Our Kids Deserve Better
I saw an article today written by a fellow strength and conditioning coach that really piqued my interest. It was about the importance of qualifications when it comes to physical preparation for sport. You can find it here, and I would highly recommend you go read it. I’m going to build on this concept today and hopefully win some hearts and minds in the process! We need a MASSIVE public education campaign when it comes to what we do as strength and conditioning coaches, and everyone is dropping the ball.
What is a Strength and Conditioning Coach?
A strength and conditioning coach is a fitness professional, that historically has worked with athletic populations. Today, we’re often called sports performance coaches as it more properly reflects what we do for a living. However, that new name has kind of come with its own problems.
In the United States, strength and conditioning is a field that’s been around since Nebraska hired a man by the name of Boyd Epley to train their football players. This was 1969, and Nebraska was the first university to create a “strength and conditioning” position. Epley is often considered the Godfather of strength and conditioning, and for good reason. He really sacrificed and paved the way for the rest of us. In the beginning, Nebraska paid him a whopping $2 an hour to prepare their football team off of the field, which is a far cry from Rob Glass (of Oklahoma State) and his $1,000,000 salary today.
Epley wasn’t just the first strength and conditioning coach, he was also one of the founders of the National Strength and Conditioning Association in 1978. The National Strength and Conditioning Association, known as the NSCA, is the governing body of strength and conditioning and sports performance. They created the Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) certification, which is the gold standard within our industry.
To be eligible to sit for your CSCS, you must have graduated with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science, athletic training, sports performance, or a physical education-related program. You can also hold a master’s degree or PhD in any of those programs as well and be eligible. These programs have a curriculum based on fitness, physical education, exercise physiology, and often many sports medicine-related topics. The degree is important because it gives you the information that becomes the underpinnings of your coaching down the road. This doesn’t mean that everyone who graduated from one of these programs is going to be a competent coach, but it does mean that they have enough knowledge to keep you from getting hurt under their guidance. Or at least they should.
There are other certifications out there but they’re outside of the scope of this article. If you’re interested in learning more, you’re welcome to go read an article that I wrote about the lack of licensure in the fitness industry. I cover all of them in significantly more detail than I’m able to here.
In addition to the education component and the certifications, many strength and conditioning coaches also have to go through an internship program or two throughout their time at university. This internship is important because it is going to lay the foundations for your practical application of the things that you learn in school. I was incredibly fortunate to have some amazing internships at The Athletes Compound under Jason Riley, The University of South Florida under Ron McKeefery, and API under Brett Bartholomew. I would not be the coach that I am today without these experiences, they’re important.
So, long story short, a strength and conditioning coach is a fitness professional who has 4-8 years of school, at least 1 year of practical application under a mentor, and has also passed a national board exam based on science and practical application of their knowledge. Strength and conditioning coaches don’t always have a background in playing sports or coaching sports. The sports aspect is completely irrelevant, as our knowledge is in the physiological and neurological adaptations that athletes need for sports.
Now that we’ve defined what a strength and conditioning coach is, let’s move on to the knowledge that we have.
What Do Strength Coaches Know?
Recently, the NSCA has made moves to accredit exercise science degree programs across the country. This move will be huge because it will guarantee that everyone who sits for their CSCS exam, has enough knowledge to pass it. The NSCA has decided that eligible programs will need to have the following basic course outline:
Physiology
Biology
Exercise Physiology
Chemistry
Physics
Nutrition and Ergogenic Aids
Kinesiology/Human Kinetics
Energetics and Biochemistry of Exercise
Periodization and Programming
Injury Prevention (and basic return to play from injury protocols)
Human Development Stages
Anatomy
I can tell you, as a strength and conditioning coach, that the above courses are paramount to your success in the field. But, they just scratch the surface. As I said earlier, they’re the underpinnings of your competence as a coach and must continue to be built upon year after year through content consumption (books, podcasts, journals, conferences, etc.) and experience on the floor, hopefully under a competent mentor. To be completely honest, most strength coaches are garbage when they first get into the field. I know I was, and I was fortunate to have a degree in applied physiology and kinesiology, two years of interning, and my CSCS. It took me being on the floor coaching to really refine my skills as a coach.
All this to say, strength and conditioning coaches are a wealth of knowledge when it comes to how the body functions, development models, physiological adaptation, movement skill, etc. These are important when it comes to designing and implementing programs for various clientele.
To clear things up, a strength coach is just short for a strength and conditioning coach, or someone who holds their CSCS. Many of us have dropped the “conditioning” part of the title because it’s just misunderstood by most people. The conditioning part of the title means your body’s condition. We’re tasked with getting you stronger, and conditioning your body to be ready to play your sport. This conditioning can be strength, movement skill, resiliency, or even what would often be referred to as conditioning. It doesn’t just mean conditioning like you may be thinking like running or conditioning.
Why Is This Important?
When it comes to training off the field of play, some people are qualified, and some people are not qualified to work with our children, or anyone really. You might be thinking that the local former professional or NCAA athlete would be great for your child’s development, but they’re not. They don’t have the requisite knowledge of the stages of development (what is appropriate, and when), physiological processes associated with training and recovering (how to obtain certain adaptations and when it is appropriate to chase them), kinematics of movement (how your body is designed to move in time and space, or “form”), or even what is appropriate for their age and their needs. Training isn’t running through agility ladders, running miles, or jumping a thousand times. Training isn’t push-ups, and it isn’t doing sprints. Training is well-calculated stimuli designed for the needs and abilities of a client. Believe it or not, you can do some serious damage just by doing push-ups in a poor position, and most of these former athletes and sport coaches don’t understand that. It’s all pretty complex.
Training may seem pretty easy on the surface, but it really isn’t. Training is a very complex process with a lot of moving pieces. And all the seeds you plant in your adolescence into your teens, will show their ugly heads as you get older. What seems to be working right now may end up as a labral or ACL tear, or even thoracic outlet syndrome 3-4 years from now. It could become a herniated disc or the need for a total knee or hip replacement 10-12 years from now. Often the best-case scenario that you’ll run into with these “coaches” is that you’ve wasted your time and money. The worst case scenario is that their training has actively made you worse, or even put you into a position to get injured.
I can tell you that the kids who come to my facility who have worked with these former athlete coaches often move like shit and are weak. It’s often a wonder how they haven’t gotten hurt yet. Without getting into the weeds of training stimulus and adaptation, they would have been better off if they had never trained before because it’s going to take a lot of time and energy to undo what they’ve been “taught.”
Who To Stay Away From
This is where I’ll be a bit of a snob but it’s honestly really important not only to your child’s goals, but to your child’s health.
The Former Pro/NCAA Athlete
Being a former athlete absolutely doesn’t disqualify someone from being a very good strength and conditioning coach. I, and many of my colleagues, are former athletes and I would trust my child with all of them. However, if part of their sell to you is that they used to play the sport, then chances are they don’t understand how to train for it. What their training will typically turn into is what they did as an athlete when they were playing, because they don’t actually know what they’re doing. There isn’t typically any progression, there are a lot of various stimuli that don’t seem to mesh well together, and if you took a step back and really looked the totality of their training, you wouldn’t be able to ever see a theme with their training outside of “leg day” or “speed day.” This exercise isn’t science or data-backed, and if your child is able to get through it without getting hurt, they more than likely won’t get any better.
The Sport Coach
This is one that really gets under my skin because these are the people who control your playing time. Choosing not to work with them can impact your minutes throughout the season. Sometimes though, it’s even done with the best of intentions on the coach’s part, but it almost always becomes a bad outcome for the athlete. Every single one of my athletes who train with a sports coach during their seasons comes back with awful movement skill, and detrained (meaning weak and slow). Sport coaches often fall into the “this is what we did” type of programming, and when they did it, they didn’t have strength coaches either. This type of mindset is dangerous and can get kids hurt. It’s also almost always based on volume progressions and conditioning, and neither of these work in the short or long term for development.
Another thing sport coaches often do is have you train for your sport. This “sport-specific” training may sound like a good thing, but it will leave you more likely to get injured. Loaded sport movement skill that you are already getting plenty of in practice and games will inevitably lead to overuse injuries.
Coaches often get involved in coaching their athletes off of the field for two reasons: control and/or money. Not always, but definitely most of the time.
The Personal Trainer
Don’t get me wrong, there are some great personal trainers out there who are great with athletic development. But, they’re few and far between. Most personal trainers understand body composition, volume progressions, and movement, but don’t really understand athletic development. They’re very different. Your kid probably won’t get hurt if they’re training with a personal trainer, but they more than likely won’t get any better either.
The “Speed” Coach
Speed coach isn’t a real designation. There’s no “speed” certification or education. Most coaches who understand speed, understand it from a holistic approach of training. Speed is something that is based on strength, and using agility ladders, cone drills, and sprints won’t develop your child in the way that they need to be developed. Clients I have who have worked with “speed” coaches in the past usually find me after they’ve been hurt. All that focus on speed without having good enough base levels of strength will almost always end up in injury. You need a strength stimulus, a speed stimulus, a power stimulus, a work capacity stimulus, jumping, sprinting, correctives, etc. if you truly want to develop.
What You Need to Look For in a Strength Coach
With this new knowledge that you’ve gained from reading this article, hopefully you have a better understanding of what to look for. But, just in case, I’ll give you some bullet points below:
Has a degree (BS, MS, PhD) in exercise physiology/science, applied physiology and kinesiology, athletic training, physical education, or strength and conditioning/sports performance. A degree doesn’t guarantee competence, but it does show they’re in this field for the right reasons.
Has taken and passed the national board exam from the NSCA, giving them their Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, or their SCCC from the CSCCA (also on par with the CSCS). There are awful coaches who have this certification, just like there are awful doctors who got through med school, so this doesn’t guarantee competence. But it does mean they cared enough to do it.
Has worked under great coaches, or in great organizations. This shows a track record of success.
Took the time to intern under various strength and conditioning coaches in various settings (private, team, Olympic, etc.). This gives them various perspectives when it comes to coaching and programming. I’ve seen so many coaches who interned in one place, and that’s just how they coach and program now. It’ll work until it doesn’t.
Has had success working with YOUTH athletes. Young developing bodies and brains are vastly different from full-grown adults playing professional sports. Being great with the latter doesn’t guarantee competency with the former. The inverse tends to be true though believe it or not.
Doesn’t have a roster of injured athletes during the season. Look at the pros who train at their facility, and see how much time has been missed with non-contact soft tissue injuries. A high injury rate of this kind typically equates to a lack of proper stimuli in the off-season.
If that’s what you should be looking for, what should you try to avoid? Glad you asked! I’ll put that list below:
Former athletes without a background in exercise science.
“Coaches” without a CSCS or SCCC.
Personal Trainers (for the most part, do your homework on them).
Sport coaches.
Coaches who have one or two pros they use to sell you on their training. Chances are, those one or two athletes would have made it no matter how they trained, or even in spite of it.
“Speed” or “Jump” coaches. These aren’t real titles.
The coach who uses agility ladders and calls it speed work. This isn’t speed or agility work. These coaches are lazy, or uneducated.
The coach who has you condition. There’s a lot more to this that is outside of the scope of this article, but conditioning should be last on the list of adaptations you chase off the field.
The coaches above haven’t done the work to gain the knowledge necessary to make your child better, or keep them from getting injured. At best, you’re throwing your money and time away. At worst, you’re setting them up to get hurt in the short term and/or have a lifetime of overuse symptoms down the road. It’s awesome to be “elite” at 13 years old, but I’m sure you’d prefer your kid doesn’t need a total knee replacement before 30.
Wrapping This All Up
Training off the field isn’t easy. You can’t just wing it. There are consequences (both good and bad) to your training off of the field of play. Training is a calculated process that involves knowledge of physiological adaptation and what stimuli are appropriate for both age and ability to create that adaptation. Training involves understanding load, movement skill, orders of operations, torque creation, and many other variables that have to be manipulated based on time of year, biological age, training age, and a million other factors. Training isn’t “good work” or being exhausted and crawling out of the gym. That kind of thing is just exercise and won’t get you anywhere other than Injuryville at the corner of disappointment and sadness. Real training has a goal, and a process to achieving that goal.
You don’t hire a strength and conditioning coach to have you do weights and conditioning. You hire a strength and conditioning coach so that they can manipulate all the variables associated with training to get you to your ultimate goal. And there are people who are qualified to do this, and there are people who aren’t qualified to do this. Hopefully now, you have an idea of who those people are.
