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Wageningen University

Nutrition, Exercise and Sports

Wageningen University via edX

Overview

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Are you involved in sports or regular exercise and do you want to have a better understanding of the role of nutrition on performance and health? Do you want to learn whether certain nutritional strategies could be relevant for your own athletic performance and/or muscle growth? Are you a dietitian, personal trainer, physiotherapist or a health/sport coach and do you want to be able to provide proper nutritional advice for your clients? Or, are you none of the above but interested in nutrition, exercise and sports and do you want to make your own informed decisions about your daily food intake?

Then this online course Nutrition, Exercise and Sports is for you! Nutrition is crucial to live an active and healthy life, to support training, and to optimize performance. In this online course, researchers and teachers from Wageningen University & Research will familiarize you with the nutritional aspects of exercise and sports. What are the basic concepts in exercise physiology and sport nutrition science? How is exercise being fueled for the different types of sports like; power sports, sprinting and endurance exercise? And how does protein support skeletal muscle mass and performance? In this online course you will learn to estimate energy needs and understand thermoregulation and fluid balance. You will learn about the role of micronutrients and supplements in exercise performance. Moreover, you will be introduced to some health issues related to doing exercise.

This online course also touches upon how the lessons learned from nutrition and sports research can be applied during ageing. For example, what are the benefits of extra protein in vulnerable age groups?

Be aware that this course will not tell you exactly what to eat. Instead, you will learn and understand the nutritional aspects of exercise and sport, so you can make your own informed decisions and critically evaluate nutritional advices and claims.

For whom?

The online course Nutrition, Exercise and Sports is especially useful for:

  • Sport- and health coaches, Physiotherapists and Dietitians
  • People working in the (sport) food industry
  • Athletes and professional sporters
  • Everyone with a healthy appetite for knowledge about nutrition, exercise and sports

Ready to join the MOOC Nutrition, Exercise and Sports? This online course contains several interesting and inspiring interviews with nutrition and sport professionals. It will provide basic understanding of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, and contains challenging assignments that will give you insight in nutritional needs and performance benefits for (your) athletes, your clients or yourself.

Syllabus

Week 1 | Introduction to Sport Nutrition (Science)

Key topics:

An introduction into Sports, Exercise and Nutrition, including types of Sports, Sport Nutrition Pyramid. An introduction into Sport Nutrition Science - including empirical cycle, study designs, critical issues and performance measurements.

Week 2 | Skeletal Muscle, Exercise and Sports

Key topics:

An introduction into Skeletal muscle anatomy & physiology, including contraction and energy transfer. Exercise capacity: Power & Endurance. Cardiopulmonal system during Exercise

Week 3 | Energy and Fluid balance

Key topics:

Energy requirement, energy availability. Thermoregulation, Fluid balance, (de)hydration & rehydration strategies

Week 4 | Macronutrients

Key topics:

Carbohydrates & fats as energy source, nutritional strategies. Skeletal muscle protein metabolism and dietary protein intake.

Week 5 | Micronutrients and ergogenic supplements

Key topics:

Function of micronutrients and recommendations: Iron, Magnesium, calcium and Vitamins D and B. Ergogenic supplements and sports performance

Week 6 | Exercise and Nutrition during ageing

Key topics:

Skeletal muscle and ageing, Protein & Exercise in older adults, Intervention strategies

Taught by

Dr. Marco Mensink, Rieneke Terink MSc and Pol Grootswagers MSc

Reviews

4.7 rating, based on 1,213 Class Central reviews

4.5 rating at edX based on 31 ratings

Start your review of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports

  • Anonymous
    I am a retired male (age 60) who loss a lot of weight 8 years ago. I am not an athlete and have never participated in any sports. However, for the past 8 years, I've engage in regular intense exercise sessions at my local gym, about 7 hours per week…
  • Excellent presentation of the information. Well designed and properly paced. Although the vegetarian and vegan athlete was acknowledged, I was surprised, and a little disappointed, that not more time and attention was allotted to vegan and vegetarian diet alternatives. Still 5 stars overall!
  • Pat Buckley
    I find the course made me sit down and review my own intakes. I'm enjoying the part on aging, too, as I am 65+ though still working and getting fitter right now. I believe I lost some fitness due to a injury a couple years ago. Through this course,…
  • Profile image for Kin Tsui
    Kin Tsui
    The course is well rounded to provide information across a wide area of topics. This allows student to see a broad view of the topic of Nutrition, Exercise and Sport, and enable the student to decide on a topic of focus in particular for their conti…
  • Great insight into athletic performance improvement through nutritional strategies. It will be very valuable to my personal journey in developing better nutritional habits and mountain biking performance.
  • Anonymous
    This course is really fantastic.I came to know in details the importance of exercise and having healthy food enriched with vitamins,minerals and proteins. I never knew in details as to why it is important to ingest a correct quantity and the time to…
  • Anonymous
    Personally found it very enlightening. The information was presented in chunks in an easy to understand format. The presenters did an excellent job in the way the information was provided. The content was excellent and covered all aspects in a very…
  • Anonymous
    I recently completed the "Nutrition, Exercise and Sports" course and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The course content was comprehensive and well-structured, covering all the essential topics related to nutrition and exercise science. The instructors were knowledgeable and engaging, making complex concepts easy to understand. The practical applications and real-life examples provided valuable insights into how nutrition impacts athletic performance. Overall, this course has significantly enhanced my understanding of the interplay between diet and exercise, and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in sports nutrition or improving their fitness regime.
  • Anonymous
    I just completed the sports nutrition and exercise course, and I can say that it has been an excellent experience. The content is very well-structured, and the information is clear, comprehensive, and easy to understand, even for those without a deep prior knowledge of the subject. The instructors demonstrated great knowledge and passion for the topic, which made the learning process even more engaging and motivating. Additionally, the materials and resources provided were very helpful in better understanding the concepts. I would definitely recommend this course to anyone interested in improving their athletic performance.
  • Anonymous
    I loved this course.
    It goes deep enough to keep me interested.
    The subjects are all backed up with evidence and good explanation.
    I knw this sounds like something every course should have.... but unfortunately a lot of course don't have that evidence / science back-up.

    Next to that the subject is very interesting told by good teachers withc nice examples. The question at the end of each chapter made me clear where my knowledge still lacked a bit.

    As the videos are not that long it is easy to watch a video , read a page and answer a few questions in a lunchbreak when you do not have much time.
  • Anonymous
    Good Course. Useful information. For practising people good inputs and examples.
    Thank you.
    You can add more MCQ in the modules and more pictorial teaching material.
    More question to be included to solve at the end of each Video.

    Video quality can be better.
    More downloads should be there.
    Overall a good Course
  • Anonymous
    This course comprehensively overviews the complex relationship between nutrition, exercise, and sports performance. I found the content well-structured and engaging, with clear explanations of key concepts and practical examples. The instructors were knowledgeable and enthusiastic, making the learning experience enjoyable. I particularly appreciated the opportunity to apply the course material to my own fitness goals. I highly recommend this course to anyone interested in improving their overall health and well-being through nutrition and exercise.
  • Anonymous
    This was a great and very informative course! It is one of the best I've taken in an online self-paced format. I really enjoyed all the modules, the videos, and the practical exercises. I feel I've gained a lot of knowledge that is directly applicable to my daily life, leading to improved outcomes in exercise and a healthy lifestyle. I would highly recommend this course to anyone interested in learning more about the role of macronutrients and micronutrients and how they interact with sports, exercise and overall health.
  • Anonymous
    I saw this course and thought I would give it a try - it was very interesting and gave some very useful information regards exercise and correct nutrition. I found all of the presenters interesting and enthusiastic about their subject. I am getting on in years so I was particularly interested in the section about older people and how to maintain muscle mass and to stay fit into older age. I am now working on a plan to improve my diet and exercise going forwards.
  • Anonymous
    I'm runner and doing bodyweight. I workout 1-2 hrs per session, 5-7 session a week. I was struggle from feeling tired, no improvement in performance for a while. I joined this course because I think know to little about nutrition. My weight always up and down about 3-5 kg every weeks.

    This course help me to understand mechanic of exercises and fuel we use. I tested with myself by calculate carb intake before exercise. It help a lot!
  • Anonymous
    The MOOC's was highly informative and needs much effort and concentration to learn all the aspects. the calculations part is complex and require practise to be perfect. Nutrition for exercise and sports is a current trending topic many are much eager to earn. this ia very beneficial to the sports & gym trainers and also to those pursuing and interested to pursue carers as registered dietitians
  • Anonymous
    I have learnt so much from this course and very grateful for all the scientifically researched information. As an older endurance athlete (cycling, running and walking) I have a clearer idea about how to keep my performance levels and overall fitness at a high level. I feel like I can continue running confidently into older age!
  • Anonymous
    This is a great source in the domain of nutrition in sports and exercise-related activities. I have gained much knowledge that other ordinary courses do not provide. Also, the course uses the insider's and athlete's points of view and expertise, which is a trustworthy resource.
    Thank you.
  • Devidutta Panda
    A very well-tailored course. It explains the concepts exceptionally well and answers many questions regarding food, nutrition and exercise which always bothers us. This course will definitely help people to help themselves and others around.
  • Anonymous
    Thanks a lot, Scientists!

    I have gained a good knowledge in Sports Nutrition as a student in this Course, and as I am an undergraduate physiotherapy student and calisthenics athlete, this knowledge will improve me in both fields.

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