Fitness and Personal Training students refine their skills.

Third year Fitness and Personal Training students from Southampton Solent University, under the direction of Glynis Young from the Health, Exercise and Sport Science portfolio are refining their skills with clients who want personal training sessions to help improve their conditions as well as their overall fitness.  Clients are referred from GPs and the Physiotherapy Department at Southampton General Hospital.  The students will work with clients who present with a wide-range of conditions including arthritis, fibromyalgia, lower back pain, hypertension, obesity, osteoporosis and Parkinson's Disease. Students on this unit have the opportunity of gaining a specialist REPs qualification for working with patients with medically referred conditions.

Personal Training students start client training sessions.

Students on the Fitness and Personal Training, Applied Sport Science and Health, Exercise & Physical Activity degrees working towards their Personal Trainer Award will be starting their training sessions with real-life clients next week. These sessions allow the students to train individuals in our dedicated teaching gym to improve their health, fitness and well-being. This practical aspect of the course provides invaluable work experience within a safe, supervised setting, and allows students to refine their skills as fitness professionals and enhance their employment potential. In addition, students are asked to reflect on their fitness interventions and to analyse the reasons why their clients achieved the results they did. Needless to say these sessions are extremely popular, not just for the students themselves but also for the clients who receive up to 12 weeks of free personal training. The unit is led by Martin Skivington, who states: "the integration of practical, real-life experiences into academic units provides fantastic opportunities for our students to enhance their instructional skills, not to mention their chances of getting the job they want when they graduate."

HESS students plan for the future.

Students on the BA (Hons) Fitness Management and Personal Training degree have just been assessed presenting their plans to open a new gym in the Southampton area. The assessment forms part of their Operation and Management of Fitness Facilities module and provides a fantastic opportunity to put into practice information relating to the location, staffing, equipment, design and potential income of the proposed facility. The module is delivered by Sheridan Easton, who has extensive experience of management within the health and fitness sector, notably winning a fitness industry FLAME (Fitness Leadership and Management Excellence) award for a record three years during his time as CEO of Valley Leisure.

Guest lecture for HESS students from Southampton City Primary Care Trust

Jenny Davies from Southampton City Primary Care Trust came in to Solent this week to give a guest lecture to the Health and Fitness students who are studying Physical Activity and Public Health Interventions. Jenny is a nutritionist, and leads the Fit for Life strategy for the Southampton area. She gave the students an insight into her role within the PCT, and discussed the skills and knowledge that are essential for gaining employment in this area. Jenny has also agreed to set up a short work placement where students can get hands on experience of working on a physical activity project in the city. Dr Marie Stopforth hopes to be working closely with Jenny in the future to provide students with further opportunities to become involved in research projects in the area of physical activity and public health.

Stay tuned...

Stay tuned for blogs from the Health, Exercise & Sport Science programme at Southampton Solent University. In the meantime why not check out our website at www.solent.ac.uk/hess.