Strength and conditioning coaching is ideal for ambitious trainers looking to develop a deeper understanding of the skills it takes to reach high-performance levels in athletics, sports, or personal training. As a coach, your job is to create evidence-based programmes to help your clients reach their physical peak.
By studying this, you will gain an understanding of using sports science to maximise physical performance.
So if your ambition is to work with athletes, or even if you’re a personal trainer looking to develop your expertise and push your professional development, obtaining a Strength and Conditioning qualification may be one of the most beneficial things you can do!
Let’s break down what you might expect after qualifying in this handy guide to what Strength and Conditioning training can do for your career. This blog includes:
- Where Can I Work as a Strength and Conditioning Coach?
- Whom Can I Train with a Strength and Conditioning Qualification?
- What Could My Earning Potential Be?
Where Can I work as a strength and conditioning coach?
Getting certified as a strength and conditioning coach will open the doors to a range of environments, perhaps inaccessible before becoming qualified. Like all fitness professionals, Strength and Conditioning coaches can work in a range of facilities, whether it be:
- Commercial gyms
- High-end studios
- Home gyms
- Outdoor spaces such as parks
Once qualified as a strength and conditioning coach, you have a few options ahead of you:
- If you work for an employer as a Strength and Conditioning coach, it might mean working in their facilities and using their equipment. Depending on where you work, this can mean having access to some of the most impressive high-end training spaces around. You will work alongside other sports coaches, and your focus will generally be on sports performance.
- If you decide to become self-employed, you can work for a sports team, school, university, or specialist gym, building up your client base. As a solo Strength and Conditioning coach, you will likely have one location to do most of your gym work. Because of the types of clients you have and the training, you will be doing, you will be working in a variety of locations like sports fields and athletic tracks.
Whom Can I Train with a Strength and Conditioning Qualification?
Your work is as a Strength and Conditioning coach will be dynamic, and your new skills mean you can train a variety of clients. However, because of the type of people you’ll be working with, the service you provide must be up to standard. Your practice should be evidence-based, and you should be staying up to date with the science in the field. It would help if you regularly read publications and not be afraid to go to other more experienced coaches for advice.
As you get more hands-on experience and establish yourself as an expert, the calibre of your clients will increase. As a fully qualified Strength and Conditioning coach, your pool of potential clients can grow substantially. You will now be eligible to work in high-performance environments helping athletes get prepared for competition. This might mean working with sports teams or individual athletes, developing rising talent or supporting seasoned veterans.
How Much do Strength and Conditioning Coaches Earn?
For self-employed Strength and Conditioning coaches, the amount you earn can vary depending on several factors:
- The type of clients you work with.
- How good is your business plan.
- How scalable your systems are.
- How successful you are at getting results for your clients.
You might work with a few high-paying clients or start an online coaching business and provide education and services for hundreds (if not thousands!)
There is no correct way to do it, and there is no cap on how much you can earn.
If you were to go down the employed route, your salary would depend on:
- Your experience
- The organisation itself
- How vital a Strength and Conditioning coach is to their goals.
For example, the Head Strength and Conditioning coach in a leading NFL team with a massive budget will easily earn over £150,000 a year. The coach has spent years mastering their craft and is crucial for the team’s success, so they are paid accordingly.
It is more likely that someone recently qualified as a Strength and Conditioning coach will be earning between £20,000 and £60,000 per year as salary. Still, you can easily complement this with private work.
To Conclude
Gaining a Strength and Conditioning qualification is an essential step in furthering your career. Not only will you have a better understanding of sports science and gain many valuable new skills, but It will also open many more doors for your business. You’ll be in a position to work with athletes and market your services to people serious about performance (and they will likely pay more for that). However, your options are not limited, and, likely, a combination of working privately and being associated with an organisation is the best route to take, not only for the experience and networking but also financially.