ESS Courses

The ESS courses were designed with the support of an ESS Advisory Committee, whose vision is to increase the professional scope of wellness, fitness, and conditioning professionals working in our community.

ESS 100 Introduction to Wellness, Lifestyle Management, and Fitness
This is an introductory course that explores the concept of "wellness", physical fitness, and lifestyle management. This course is designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills to improve their own quality of life and also supports those students who want to work in the health and fitness professions.

ESS 215 Professional Issues in Health Promotion/Fitness Management
This course provides an overview of the business and management principles used in operating health and fitness facilities. It will also explore the professional and interpersonal skills needed to ensure a successful relationship between a health fitness professional and her/his client.

ESS 215L Professional Issues in Health Promotion/Fitness Management Lab
ESS 215L is the lab component to ESS 215. This course will focus on the practical application of the theoretical skills taught in the lecture course. Students will develop skills in how to prepare clients for an initial pre-assessment interview that includes obtaining health/medical history information, baseline blood pressures and resting heart rates. Additionally, students will learn how to design individual exercise programs for clients based upon health/medical history information, physical parameters, and assessment results.

ESS 254 Physiological Principles for Exercise and Sport Training
ESS 254 is a course that examines and explains how the human body responds and adapts to physical activity and training This course will provide the fitness professional with the scientific basis for recommending and designing exercise programs. It will also prepare the student for specific certification exams in the fitness profession.

ESS 254L Physiological Principles for Exercise and Sport Training Lab
ESS 254L is the laboratory adjunct to ESS 254. This lab course presents the physiological tests that support the principles of designing, evaluating, and recommending exercise programs. It will also prepare the student for specific certification exams in the fitness profession.

ESS 273 Resistance Training and Conditioning Techniques
ESS 273 will give the student a thorough understanding of the scientific basis for the principles of resistance training and conditioning. It will also give the student the skills necessary to design resistance training and conditioning programs as well as teach the various exercises that are incorporated within those programs.

ESS 280 Nutrition for Fitness Professionals
This course examines and explains the interactions between nutrition and exercise. It will provide the knowledge and skills required for fitness professionals to explain the effects that proper nutrition has on health, physical activity, and athletic performance.

ESS 288 Body Composition and Weight Management
This course examines the role of physical activity and nutrition in relationship to weight management and body composition. The principles and techniques for measuring body composition will be studied. Additionally, current trends relating to weight maintenance, weight loss, body composition, lifestyle change, and general health will be analyzed and discussed.

ESS 294E ESS Practicum
Students will complete 135 hours of work experience in a selected health fitness facility. This practicum will provide the student with hands-on experience in a position where they can apply their knowledge and skills and develop new skills and practices that can be applied to their professional careers.