During my undergraduate work, I had to complete a 480-hour internship anywhere I wanted. Having my mind set on wanting to be a strength and conditioning coach, it was an easy choice to intern at a major university. Through some good connections and good fortune, I got an internship at Syracuse University.
In the following months after completing my internship, I took over the responsibilities of the assistant strength and conditioning coach at Syracuse. As current strength and conditioning coaches who have done internships before know, there are major differences between being in an intern role and actually being a coach. From cleaning benches to writing programs, here are some realizations that I’ve come across in my first year as a college strength and conditioning coach.
1. Your presence is more important than you think
I was once told that you’ll win your athletes over in three ways—through physical appearance (being bigger, stronger), charisma (being able to deliver the right messages to your athletes), and knowledge (proving you actually know what you’re talking about). In truth, you need parts of all three.
Chances are your athletes may buy into you at first if you’re built like Dwayne Johnson in Fast Five, but if they realize that you're all brawn and no brain, you’ll lose them within the first couple months. On the flip side, athletes don't want their squats ridiculed by a coach who doesn’t regularly lift himself. Regardless of how you do it, it’s important to have a strong presence in the weight room. Easy things like never staying in one spot, constantly moving around, and giving coaching cues to everyone who needs them can reinforce your presence. The better your presence, the harder your athletes will work and the less chance they’ll try to half-ass their workouts.
2. Long hours are the minimum requirement
In the strength and conditioning industry, there aren't any 9-to-5 jobs. Your workdays will sometimes start at 6:00 a.m. and not end until after the 5:00 p.m. cheerleading workouts (you read that right—cheerleading). Weekends aren't off limits either, as some players want extra agility or speed work. There may even be the occasional punishment session bright and early on Saturday morning if athletes are skipping class. Strength and conditioning coaches must be committed and willing to put forth long hours in pursuit of making each team better.
3. Form doesn’t matter as much as you think
You may come across an instance, whether it's a new team or an incoming freshman class, where none of the twenty or so athletes at the workout know how to squat correctly. They either come up on their toes, their knees cave in, or they don’t sit back. In that sixty-minute workout, you don’t have time to make everyone’s squat perfect. You can still give coaching cues to prevent any injuries and fix any major issues they may have, but don’t stress if one of your athletes is a quarter inch above parallel. Don’t be afraid to use goblet or front squat variations in favor of back squats if some of your athletes are struggling to get their form down. The same thing can be said for trap bar over sumo or conventional deadlifts.
The take away is correct obvious problems on the major lifts (squat, deadlift, bench, and overhead press) and realize that it’s OK if your athletes use a little English on their dumbbell rows or if their chests don’t touch the ground during a push up.
4. Set the bar high
Setting a high standard and not allowing your athletes to be anywhere below that standard is a must for any coach. Once you set that standard, hold the entire team accountable. A great way to demonstrate this is during conditioning workouts. Set a number of sprints and time to make for the entire team. If they make all the sprints in the set time, they’re done. If not, they run another. It doesn’t matter if they missed the time by a second. They still missed the time, so they have to run another one. Allowing any wiggle room will encourage athletes to see what they can get away with.
“Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile” is a great quote that summarizes what can happen if you wavier from a high standard. While expecting perfection at every workout may not be realistic, expecting full effort from your athletes is. Holding everyone to a high standard is tough, but I’m sure your athletes will thank you when their opponents get fatigued and fade and they don’t.
5. Recovery is just as important as the workouts
We all know how important recovery is. However, there is a difference between understanding how important it is and actually taking the right steps to ensure that your athletes recover. Not allowing for proper recovery will stall your athletes' progress and increase the risk of injury.
At Syracuse, we have the Polar Team2 heart rate system, so it’s fairly easy to track overtraining and plan accordingly. The system allots a weekly point total for each athlete, and points are recorded based on the duration spent at certain heart rate zones. For example, an athlete who spends five minutes at 90 percent of his heart rate max may burn fifty points while five minutes spent at 60 percent may only burn twenty points. We have our athletes wear the monitors during practices, lifts, games, and any extra physical activity to more accurately predict if anyone is near the allotted point limit for the week. If an athlete is at or over their point limit, his workout will be limited and geared toward recovery.
Even without a heart rate system, simple steps like decreasing daily volume, taking scheduled deload weeks, or even asking your athletes to record their resting heart rates upon waking and monitoring any changes in heart rate can prevent overtraining. Another tip is to schedule a day of contrast baths, stretching, and foam rolling in place of the regular strength training session or on an off day. It isn't uncommon to hear coaches tell their athletes to ice bath on their own, but in reality, only a handful actually will. Scheduling one or two of these days every four to five weeks makes sure that your athletes are getting the proper recovery they need.
6. Invest in your teams
I saved the most important for last. You must fully invest yourself into the teams you work with. As mentioned above, you must be willing to put in long hours whether it is for the strength, conditioning, agility, or speed training. Have a needs analysis for each team and vary it based on each athlete. I’ve had athletes who never lifted prior to college while others trained at top private facilities. Each of your athletes will have a different exercise history and start point that you must adjust to. A one size fits all approach shouldn't be the case for your team. Along with this, find out what goals your athletes have. Discovering what they want to achieve and what drives them will allow you to better understand each athlete and therefore better coach them to achieve their goals.
Ask your athletes how life is away from the workouts. Find out what they’re majoring in or what they want to do after college. Ask them how their classes, midterms, or other activities are going. If you have freshman on your team, see how they're adjusting from high school to the college atmosphere. If you have the opportunity, take advantage of getting to know someone’s parents and talk about their son or daughter’s potential in their sport. Each of these can show your athletes that you care and are there for them and that you aren't just someone writing workouts.
Developing strong relationships with the team’s coaching staff is also important. Communicating with each coach about where the team is and where he or she wants the team to be is vital in order to develop monthly to yearly periodization. Coaches usually want testing data and comparisons for each player and within the entire team. This leads to weekends analyzing spreadsheets and seeing who is or isn’t making improvements. Regardless of whether it’s with players, coaches, or other staff, you must invest your time and energy into your teams and be there for your athletes in order to maximize their potential.
These are six realizations that I came across during my first year as a college strength and conditioning coach. For those who are already strength coaches and those who aspire to be strength coaches, there is a high probability you have or will experience one, if not all, of these realizations at some point early on in your coaching career. Realizing these points can make the transition easier and give you a better understanding of what it takes to be a college strength and conditioning coach.
