A science degree with an exercise focus allows you to work in many areas, from the fitness industry to the rehabilitation of clinical populations.

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Be at the forefront of health, sports performance, disease prevention and rehabilitation

Combat chronic disease

Currently over 70 per cent of Australian illness can be attributed to non communicable chronic disease such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease or obesity. This course will train you as an allied health professional who can prescribe exercise for people living with chronic disease. You will also be able to use exercise to help improve the quality of life for people living with disability or injury.  In these types of roles you could work on the formulation of exercise programs for specific groups such as the aged, children or clients with spinal injuries, or develop a clinical rehabilitation program.

Fine-tune performance
As an exercise scientist you could work in producing the optimal performance of athletes from team or individual sports. People in these roles use scientific principles such as biomechanics, musculoskeletal rehabilitation and gait analysis to evaluate and improve performance.

Long term partnerships
An especially satisfying aspect of being an exercise scientist is the long-term nature of the partnerships you form with your clients. By working one-on-one with a client for an extended period of time you get to build a genuine rapport with them and see real improvements in their health and performance.

Highly respected
As an exercise scientist accredited in Australia, you will enjoy the reputation of being qualified within a country with an outstanding reputation in the field.

Research potential

There is a lot of potential for graduates to move into research in health, exercise physiology and biomechanics by taking up honours, master’s or PhD degrees in Exercise and Sport Science. Our researchers are well-known for working with elite athletes from some of Australia’s most loved sports such as cricket and rowing.  For example, we recently completed a large body of research that has challenged popular training and coaching methods for elite rowers.

A stepping stone

There is also the potential to use this degree as a basis for further study in other fields such as nutrition and dietetics, medicine or teaching.

Clinical & professional fieldwork
A number of clinical and professional fieldwork opportunities are scheduled as part of your course. This will give you the hands on experience with real clients in a supervised environment to allow you to combine the academic sections of your course with the practical abilities required of the exercise and sports science profession. Some of the clinical and professional fieldwork sites that students have attended previously include:

• Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) - Biomechanical Analysis Team
• Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA)
• Cardiology Australia
• Children's Hospital Institute of Sports Medicine (CHISM)
• Cricket NSW
• Garvan Institute of Medical Research
• Peak Conditioning
• St George Hospital

There are a number of essential requirements that students need to prepare for before attending any site for clinical and professional fieldwork. Further information on these and more is available at our Clinical & Professional Fieldwork website.

Course completion requirements

144 credit points: students are to complete as required the core, elective and general elective units of study shown in the Table of units of study for the degree as set out in the Faculty of Health Sciences handbook.

On campus attendance pattern

Full time

End qualification

Bachelor of Applied Science (Exercise and Sport Science)

Professional recognition

Graduates are eligible to apply for membership of the Australian Association of Exercise and Sport Science (AAESS) and Sports Medicine Australia (SMA).

Course structure

Course level

Bachelor

Honours availability

Additional year

Handbook website link

http://www.usyd.edu.au/handbooks/handbooks_admin/health_science.shtml