Exercise Physiology and Performance
Exercise Physiology and Performance
Evidence-based exercise physiology for coaches: energy systems and the cardiorespiratory test, training adaptations and hypertrophy, fatigue, overreaching and energy availability, recovery, periodisation and concurrent training, progressive overload and autoregulation, training-load monitoring, and programme design. Every lesson works from named studies with their sample sizes, effect sizes and limits.
Who this course is for
Personal trainers and coaches who want to understand the physiological basis for programming decisions — energy systems, adaptation, fatigue and periodisation.
What you'll learn
- •Explain how phosphocreatine, glycolysis and oxidative metabolism work together, calculate phosphocreatine recovery and use it to set rest intervals.
- •Read a cardiorespiratory test critically: judge whether VO2max was verified, recognise respiratory-exchange-ratio artefacts, separate threshold concepts and calculate speed at VO2max from running economy.
- •Distinguish strength, hypertrophy, power and endurance adaptations, their time-courses and the dose-response evidence for each, with the limits of that evidence.
- •Explain the proposed mechanisms of hypertrophy and what direct tests show about load, volume, frequency, soreness and hormones.
- •Separate acute from accumulated fatigue, quantify central and peripheral contributions, and detect accumulating fatigue with an index session judged against normal variation.
- •Apply the consensus definitions of overreaching and overtraining syndrome, state why overtraining syndrome is a diagnosis of exclusion, and work within scope when referring.
- •Calculate energy availability, explain the evidence and limits behind low-energy-availability thresholds and the REDs framework, and screen and refer appropriately.
- •Evaluate recovery methods (sleep, carbohydrate, protein, deloads, cold-water immersion, massage) against the sample size, design and effect size behind each claim.
- •Appraise the periodisation literature, compare linear, undulating and block models, and design a taper from the best-supported pattern.
- •Design a training week for a hybrid athlete using the evidence on concurrent-training interference.
- •Apply overload levers, autoregulation (repetitions in reserve, bar velocity, velocity-loss thresholds) and endurance progressions, and quantify the error in effort ratings.
- •Calculate volume load, session-RPE load, monotony and strain, and judge monitoring tools (acute:chronic workload ratio, wellness ratings, heart rate, heart rate variability) against the evidence.
- •Integrate the course into designed mesocycles and diagnose programming mistakes and complex cases with calculations, cited evidence, honest uncertainty and referral.
R1,999
8 modules · 24 lessons · ~30h
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to complete Personal Training Foundations or Applied Anatomy for Coaches first?
It's recommended but not required. This course assumes the basic coaching and anatomy foundations covered in those two courses, and builds specifically on the physiological detail needed to design more precise, goal-specific training programmes. Completing them first will make some sections click faster, but this course is written to stand on its own.
Is this course only relevant to bodybuilding or aesthetic-focused clients?
No. It covers strength, hypertrophy, endurance and power as four distinct adaptations and applies them to general-population clients, athletes and hybrid athletes. The final module includes two designed mesocycles (one for hypertrophy, one for strength) and six complex cases that combine endurance, strength, fatigue, fuelling and monitoring.
How much of this course is theory versus practical application?
Every lesson works from named studies, with their sample sizes and effect sizes, and turns them into calculations and decisions: rest intervals from phosphocreatine recovery, energy availability from a food record, load jumps from a repetition range, a taper from a published pattern. Each lesson states what the evidence does not show.
How long does the course take to complete?
Allow about 30 hours of study across the 8 modules and 24 lessons, at your own pace. Many lessons include worked calculations and ten review questions, and you will need time to work through them.
How is the course assessed?
Each module has a scenario-based quiz (10 questions drawn from a bank, 70% to pass). The final certification exam is a timed 130-minute paper of 42 questions drawn at random from a bank of 143: 36 scenario questions with data and calculations, 4 written answers and 2 case studies. The pass mark is 70%. The written answers and case studies are read and marked by Coach Freddy, so the final result follows his marking.
What happens if I fail the final exam?
You get one free retake at no extra cost, with no waiting period, and your result shows which topics to revise. If you do not pass on the second attempt, a further attempt needs Coach Freddy's approval and the exam retake fee.
Will I receive a certificate?
Yes. Once you pass the final exam, Coach Freddy issues a personalised, watermarked PDF certificate with your name and a unique certificate number, downloadable from your Academy dashboard.
Do I get a downloadable manual, or is everything only online?
Both. All content is available online through the lesson viewer, and you can also download a full branded course manual covering the entire syllabus as a PDF for offline study or as a permanent reference.
Course Content
Module 1: Energy Systems for Coaches
- The Three Energy Systems That Fuel ExercisePreview
- Matching Energy Systems to Programming Decisions
- Oxygen Uptake, Thresholds and Economy: Reading a Cardiorespiratory Test
Module 2: Adaptations: Strength, Hypertrophy, Endurance and Power
- Understanding the Four Core Training AdaptationsPreview
- The Mechanisms Behind Muscle Hypertrophy
- Endurance and Power Adaptations: What Actually Changes
Module 3: Fatigue and Its Role in Training
- Acute Fatigue vs. Accumulated FatiguePreview
- Overreaching and Overtraining: Recognising the Warning Signs
- Low Energy Availability and RED-S: When Under-Fuelling Looks Like Overtraining
Module 4: Recovery Principles
- What Recovery Actually RequiresPreview
- Active Recovery, Passive Recovery and Deload Weeks
- Recovery Modalities: What the Evidence Supports
Module 5: Periodisation Fundamentals
- What Periodisation Is and Why Training Must Vary Over TimePreview
- Linear vs. Undulating Periodisation Models
- Concurrent Training and Interference: Designing for the Hybrid Athlete
Module 6: Progressive Overload in Practice
- Methods of Applying Progressive Overload Beyond Adding WeightPreview
- Autoregulation and RPE as Overload Tools
- Overload in Endurance Training: Volume, Intensity and Distribution
Module 7: Training Load: Volume, Intensity and Monitoring
- Defining Training Volume and IntensityPreview
- Monitoring Training Load Over Time
- Reading Physiological Signals: Heart Rate, HRV and Submaximal Drift
Module 8: Putting It Together: Programming for a Specific Adaptation
- Worked Example: Designing a Mesocycle for Hypertrophy vs. StrengthPreview
- Common Physiological Mistakes in Programme Design
- Capstone: Six Complex Cases