Sport and Exercise Nutrition

Sport and exercise nutrition is an applied science that examines how dietary choices affect physical performance, recovery, body composition and long-term health. It draws on physiology, biochemistry and psychology to understand how the body adapts to training, how different nutritional strategies support those adaptations, and how athletes and active individuals can optimise what they eat and drink to achieve their goals. The field has grown significantly as elite sport has recognised the marginal gains available through evidence-based nutrition, and interest at recreational and clinical levels has grown alongside it.

At Hartpury University this four-year full-time programme begins with a foundation year, which provides the scientific groundwork needed before advancing to honours-level study. This makes the degree well suited to students who have a keen interest in sport and nutrition but may not yet have the specific prior qualifications typically required for direct entry. As the course description makes clear, you do not need a background in sport or nutrition at the outset, only a genuine interest in how the body adapts to training, how nutritional strategies fuel performance, and how psychology intersects with athletic achievement.

The programme includes a sandwich year and embedded work placements, giving you direct experience in applied settings before you graduate.

You will study the physiology of exercise and training adaptation, the science of macronutrients and micronutrients, dietary assessment and analysis, applied nutrition for different types of sport and physical activity, sports psychology, and the evidence base for nutritional supplementation. Research methods are integral to the programme, preparing you to evaluate the rapidly evolving scientific literature in this field critically.

Graduates work as sport and exercise nutritionists, performance nutritionists, fitness and nutrition coaches, and in roles within professional sport, fitness industry organisations, public health settings and military organisations. Registration as a Sport and Exercise Nutrition Registrant (SENr) typically requires meeting specific competency standards, and the degree provides a pathway to that. Postgraduate study in sport science, nutrition or dietetics is also a common route.