The Certificate of Integrative
Sport and Exercise Nutrition

Integrative body systems in sport

Module 1 represents a step-wise progression through the physiological body systems of an athlete, or active individual, starting with an introduction to integrative and personalised thinking in a sport and exercise context. By focussing on the underpinning health of an athlete, this module creates the base layer of the CISN performance pyramid.

Lecture content

1. Integrative thinking and the functional model in sport and exercise nutrition
2. Individuality and genetics of health, nutrition and performance
3. Gastrointestinal health specifically in athletes
4. Detoxification and biotransformation in a sport and exercise context
5. Musculoskeletal health, inflammation, and recovery
6. Exercise immunology and nutritional support
7. Endocrine and nervous system disruption, imbalance and fatigue
8. Energy, mitochondria, cardiovascular health, and the antioxidant debate

Tutorial content

Each tutorial focusses discussion around a case study from that week’s lecture, plus provides plenty of time for Q & As. Below is a list of case studies that are covered:

1. An aspiring English Channel swimmer with fatigue
2. An elite triathlete viewed from a genetics perspective
3. A trail runner with gastrointestinal issues
4. A ‘toxic’ recreational weight lifter
5. Musculoskeletal rehabilitation after a skiing accident
6. A recreational triathlete experiencing recurrent infections
7. A young marathon runner with adrenal fatigue
8. A Masters endurance athlete with cardiovascular health concerns

Module assignment

You are asked to write a case study essay of a sporting individual who displays the signs and symptoms of some body system imbalance. After describing the person, and cross-linking his or her body systems in an integrative way, within the challenges of their exercise pursuits, you’ll outline your proposed nutrition and lifestyle intervention strategies.

Read More about this module

Applied performance nutrition

Module 2 represents a more quantitative, performance-focussed approach to sports nutrition, delving into popular topics such as calorie needs, macronutrients, micronutrients, hydration and electrolytes, pre-, during- and post-exercise nutrition, and overtraining. As for all of our teaching, we view these topics in a very personalised way, contextualised to the needs of the athletic individual under our care.

Lecture content

1. Calories within sport and exercise: measurements and limitations
2. Body composition: measurement modalities and nutritional strategies
3. Macronutrients: carb vs. fat discussions, protein needs, train-low-compete-high, and personalisation
4. Micronutrients: considering nutrient-dense nutrition, assessments and interventions
5. Pre-, during- and post-exercise nutrition, nutrient timing, DIY sports and recovery drinks plus gels 
6. Hydration and electrolytes: assessments and strategies
7. Overtraining: the neuroendocrine picture, monitoring and recovery
8. Dynamic action learning of performance nutrition

Tutorial content

Each tutorial focusses discussion around a case study from that week’s lecture, plus provides time for tutorial-style Q & As. Below is a list of case studies that are covered:

1. Caloric estimations of an active lady struggling with body composition
2. Nutrition and lifestyle interventions for body composition
3. Macronutrient needs of a Masters track cyclist
4. Micronutrient needs of a recreational cyclist
5. Nutrition preparation for an ultramarathon race
6. A basketball player with cramp problems
7. An overtrained English Channel swimmer
8. Dynamic action learning of performance nutrition

Module assignment

You are asked to revisit your case study client from module 1. After recapping on your health intervention strategies, you’ll write up an essay on quantitative nutrition strategies, considering their caloric needs, macronutrient balance, micronutrient intake, hydration requirements, and how to assess their overtraining risk.

Read More about this module

Individual speciality units

Once you have completed module 1 (integrative body systems) and module 2 (performance nutrition), you now choose two of the following specialty units to complete your Certificate course.

Each module is a collection of three lectures, presented by professionals who have specialist interests in these areas. In addition, you have the opportunity to interact with these specialists during our weekly tutorial meetings. Week 4 is an action learning workshop, which draws from the knowledge and experience of all course participants within a dynamic workshop discussion of applied performance nutrition.

Hypertrophy for Sport and Exercise – Learn about training and nutrition for hypertrophy, and gain a greater understanding and appreciation of the importance of body system approach (including the ‘gut-muscle axis’) for anabolic support, plus consider ergogenic strategies to assist muscular strength and integrity. With specialist practitioners Paul Ehren, Simone do Carmo, and Matt Lovell.

Read more about this module

Natural Sports Cookery – Learn the importance of food sourcing and energetics, how to supersize the nutrient density of foods, and create a balanced meal composition for an athlete using the values of natural cookery. With certified Natural Chef and ex-triathlete, Rachel Jesson. 

Read more about this module

Gastrointestinal Health in Athletes – Learn about the effects of exercise load on gut functioning, plus nutritional and clinical strategies that you can use in practice to assess and support GI and resilience. With specialist practitioners and academics Katherine Caris-Harris, Professor Justin Roberts, and Rick Miller.

Read more about this module

Harnessing Mitochondrial Energy – Learn how to develop and harness the mitochondrial potential of your athletic clients to a higher level through interventions that provide wholesome nutrition support, microbiome health, balanced exercise training, and mental wellbeing. With specialist practitioners Zac van Heerden, Ian Craig, and Dr Patricia Worby. 

Read more about this module

Ergogenic Aids for the Athlete – Learn how to support an athlete’s performance by looking at their personal ecosystem of health, and how to identify and use nutritional ergogenic aids in clinical practice to safely improve their athletic outcomes. With specialist practitioners Paul Ehren and Matt Lovell.

Read more about this module

Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs) – Learn how to support an active individual who is showing signs of low energy availability, considering other potential contributing causes and factors in their life. With specialist practitioners Simone do Carmo, Renee McGregor and Nicky Keay.

Read more about this module

A Mind-body Perspective in Sport – Learn how to support an active individual psychologically, recognising that both health and physical performance are strongly influenced by their mental health. With specialist practitioners Dr Victor Thompson, Dr Patricia Worby, and Paul Carlos.

Read more about this module

Coming soon – We are committed to adding one or two new speciality modules each year. Health and Physical Success of Female Athletes will be available in October 2025, and ‘Healthspan’ – Functional Health of an Ageing Athlete will appear in 2026.

Module assignments

All the assignments for our speciality modules are case study based. You will be asked to build up a description of an athletic client, including all aspects of their life (nutrition, training, sleep, stress, environment etc.) that may impact their sport or exercise goal(s) positively or negatively, including the health of their body systems and mind. You’ll then build up a well-reasoned set of intervention strategies appropriate to progressing them towards their goal(s).

Online tutorials to support your learning

We always say to our students that the more you put into this course, the more you will get out of it. With this in mind, at CISN we have a strong ethos of student-tutor interactions: in other words, we are always here to answer your questions, give you support with your course work and assignments, and to help facilitate your development as a great practitioner.

We also actively encourage participants from diverse professional backgrounds to sign up to this course; this brings varying personal, academic, sporting, and practitioner experiences to the classroom. Learning is not only about systematically working through a set syllabus of lectures and readings; learning and personal expansion also happens during interaction with your peers, tutors and lecturers.

For this reason, we hold a special one hour space for you every week on Zoom while you complete this Certificate course. Once course participants have begun to get to know each other, this becomes a vibrant place of discussion, debate, and personal growth.

We draw from the method of ‘dynamic action learning’ to inspire these sessions, allowing us to focus more on your learning needs and wants rather than potential preconceived notions of the lecturers and tutors. Therefore, each session is completely bespoke to those who are online at the time.

We do, however, set up some structure to our sessions, so they may look something like this:

• Q & A – Time is given for you to ask questions that have arisen from the week’s lectures: the lecturer and/or tutor will then share their answers within a context of sport and exercise nutrition practice
• Forum discussions – Topics that have been discussed during the week on our online forum may now warrant expansion
• What have you learned? – Most weeks, the tutor will ask a practice-specific question regarding what you have learned, and will take forward with you, from that week’s lectures and readings
• Breakout rooms – We’ll often assign breakout rooms so you can discuss that question with peers in groups of 2 or 3: you’ll then come back into the main room and share what you’ve reflected on
• New work interests – This is also a time when a specialist subject lecturer may share new academic or clinical work they have been engaged in since the time when they recorded the lecture video
• Case studies – Most lectures are concluded with a case study, so questions may be asked about the client, and what further intervention strategies were, or could have been, employed during their case
• Any other business – You will always be given an opportunity to raise any topics or questions that have not so far been covered during the session

These weekly Zoom discussions, along with the forum interactions, are intended to expand the way you think about your client cases, and ultimately improve the way that you practice.