Since the former Physical Education and Sports Department of the University of Costa Rica, academic staff sought a process of constructing and constituting a specific framework for teaching, research and physical activity.

Hence, in 1977 it was proposed that the department should initiate a programme for the promotion of research in the field of physical education, and the following areas of research were recommended: the organization and administration of Costa Rican sports, the organization and administration of physical education, the effects of exercise on physical fitness and the use of resources in the sports field.

Since then, research has been a very important part of the school. In fact, when a student enters a major they are encouraged to do research, through some courses of their bachelor's degree program, seeking to train, educate and promote the research area in the students. This area is so important that many students continue with the postgraduate program (masters and doctorate) in human movement sciences and recreation, which gives very outstanding results at the research level, which are presented nationally and internationally in various media such as conferences, symposia, journals, among others.

Among the major milestones in the development of research on human movement at the school, the organization of the International Symposium on Sports, Exercise and Health Sciences stands out. Its first edition was held between November 7 and 11, 1994, and was called on that occasion the International Symposium on Sports Training with emphasis on Power, Strength and Speed.

The symposium has allowed the most current international scientific research in the sciences of human movement and health to be known among physical education teachers, coaches of various sports, health exercise instructors, students of physical education and other related areas, as well as the general public from Costa Rica and other Central American countries who have been regularly attending this academic activity.

In addition, promoting the production of national research in this field and providing an annual space for its dissemination has been a very important contribution of the Symposium. As a result, the school's undergraduate and graduate students, as well as its faculty, have been able to make their academic production visible to the national public and have been motivated to present their work internationally in other forums. In addition to the symposium, the school has been a contributor to national scientific publications in the field of human movement and recreation.

In 2001, the School of Physical Education and Sports began publishing the Journal of Exercise and Health Sciences, which is still in circulation today, changing its name in 2008 to Pensar en Movimiento: Revista de Ciencias del Ejercicio y la Salud, and moving from an exclusively printed format to a digital and printed format.

Also, between 2002 and 2004, the school published the International Journal of Soccer and Science, which was mainly based on papers presented at the International Congress of Soccer and Science, which the school organized during that period. Another important milestone in the development of human movement research in the country, promoted by the School of Physical Education and Sports, was the creation of the Center for Research in Human Movement Sciences (CIMOHU), as an evolution of the Laboratory of Human Movement Sciences (LACIMOV), and as a consolidation of the scientific work of this academic unit.

CIMOHU was created by agreement of the University Council of the University of Costa Rica, approved on November 1, 2012, to plan, develop, execute and disseminate research projects that help solve problems related to three areas of human movement sciences: movement pedagogy, sports performance and exercise, wellness and health.