Whether you're a budding runner, an established athlete, a coach or a couch potato, you'll find lots to learn in our free courses revolving around the varied subject of sport and fitness.
Explore the free courses
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Communication and working relationships in sport and fitness
This free course, Communication and working relationships in sport and fitness, explores the personal skills that underpin so much work in sport and gyms. We often hear employers refer to the importance of these interpersonal relationships or ‘soft skills’ in sport and fitness, and in this unique course you’ll build valuable insights into understanding workplace communication, motivation and self-awareness and how this can increase your effectiveness and enhance how you work with others. All this is made possible by some unique film footage of coaches, trainers and instructors at work combined with engaging learning activities that accompany these case studies to benefit both your career and those you work with.
Learn moreCommunication and working relationships in sport and fitnessLevel: 1 Introductory
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Exploring sport coaching and psychology
This free course, Exploring sport coaching and psychology, investigates how scientific and management ideas contribute to success while also taking you on a journey through unique sporting case studies and insights that will change how you view and study sport. You will consider how the mind, the body, the environment and training techniques all contribute to optimum fitness.
Learn moreExploring sport coaching and psychologyLevel: 1 Introductory
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Sporting women in the media
The mass media (e.g. radio, TV, internet) has become one of the most powerful institutional influences in society. This free course, Sporting women in the media, explores whether gendered inequalities exist in sport by evaluating the media coverage. The media can be highly influential in shaping perceptions about gender in sport and headlines indicative of differences in how male and female athletes are regarded in the media. In the course you’ll examine messages that the media send us about gender in sport, their potential impact and how gender ideologies can be challenged.
Learn moreSporting women in the mediaLevel: 2 Intermediate
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Eating to win: activity, diet and weight control
What should we eat before and after exercise? This free course, Eating to win: activity, diet and weight control, examines the importance of nutrition in physical activity, sport and weight management. The role that physical activity has alongside nutrition in controlling body weight will be discussed, as will considerations for pre-exercise and post-exercise nutrition and hydration.
Learn moreEating to win: activity, diet and weight controlLevel: 1 Introductory
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Recovery strategies in sport and exercise
The ability to recover quickly from an intensive training session or match can be extremely advantageous to sports performers. Sport and fitness participants are increasingly using strategies such as ice baths and compression clothing to enhance their recovery from intensive exercise, but how effective are these strategies? Do they really speed up the recovery process? To answer questions such as these this free course ‘Recovery strategies in sport and exercise’ investigates the science behind recovery exploring the physiological processes involved in training and recovery and the potential role of recovery strategies.
Learn moreRecovery strategies in sport and exerciseLevel: 2 Intermediate
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Exercise and mental health
Each year thousands of pounds are spent on medications to treat conditions such as anxiety and depression. These medications often have negative side effects. Exercise is an alternative treatment that is low cost and has few side effects. In this free course, Exercise and mental health, we will look at the links between exercise and improved mental health and psychological well-being. This will include consideration of the role of exercise in combating stress, anxiety and depression, and in enhancing mood.
Learn moreExercise and mental healthLevel: 2 Intermediate
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Exploring the psychological aspects of sport injury
Have you ever experienced a sport injury? Have you ever thought there could be a psychological dimension to sport injuries, as well as a physical one? Sport injury is relatively common among sport and exercise participants, and while the physical impact of injury is often easy to recognise, the psychological impact is less obvious. In this free course, Exploring the psychological aspects of sport injury, you will examine the relationship between injury and psychological factors. You will look at the link between injury and psychology at two distinct points – before an injury has occurred and then following an injury. First, you will consider the psychological factors that may increase the likelihood of sustaining a sport injury (pre-injury), and then you will consider psychological reactions to the incidence of a sport injury (post-injury). The course will also allow you to examine how sport and exercise psychology can be used both to help minimise the risk of injury and to help people cope better with sport injury rehabilitation. The video below featuring OU student and Olympic Gold Medallist Helen Richardson-Walsh explains more.
Learn moreExploring the psychological aspects of sport injuryLevel: 2 Intermediate
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Learning from sport burnout and overtraining
Sport can place high levels of stress on athletes, coaches and others involved. If unable to cope with these stresses they may be vulnerable to developing burnout. This free course, Learning from sport burnout and overtraining, examines burnout in sport from various perspectives including both the coach’s and athlete’s perspective. Drawing on real life case studies it explores how coaches can recognise and prevent burnout in athletes, and investigates the prevention and treatment of burnout in coaches. This course is for you if you are interested in developing an holistic understanding of burnout in sport.
Learn moreLearning from sport burnout and overtrainingLevel: 2 Intermediate
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Coaching others to coach
Are you responsible for supporting sport and physical activity coaches to become inspirational and excellent in their practice? This course is designed for coach developers, educators, mentors and tutors who support coaches to improve. You will explore how people learn, what are the skills and qualities of an effective coach of coaches, as well appreciate how to ask powerful questions and listen actively. You will consider the processes associated with resolving difficult situations where differences of opinion arise, how to measure success and provide constructive feedback. By the end of this course you should feel more confident in your ability to support colleagues and help them to become even better at what they do.
Learn moreCoaching others to coachLevel: 2 Intermediate
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Exploring sport online: Athletes and efficient hearts
We all know that the heart is very important but what exactly does the heart do? Why is the blood so important? What functions do the lungs perform? In this free course, Exploring sport online: Athletes and efficient hearts, we will try to provide at least a basic understanding so we can answer these questions and begin to understand why knowing about the heart is important for all sports people. Before that we will take a look at the human body.
Learn moreExploring sport online: Athletes and efficient heartsLevel: 1 Introductory
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Improving aerobic fitness
Aerobic fitness is integral to successful sports performance and to maintaining good health. But what sort of exercise should you be doing to develop your aerobic fitness? This free course, Improving aerobic fitness, will help you to answer this question by introducing you to principles of aerobic exercise prescription.
Learn moreImproving aerobic fitnessLevel: 1 Introductory
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The science behind wheeled sports
This free course, The science behind wheeled sports, focuses on cycling and wheelchair racing: what we might collectively call wheeled sports. The Scientific concepts such as force, acceleration and speed are also useful for understanding these sports. However, cycling and wheelchair racing differ from other sports in that technology more obviously plays an important role.
Learn moreThe science behind wheeled sportsLevel: 1 Introductory
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Sport media and culture: Who's calling the shots?
The media plays a huge part in sport; we find out what's happening and how our team is doing, and it creates great sporting moments and sports celebrities and stars. This free course, Sport media and culture: Who's calling the shots?, looks at the role played by the media in sport and how this has changed with the development of internet and satellite TV. Who calls the shots: athletes, teams or the media moguls? How do social scientists explain this relationship between sport and the media?
Learn moreSport media and culture: Who's calling the shots?Level: 1 Introductory
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Working with young people in sport and exercise
This free course, Working with young people in sport and exercise, examines the special considerations of coaching or instructing young people in sport and exercise. The physiological differences between children and adults will be considered along with the practical implications of coaching young people.
Learn moreWorking with young people in sport and exerciseLevel: 2 Intermediate
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The business of football
Welcome to this free course, The business of football, produced by The Open University working in partnership with The English Football League Trust. If you are fascinated by football and interested in discovering more about business and management, then this engaging and stimulating course, which provides the opportunity to share and comment on your learning with others, is for you. You can progress at your own pace over 3 to 5 weeks, and it will take a minimum of around 9 hours of your time over this period.
Learn moreThe business of footballLevel: 1 Introductory
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Motivation and factors affecting motivation
This free course explores the term 'motivation' and factors affecting motivation. This includes looking at the most influential theories of motivation that contribute to understanding the causes of motivation. The motivation of sports people and people working in sport and fitness environments are used to help understand the theories presented.
Learn moreMotivation and factors affecting motivationLevel: 1 Introductory
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The impact of technology on children's physical activity
This free course, The impact of technology on children's physical activity, explores the impact of technology on children’s physical activity levels. It examines the different types of technology that children have access to and the ways in which they engage with it. As part of this discussion this course looks at information from a range of different sources and evaluates this evidence to try and answer the question of whether technology is helping or hindering children’s physical activity levels.
Learn moreThe impact of technology on children's physical activityLevel: 1 Introductory
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Physical activity: a family affair
This free course, Physical activity: a family affair, aims to explore the effects that the family has on the amount and nature of physical activity a child participates in. The beliefs and behaviours of the family environment are the key psycho-social factors we investigate here.
Learn morePhysical activity: a family affairLevel: 3 Advanced
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A question of ethics: right or wrong?
This free course, A question of ethics: right or wrong?, discusses ethical and professional principles in sport and fitness environments. Working closely with individuals and developing relationships is an inherent and often satisfying part of the work of a sports coach or exercise instructor. However, it can bring about ethical and professional challenges and can sometimes place practitioners in a difficult or uncomfortable position, e.g. a confidence shared and/or personal dilemmas. The course considers good practice and certain ethical issues, in particular the relationship between the coach/instructor and individuals with a specific focus on power relationships. We also explore the responsibility of the practitioner to help develop character.
Learn moreA question of ethics: right or wrong?Level: 2 Intermediate
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