UC San Diego Athletics
Basic Information
Organization and Responsibilities Description
UC San Diego Athletic Performance Unit (APU) is comprised of five interdependent disciplines that drive the holistic approach in developing scholar-athletes through individualized programming:
- Athletic Performance (Strength and Conditioning)
- Sports Medicine
- Triton Mind (Sports Psychology)
- Triton Nutrition (Sports Nutrition)
- Triton Sports Science (Sports Analytics)
The APU is housed at the Spanos Athletic Performance Center and develops scholar-athletes to be fitter, faster and stronger for the demands that they face in training and competition. As the main athletic training facility at UC San Diego, the Spanos Athletic Performance Center trains all scholar-athletes to maximize time spent in their sport and minimize time spent out due to injuries. The ethos here is one athlete one program approach. All five disciplines work together to create a program based on the needs of scholar-athletes and the needs are based on what they are going into.
On site, various equipment are used to measure what scholar-athletes are doing in their sport. Data is then used to get a sense of the demands of the sport, and then those demands are taken and compared to the scholar-athletes’ physical readiness to handle those demands. If there is a gap, that is their margin of risk and the value of training is to mitigate those risks. The margin of safety is when the scholar-athlete is more physically ready than the demands, which is what the APU aims to achieve. This way, they know the scholar-athlete can handle what is thrown at them, and they are able to continue to progress and start to enhance their performance from year one to year four or five.
Programming is specific, allowing the APU to not guess as much. The APU focuses on the individual, with training sessions being within the scholar-athletes’ capability and capacity. The idea is that there are no passengers to becoming a national champion, and with a rich biofeedback environment, scholar-athletes are able to see their output and how they are working, which will then help their focus and commitment day in and day out.
Age(s) of Participants
18 - 25 years
Clearance Requirement
- COVID Vaccination
- COVID Testing 1-2x a week
- Sports Medicine
- First Aid & CPR certification
- AED certification
- Triton Mind (Sports Psychology)
- Resume and Cover Letter
Research Availability
Monday - Friday: 7:00am - 8:00pm
*Schedule/hours vary depending on staff and team availability. HDS 191 students must be flexible*
Dress code
- Athletic Performance (Strength and Conditioning)
- UCSD or Under Armour workout gear
- Sports Medicine
- Department uniform polo shirt, black slacks, non-competing brand gear
- Triton Mind (Sports Psychology), Triton Nutrition (Sports Nutrition), Triton Sports Science (Sports Analytics)
- Comfortable but professional gear, non-competing brand gear