Strength and conditioning is not for the faint of heart. There are long hours, big egos, and often little pay. It also requires more salesmen/women attributes than coaches will admit. Think about it - as a S&C coach you need to get athletes to lift heavy, run fast, or some combination of both. Neither of these things are usually things athletes want to do. In this article we will explain the basic information that coaches will need to know/do before they get into strength and conditioning.
First things first - ask yourself why. Why do you want to get into strength and conditioning? Dig deep on this. Be specific. Do you want to work with a specific sport? Where do you want to live? Are you willing to move to get this? You need to know the answer to all of these questions before you go any further down the rabbit hole of becoming a S&C coach. The reason you need to ask and know the answer to these questions is you will face set backs. Maybe multiple set backs in a row. If you do not have a solid why to fall back on you will quit once it gets hard. And it WILL get hard, that is a promise.
Once you know your why, you need to find a school to go to. You will need a masters degree, so do not think that you can stop after the bachelors degree. My best piece of advice - find a program where you like the bachelors and the masters degree. Then, work your tail off to get both of them done in 5 years. Is this do-able, yes. Will it be difficult? Yes. But, will it put you in a group of people different than you? Yes. And if in field where virtually everyone is the same, you need to stand out.
After you know where you will go to school you need to get experience. The best bet is to work in the weight room at the school you attend. Find out who the head S&C coach is, tell them who you are, what your career goals are, and that you want to work for free. Yes work for free. You will trade your time for their education and experience. This will help you learn the real things that happen in S&C. It will help the S&C coaches on staff with your labor. That is how it is at first. Once you prove that you are responsible with mundane tasks - you will (should) start to get more opportunities your way. Take them and crush them. Exceed expectations.
Now that you are learning in the class room and in the weight room on campus, start to network with people. This comes in the form of in person and online. Did we mention that you can become a member and see the site for 24 hours for only $1 if you aren't already a member? If not, well now you know. Click here to try the site out for 24 hours for $1.
It might seem like a shameless plug. It is, and it is not. The fact remains people will only hire those people they know, like, and trust. Right now not many people know you. You need to change that. Go meet people. Network, find out what people want and find a way to help them. Once you start to know more people, you start to be able to pick their brain and learn from them. You even have them start to learn from you. This is how you know you are starting to gain value in the field.
Come your junior and senior year you need to get certified. You need to study the NSCA textbook hard. Pass that exam. If you do not get your CSCS you cannot be hired. The CSCCa exam is also an option, you just cannot take that until you have enough internship hours. And depending on how your coursework is going - not sure if you will have enough hours by this time. So, study for and pass the CSCS before the end of your senior year! This way you can have a job lined up before you graduate. I know I said to get the bachelors and masters done at the same school/time - if you play your cards right you could get hired there to be a GA - now the masters doesn't cost any money.
This was a lot to chew on so lets boil it down:
First things first - ask yourself why. Why do you want to get into strength and conditioning? Dig deep on this. Be specific. Do you want to work with a specific sport? Where do you want to live? Are you willing to move to get this? You need to know the answer to all of these questions before you go any further down the rabbit hole of becoming a S&C coach. The reason you need to ask and know the answer to these questions is you will face set backs. Maybe multiple set backs in a row. If you do not have a solid why to fall back on you will quit once it gets hard. And it WILL get hard, that is a promise.
Once you know your why, you need to find a school to go to. You will need a masters degree, so do not think that you can stop after the bachelors degree. My best piece of advice - find a program where you like the bachelors and the masters degree. Then, work your tail off to get both of them done in 5 years. Is this do-able, yes. Will it be difficult? Yes. But, will it put you in a group of people different than you? Yes. And if in field where virtually everyone is the same, you need to stand out.
After you know where you will go to school you need to get experience. The best bet is to work in the weight room at the school you attend. Find out who the head S&C coach is, tell them who you are, what your career goals are, and that you want to work for free. Yes work for free. You will trade your time for their education and experience. This will help you learn the real things that happen in S&C. It will help the S&C coaches on staff with your labor. That is how it is at first. Once you prove that you are responsible with mundane tasks - you will (should) start to get more opportunities your way. Take them and crush them. Exceed expectations.
Now that you are learning in the class room and in the weight room on campus, start to network with people. This comes in the form of in person and online. Did we mention that you can become a member and see the site for 24 hours for only $1 if you aren't already a member? If not, well now you know. Click here to try the site out for 24 hours for $1.
It might seem like a shameless plug. It is, and it is not. The fact remains people will only hire those people they know, like, and trust. Right now not many people know you. You need to change that. Go meet people. Network, find out what people want and find a way to help them. Once you start to know more people, you start to be able to pick their brain and learn from them. You even have them start to learn from you. This is how you know you are starting to gain value in the field.
Come your junior and senior year you need to get certified. You need to study the NSCA textbook hard. Pass that exam. If you do not get your CSCS you cannot be hired. The CSCCa exam is also an option, you just cannot take that until you have enough internship hours. And depending on how your coursework is going - not sure if you will have enough hours by this time. So, study for and pass the CSCS before the end of your senior year! This way you can have a job lined up before you graduate. I know I said to get the bachelors and masters done at the same school/time - if you play your cards right you could get hired there to be a GA - now the masters doesn't cost any money.
This was a lot to chew on so lets boil it down:
- Find out why you want to be a S&C coach
- Research good schools to get your degree (online is fine - just need the degree)
- Start interning (ideally somewhere you want to work)
- Network and meet people - both in person and online
- Get certified
