What makes a good strength and conditioning coach

Their client base tends to be younger junior high school or senior high school students , and they interact often with their clients' parents. Athletic exercise programs can be fairly rigorous, and it can be difficult to get athletes to train as hard as they should. For this reason conditioning coaches must be good motivators. Because of the diversity of their clientele, coaches must be organized in how they administer each conditioning program and be detail oriented in terms of record keeping.

Much like a personal trainer, a conditioning coach must be a good teacher because he will be trying to educate athletes on how to execute weightlifting and other exercises correctly. Conditioning coaches must also be perceptive; they will be monitoring athletes as they train, correcting any lifting errors they make. Finally, to work successfully with an array of athletes, coaches, and maybe even parents, the conditioning coach requires above-average interpersonal skills.

Like any professional, a successful conditioning coach requires the right combination of education, certification, and experience. A conditioning coach should have at least a BA degree, with kinesiology as the ideal major. A master's degree is usually required for college-level jobs. This certification is virtually a requirement for employment as a conditioning coach.

Experience might be equally as important as preparation for a career as a conditioning coach. The wise student will gain firsthand experience in a strength and conditioning environment while still in college. Whether working as an assistant, an intern, or as a volunteer, nothing is more important than gaining firsthand experience.

Working in a fitness center is helpful in this regard, but most fitness centers are committed to improving health and fitness rather than athletic performance. For this reason, it is also important to merge studies in kinesiology with experience working under the supervision, or mentoring, of a skilled strength and conditioning coach. Fortunately many coaches like to share their expertise with enthusiastic young people interested in pursuing similar careers. As is true for the other fitness careers discussed in this chapter, it is worthwhile to become a member of a professional organization.

The premier organization for conditioning coaches is the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Members have access to several journals focusing on the science behind conditioning as well as practical methods of doing so. The job market for strength and conditioning coaches is brisk but tough. There is considerable competition for jobs, especially at the college and professional levels. Some strength and conditioning coaches hire assistants who have a good pedigree, meaning they have worked with well-known conditioning coaches in the past.

It can be difficult breaking into this circle without having made connections or having proved yourself with top-level conditioning coaches. On the other hand, strength and conditioning expertise is becoming more sought after by performance-enhancement companies and fitness clubs. In a recent survey of worldwide fitness trends, the American College of Sports Medicine found that demand for strength-training experts was one of the top five most promising employment trends over the past few years.

Note that this survey was administered primarily to fitness-oriented clubs and facilities, not athletic programs. Home Excerpts Strength and conditioning coach. Strength and Conditioning Coach Like personal trainers and group exercise instructors, strength and conditioning coaches help others to improve their fitness.

Not for likes on social media. Being a great strength coach is one of the most rewarding and important jobs for anyone in our society. I realize that many will think I am exaggerating the importance of what we do, yet I disagree. A great strength coach is a great educator and will send better young men and women out into the world to do great works. Yes, winning is what gets us our raises.

Yet if we make our athletes better all around people, then they will not only win, but they will also move on to be more productive members of society.

So my long-winded answer to what it takes to be a great strength coach is as follows:. What does it take to become a great strength and conditioning coach? It is a question often asked by our interns and college students. I am not certain I qualify to answer that question as I am still in pursuit of becoming my best.

We are always growing, always learning, always striving to be better for those we serve. However, there are a few pieces that serve as a foundation to good coaching. You need to establish your identity. It has to be more than a job, bills, or supporting a family. It is the sum of what you love to do, what you are good at born with or worked at , what the world needs, and what you can get paid for.

It establishes your mission and vision for what you wish to become. For me, my mission is to engage, educate, and empower athletes to improve athletic performance and pursue a lifetime of wellness. My vision is to help reveal how great each of us were created to be. With a mission firmly in place and the drive to fulfill a vision, a coach can establish core beliefs behaviors and core values actions that provide authentic impact and not just look nice as words on a page.

To become great at any profession, you need to separate who you are your purpose from what you do your goals. These behaviors allow for core values to be applied to what we do as strength and conditioning coaches.

I believe there needs to be a return to a focus on the art of coaching. Athletes respond to coaching, not programs. Summarizing, to be a great coach and person, prepare to show up early and stay late. Remind yourself that every day you have to have dedication, consistency, and a sense of meaning. We are building buy-in little by little; it is a slow-cooking process.

Feedback Your strength coach should be providing feedback to you about your training and performance. Honest feedback is crucial to making progress towards a specific goal, whether the feedback is how to improve your technique on a particular lift, or how to shift your training schedule if you are sick, traveling, or when other life events come up. Some ways that a coach can give feedback is in-person, via Skype, email, or social mediums like Facebook or Instagram.

Ensure that you hire someone who focuses on guiding you by giving their best. Motivation A good strength coach will be able to instill confidence in the athlete through their training. They should also be able to inspire athletes to be their best and train hard during their workouts. Find a coach that pushes you, inspires you, and makes you want to be better. Observant A good strength coach should be able to figure their client out. A coach should be able to read each athlete, determine what their strengths are, and how to tailor their training to improve.