Strength and Conditioning Job Specifics

How do the jobs of a personal trainer and strength and conditioning specialist differ?

A personal trainer typically works with the general public whereas the strength and conditioning specialist works with athletes. The personal trainer may be focused on helping their client lose weight, tone certain muscles, and become stronger, but it typically is not specific to a sport. The S&C specialist is focused on functional outcomes such as helping the athlete become stronger, faster, more agile, and optimally conditioned to compete at their sport. These professionals are designing multi-faceted programs to help athletes prevent injuries while developing the athlete to become more skilled in their specific position in their sport. For example, an effective S&C specialist would design a different type of program for an offensive lineman as he would for a quarterback.

Learn more about strength and conditioning certification.

How do the jobs of a traditional “coach” and strength and conditioning specialist differ?

Strength and conditioning specialists prepare athletes to physically compete whereas the sport coaches are teaching sports skills and strategies. The S&C specialist in essence prepares the athlete for the coach.

What are the advantages of a job in this field?

For a person who enjoys being around athletics and helping people meet their athletic goal, this may be a good fit for you. Let’s face it, strength and conditioning coaches in a sense get paid to watch sports, be part of a team/coaching staff, workout and stay active while at work, stay on the cutting edge of health and wellness, utilize creativity when developing programs, and contribute to advances in the field.

Learn more about the strength and conditioning degree.

What are the challenges of a job in this field?

It can be a challenge to actually break into this field since it is pretty competitive. It can take a great deal of work for an applicant to separate himself from the other applicants. Also, it is a challenge to stay on top of the newest techniques and programs in this field. You don’t want to become dated too quickly.

What are the specific job duties of a strength and conditioning specialist?

The main three job responsibilities of a strength and conditioning coach are:

Researching and designing individual or team workout programs.
Implementing and supervising the training programs.
Coordinating the training programs with the areas the coaching staff is emphasizing, both in and out of season.
Working with the medical staff, including athletic trainers and team physicians, to help injured athletes recover and become prepared to play their sport again.
Leading the team’s daily warm-up or stretching to prepare for a game and prevent injuries.
Designing programs for the athletes when they’re off campus. These programs may work on one or a combination of the following: strength, power, speed and agility.
Coordinating nutrition for the athlete may be another task of the strength and conditioning specialist. Sometimes it is their job to put together a team eating guide, which may involve coordinating with a nutritionist or dietician.
Making recommendations to athletes for allowable ergogenic aids, such as vitamins and supplements.
Some programs treat the Strength and Conditioning Specialist like a member of the coaching staff. In these instances, there may be specific administrative duties such as coordinating team travel that are part of the strength and conditioning specialist’s job.