and tailor what is mentioned in the previous point, even in non-standard or in multidisciplinary settings, with the aim of making proper functional assessments and designing truly tailored exercise programs.

Integrated learning outcomes (theoretical-practical). The student will have developed:

• the ability to integrate theoretical concepts and practical skills to make a correct interpretation of partial or complete results of functional assessments   and to place subjects in the appropriate health risk categories and fitness levels;
• the ability to use the results of functional assessments in setting out the parameters that define an exercise program for health maintenance or performance enhancement and in planning the progression of those parameters over time;
• the ability to clearly explain the results of functional assessments and resulting exercise programs using both specialized (colleagues) and non-specialized (often the tested subjects) jargon;
• a clear understanding of the ethical and moral implications and social and legal consequences of not complying with all the previous points.
• the theoretical-practical learning skills necessary to stay abreast of the ever-changing body of specific knowledge in the field, even once they have entered the workforce.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Teaching

Lectures (on theory and practice), practical hands-on lessons, seminars.

Attendance

Minimum mandatory attendance: 50% of total course hours (3 credits).

Course books

Course texts:

• ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription - 11th ed., American College of Sports Medicine; Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, 2021
• Lecture slides (see above for the link to the repository platform Moodle).

Further readings:

• ACSM's Resource Manual for Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription - 7th ed.; Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, 2014;

Assessment

Oral exam, in which will be assessed (using the following scale: 6, excellent; 5, good; 4 sufficient; 3, not sufficient): a) knowledge and understanding skills; b) applied knowledge and understanding skills; c) judgment authonomy; d) communication skills; e) learning ability.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Attendance

Minimum mandatory attendance: 50% of total course hours (3 credits).