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Sports science is a discipline that studies how the healthy human body works during exercise, and how sport and physical activity promote health and performance from cellular to whole body perspectives. The study of sports science traditionally incorporates areas of
physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemica ...
(
exercise physiology Exercise physiology is the physiology of physical exercise. It is one of the allied health professions, and involves the study of the acute responses and chronic adaptations to exercise. Exercise physiologists are the highest qualified exercise ...
),
psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...
(
sport psychology Sport psychology was defined by the European Federation of Sport in 1996, as the study of the psychological basis, processes, and effects of sport. Otherwise, sport is considered as any physical activity where the individuals engage for competi ...
),
anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...
,
biomechanics Biomechanics is the study of the structure, function and motion of the mechanical aspects of biological systems, at any level from whole organisms to organs, cells and cell organelles, using the methods of mechanics. Biomechanics is a branch o ...
,
biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology an ...
, and biokinetics. Sports scientists and performance consultants are growing in demand and employment numbers, with the ever-increasing focus within the sporting world on achieving the best results possible. Through the scientific study of sports, researchers have developed a greater understanding of how the human body reacts to exercise, training, different environments, and many other stimuli.


Origins of exercise physiology

Sports science can trace its origins to ancient Greece. The noted ancient Greek physician
Galen Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus ( el, Κλαύδιος Γαληνός; September 129 – c. AD 216), often Anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman Empire. Considered to be one o ...
(131–201) wrote 87 detailed essays about improving health (proper nutrition), aerobic fitness, and strengthening muscles. New ideas upon the working and functioning of the human body emerged during the Renaissance as anatomists and physicians challenged the previously known theories. These spread with the implementation of the printed word, the result of
Gutenberg Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg (; – 3 February 1468) was a German inventor and craftsman who introduced letterpress printing to Europe with his movable-type printing press. Though not the first of its kind, earlier designs w ...
's printing press in the 15th century. Allied with this was a large increase in academia in general, universities were forming all around the world. Importantly these new scholars went beyond the simplistic notions of the early Greek physicians, and shed light upon the complexities of the circulatory, and digestive systems. Furthermore, by the middle of the 19th century, early medical schools (such as the
Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is cons ...
, formed 1782) began appearing in the United States, whose graduates went on to assume positions of importance in academia and allied medical research. Medical journal publications increased significantly in number during this period. In 1898, three articles on physical activity appeared in the first volume of the '' American Journal of Physiology''. Other articles and reviews subsequently appeared in prestigious journals. The German applied physiology publication, '' Internationale Zeitschrift fur Physiologie einschliesslich Arbeitphysiologie '' (1929–1940; now known as the European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology), became a significant journal in the field of research. A number of key figures have made significant contributions to the study of sports science: * Austin Flint, Jr., (1836–1915) One of the first American pioneer physicians, studied physiological responses to exercise in his influential medical textbooks. * Edward Hitchcock, Jr., (1828–1911)
Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educati ...
Professor of Hygiene and Physical Education, devoted his academic career to the scientific study of physical exercise, training and the body. Coauthored 1860 text on exercise physiology. * George Wells Fitz, M.D. (1860–1934) Created the first departmental major in Anatomy, Physiology, and Physical Training at Harvard University in 1891. *
August Krogh Schack August Steenberg Krogh (15 November 1874 – 13 September 1949) was a Danish professor at the department of zoophysiology at the University of Copenhagen from 1916 to 1945. He contributed a number of fundamental discoveries within severa ...
(1874–1949) Won the 1920 Nobel prize in physiology for discovering the mechanism that controlled capillary blood flow in resting or active muscle. * Per-Olof Åstrand (1922–2015) Professor at the Department of Physiology,
Karolinska Institute The Karolinska Institute (KI; sv, Karolinska Institutet; sometimes known as the (Royal) Caroline Institute in English) is a research-led medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area of Sweden. The Karolinska Institute is consis ...
, Stockholm. Wrote a seminal paper which evaluated the physical working capacity of men and women aged 4–33 years.


Study of sports science

A notable amount of research in the field of sports science is completed at universities or dedicated research centers. Higher-education degrees in Sports Science or Human Physiology are also becoming increasingly popular with many universities now offering both undergraduate, postgraduate and distance learning degrees in the discipline. Opportunities for graduates in these fields include employment as a Physical Education teacher,
Dietician A dietitian, medical dietitian, or dietician is an expert in identifying and treating disease-related malnutrition and in conducting medical nutrition therapy, for example designing an enteral tube feeding regimen or mitigating the effects of ...
or Nutritionist, Performance Analyst, Sports coach, Sports therapist, Fitness center manager, Sports administrator, Strength and Conditioning specialist or retail manager of a Sports store. Graduates may also be well-positioned to undertake further training to become an accredited Physiotherapist, Exercise Physiologist, Research Scientist and Sports Medical Doctor. Sports science may also be useful for providing information on the aging body. Older adults are aware of the benefits of exercise, but many are not performing the exercise needed to maintain these benefits. Sports science provides a means of allowing older people to regain more physical competence without focusing on doing so for the purposes of anti-aging. Sports science can also provide a means of helping older people avoid falls and have the ability to perform daily tasks more independently. In Australia the majority of sports science research from 1983 to 2003 was done in laboratories and nearly half of the research was done with sub-elite or elite athletes. Over two-thirds of the research was done regarding four sports: rowing, cycling, athletics, and swimming. In America, sports play a big part of the American identity, however, sports science has slowly been replaced with exercise science. Sports science can allow athletes to train and compete more effectively at home and abroad.
José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix GOIH (; born 26 January 1963), is a Portuguese professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Italian Serie A club Roma. Once dubbed "The Special One" by the British ...
, a football manager who won
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
twice, reflected his studies of sport science as "sometimes it is difficult to understand if it is sport or if it is science".


Academic journals in sports science

* '' Journal of Applied Biomechanics'' * '' International Journal of Computer Science in Sport'' * '' Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research'' * '' Journal of Swimming Research'' * ''
Sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can ...
'' * '' Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise'' * '' Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport''


Reproducibility

A 2018 study criticized the field of
exercise Exercise is a body activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. It is performed for various reasons, to aid growth and improve strength, develop muscles and the cardiovascular system, hone athletic s ...
and sports science for insufficient replication studies, limited reporting of both null and trivial results, and insufficient research transparency. Statisticians have criticized sports science for common use of magnitude-based inference, a controversial statistical method which has allowed sports scientists to extract apparently significant results from noisy data where ordinary hypothesis testing would have found none.


See also

*
Kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, biomechanical, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kinesiology to human health ...
* Kinanthropometry * Sports biomechanics *
Sports medicine Sports medicine is a branch of medicine that deals with physical fitness and the treatment and prevention of injuries related to sports and exercise. Although most sports teams have employed team physicians for many years, it is only since th ...
* Computer science in sport


References


External links


British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences

American College of Sports Medicine

European College of Sport Science

Exercise & Sports Science Australia

National Strength & Conditioning Association
{{Authority control Applied sciences