Curious about how to become a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist? This article explores the most important steps you need to take. Keep reading below to find out more! Being a CSCS isn’t an easy job. But it definitely is a rewarding one.
In a unique way, you’re helping people achieve their sports dreams. More precisely, you help athletes improve their athletic performance by conducting sport-testing sessions, designing and implementing tailored and safe strength training, and by offering step-by-step guidance regarding nutrition and injury prevention. This means that an athlete will depend on your skills and experience to stay safe while training and see efficient results in their training.
So, how does one become a CSCS? Here are the four steps to that:
Figure out if you have what it takes
First things first, before starting the journey of becoming a CSCS, you need to make sure that you have what it takes to be a good CSCS. More precisely, besides training and experience with helping others achieve their performance goals, which you gain through working out and studying, there are also the necessary soft skills.
Being a CSCS is a people’s job. You will be working with all types of people and athletes in some of their most difficult moments, such as when they are tired, angry, injured and so on. This means that you need to be a people’s person too. Besides being tough and having the ability to motivate others to keep going even when it is hard, you also need to know how to communicate efficiently. Empathy is another skill you should have. Plus, it would be best if you’d also master teamwork skills because your job will mean teaming up with different athletes to help them.
Train really hard
Being a CSCS also means that you need to have the physical strength to train and help others. Think about it: you will have to help the athletes you are training with lifting and handling all sorts of gym equipment. This requires experience with handling these gym tools as well as the strength to do it.
So, make sure that you train hard to be a good athlete yourself first.
Study harder and take the CSCS exam
Being a CSCS also means that you’ll need certain knowledge to do your job efficiently. As a CSCS, you’ll have to use scientific knowledge to train the athletes that reach out to you. Such knowledge can only be gained through studying. After you have finished studying, you’ll have to take a CSCS exam. Read a cscs study guide to learn more about what the CSCS exam involves.
Find jobs and build a portfolio
After taking the CSCS exam and getting your certification as a professional CSCS, it is time to start looking for jobs. Reach out to your network and see if anybody needs professional help with training. Over time, you’ll build a more extensive network in your industry, which will make it easier for you to find other clients.
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