KG Elite Performance's National Certificate in Strength & Conditioning (NCSC

wadacrack wrote: »

Thanks for the info.. is their any way of doing these courses in ireland without going to university. What about just working in a strength and conditioning facility or are most facilities just by people who are self employed ie. Dont really employ other coaches.

wadacrack wrote: »

I have a third level degree. Where can i do the cscs or a link to it
? Just generally from wat i seen some people have opened strength and conditining facilities. With strength and conditioming much more important in sports seems like a good oppurtunity

gymfreak wrote: »

I'm pretty sure that the CSCS exam can be sat in UL once a year. The next date for it is the 14th of July. Not too sure who you'd have to contact as I registered through college but I'm sure the google machine can help out.

Will Heffernan wrote: »

Great question. I have some time this morning so I will try to answer it in detail.

If you want to be a gym instructor or a personal trainer this is what I think you should do.

1. You should train. Not only train but you should understand how training works for you and on you. If you don't have the power to change your physique and to make alterations then you should probably give it a miss. That is not to say that you have to be ripped or anything like that (although it is probably in reality more important than anything else...at least when you are starting out) but you should know how to lose fat, put on some muscle, make yourself faster or make yourself fitter.

2. Read. You need to read more than boards and more than what is on the internet. You need to get an anatomy and physiology text book...any one will do. You see people arguing about this like they argue about course...it's pointless as they are 95% the same. Get a text book and learn the bones...all the ones you can see and touch. Learn all the muscles...learn where the originate and insert and what they do....again....all the ones you can see and touch. Then read about energy production in the human body. You need to be able to know enough to be able to explain to your Dad what energy systems are being used in different sports....you don't need to know one hydrogenase from another but you do need to be able to explain in simple terms what is going on in the different energy pathways and if you can make your Dad understand it then you know plenty. You need to understand how the nervous system works and how it works particularly in relation to muscle tissue. You need to understand the physiology of muscle...what it is and how and why it works. Once you have all of the above in your head....now you are ready to be able to read about training and actually understand it. The biggest problem whether it is in the gym or on the interwebz is that people read all about training...they read about 5x5 and 5/3/1 and Starting Strength but they don't actually have any of the 'background' to reeeeeeeeally understand it. Saying that I am not sure that everyone reading this will understand what I am getting at but once you understand all of the above background then you'll get it.

3. Learn. Once you've read about all the background basics with regard anatomy and physiology then you can start learning about training and the very first thing I'd learn about is testing and assessment because when you start trying new things and putting the things you are learning into practice you need to be able to measure them. We all know people who've started training and they look better and better but their scale weight stays the same or goes up and you should know that's because they are losing fat and gaining lean muscle mass etc etc. You need to be able to measure their performance and body composition changes...you need to learn how to do skin folds (which is hard because I didn't see many people who did it well in Ireland) and girth measurements. You need to be able to do some simple strength and muscular endurance tests. You need to be able to do some fitness tests etc etc. These are the things you should learn first. Then you need to start reading and learning about training. Again...there are heaps of good books. Start with any of them you like. Read, learn and then put it into practice on yourself and your friends. Measure where you are when you start. Measure where you finish in 8 weeks. Then grab another book. Read, learn and then put it into practice. Measure where you are when you start. Measure where you finish in 8 weeks. Then sit down and look at all the results from the first program and all the results from the second program and work out what worked well and what didn't. Work out how long it took and were the results worth it. Then talk to and annoy other trainers and coaches. This week I've had programs from people that were all about rope climbing, someone else who was preparing for a police fitness test, someone else who is doing a downhill running event and is trying to work out how to prepare themselves for the doms as they live in the city and don't have hills to run down...I get emails from coaches and athletes all the time and always try to help if I can especially if people look like they are trying to help themselves. There are heaps of coaches and trainers in Ireland and I doubt there's one of them that would't be interested to hear what you have to say about your comparison of programs. Then you can get another book and do it again or start changing the variables that you think will alter performance and asses again in another 8 weeks.

If you did nothing more than what I listed above you'd already be miles ahead of most of the gym instructors out there that have picked up the certificate and gone to work.

4. Get accredited and insured. As I've said multiple times...find the fastest and cheapest way to get accredited and get insurance because you are going to go to do the course and already know more than some of the instructors at some of these places.

5. Get experience. I have had and still do have heaps of people ask if they can help me or come to training and observe and I've never said no. I have always been happy to have the help of have someone else use the stopwatch or record times. You need experience and and you need to have confidence working with athletes and clients. Being comfortable in a coaching/training environment is probably the most important attribute you can have if you want to be a gym instructor or personal trainer.

6. Now go and do the courses you want to do. If you want an Oly lifting cert...go and learn and practice. If you want to have some big black bells swinging between your legs...go do a KB cert. Go do a GAA coaching cert. Go do the IRFU conditioning coaches course or whatever they call it now. Now is the time you should be doing courses because now you have a framework to build upon.

I think the mistake that is made is that people go straight to step 6. They go do a course and get a certificate but if you pulled them aside a week later they'd have a grand total of about 8 minutes of knowledge they could share with you and none of it would hold together.

fit4 wrote: »

A lot of good information there LuckyLoyd. I agree with the majority of what you are saying and self education and experience is definately one of the best ways to educate yourself and get confidence over time. You are very true there.
I do disagree about Certification and most courses been useless.
A majority of employers or teams wont even look at you unless you have some sort of Certification. In saying that I know people that are not qualified as an S and C coach but they are very good at what they do and teach very well by breaking things down and practicing everything they teach.
I have spent a lot of money on courses especially the KG elite course and I would not call myself an SandC coach after that.
I put the Certificate away in a box of files in the loft and started reading books .
I am educating myself because there is a lot to learn and you are always learning when it comes to the human body in performance.
I dont usually comment on these things but I would hate to see someone else get caught paying out hard earned money for a con of a course.
Thats only my opinion and its only an opinion.

fit4 wrote: »

You gotta take a positive out of everything. When i done the course myself of course I did learn a bit in terms of how to correct someones technique of a squat and a small bit about Sprinting technique which i did enjoy but to me the course is been falsely advertised in places.
Here is the e mail i received before i attended the course. See below

Dear Sir/Madam,

KG Elite Performance are delighted to announce that we will be delivering our next Phase 1 S&C Course in UCD Sport & Fitness beginning October 11th. I would appreciate it if you may forward this to any fitness professional colleague who you feel would be interested in becoming a qualified Strength & Conditioning coach.

As you are probably aware, Strength & Conditioning has become extremely popular within the fitness industry with more and more fitness professionals looking to become qualified within this area. Over the last few years, KG Elite Performance have become the industry leaders in Strength & Conditioning CPD courses in Ireland. Our courses are Internationally recognized (please see below) and we have a number of performance partners who facilitate our courses (Under Armour, Kinetica Nutrition, FSL Electronics).

1-Industry leader in CPD courses in Ireland - How ?Who is the Regulator that has endorsed this course to accredit them with CPD credits because there is nothing on the website to say so only a few logos of other organisations. REPS, Skills active and other governing bodies and regulators can only Provide CPD endorsments.

2- Internationally recognised - How and recognised by who?