I didn’t major in exercise sciences.
I didn’t play collegiate sports.
I didn’t intern at any high school, collegiate, or professional strength and conditioning program.
And I don’t have a Masters.
Yet everywhere I look in my quest to become a strength coach, I find all of these requirements — actually, to even intern or volunteer at some strength and conditioning programs, they often want someone with experience. A CSCS just isn’t good enough, it seems.
Now, don’t get me wrong — erudition is great. I’m sure having a Bachelors would’ve helped in my understanding of functional anatomy, exercise physiology, and biomechanics. But is that the only marker for success? And for someone who is hoping to gain experience, should that really be the limiting factor?
Recently, I read Leigh Peele’s interview of Martin Berkhan, pioneer of the “Leangains” Diet. When asked about his credentials and background, his answer really resonated with me:
[quote]While my background has helped me to separate facts from bullshit, of which there is plenty of in the fitness and bodybuilding community, my knowledge of nutrition and weight training is purely self-taught. I consider passion the best tutor and I have that in spades, when it comes to improving body composition through nutrition and weight training.[/quote]And then it hit me: I don’t have a lot of the requirements; the only thing I have is passion. The passion to push for more. The passion to never give up. And the passion to educate myself and make up for my disadvantages.
I’ve watched plenty of DVDs and studied information from Vermeil to Veroshansky and Siff to Skahan. When I went to my first Perform Better seminar in January 2012, I was the least-knowledgable person there. I also had the least amount of experience there, but I still went. So much of what I learned was brand-new, but I still asked each presenter questions.
I’m not saying I want to be a strength coach tomorrow — I’m happy to pay my dues because I understand there’s knowledge that can only be attained from thousands of hours with teams and athletes. What I’m looking, however, for is an opportunity to show what passion and self-driven education can do.
Until then, I’ll let my passion tutor me.
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