In addition to obtaining benefits of physical and mental health from doing exercises, large population would like to participate in sports competition in order to test their ability and as a motivation for engaging in regular exercises. Record breaking numbers of participants in Hong Kong Marathon every year and increasing numbers of community/school-based sports competitions proved the scope of participation. Therefore, scientific-based knowledge and skills in optimizing performance are essential as they can help with maximizing the physical function, performance in sports, and prevent injuries while injury is considered as one of the major drop out/suspension reasons in participating in regular exercises/physical activities. Besides, historical and cultural aspects will also be investigated in this course as they take important roles in affecting the evolution of sports and driving the advancement in improving the sports performance.

This course will mainly focus on: (1) measurement and result interpretation of both health-related and sports-related physical fitness components; (2) the exercise and training prescription for performance improvement and injury prevention; (3) psychological and nutritional factors affecting sports performance; (4) historical and cultural aspects affecting sports development and performance. The theories and impacts of science, technology, and psychology on sport performance and testing will be emphasized and students will gain experiential learning by teaming up to work and apply the knowledge for improvement of performance for a group of participants in sports competitions with a holistic approach.