Hi, I was wondering if anyone here had experience of/ is an accredited member of the UK Strength and Conditioning Association. I am looking to get into coaching, and was wondering if this was a good association to get training and accreditation from.
le bump
I’m also looking into coaching/PTing as soon as a graduate so if anyone from the UK does it I’m also in for advice.
I saw a NABBA course which looked pretty awesome, but lots which looked like absolute crap.
[quote]caveman101 wrote:
Hi, I was wondering if anyone here had experience of/ is an accredited member of the UK Strength and Conditioning Association. I am looking to get into coaching, and was wondering if this was a good association to get training and accreditation from.
I’ve passed the accreditation and have the ‘ASCC’ qualification after my name.
When I completed it, the format was a one-day, 4-part assessment which included:
-
Practical assessment of your coaching of plyometrics and speed drills. You pick a sport out of a hat (I got tennis), watch a three minute video of said sport and then have 5 minutes to prep and 5 minutes to coach appropriate drills. You work 1-1 with another candidate, who acts as your ‘athlete’. You then swap roles and get coached by your partner.
-
Practical assessment of your olympic lifting. Again, you pick out of a hat either C&J or Snatch and perform a few reps. You then perform a few more whilst talking through the technical elements to an assessor. You do the same for the back squat.
As a side note, I found the better lifter you are, the less questions you get. I’m a half-decent lifter and got two or three questions on foot placement, bar path etc. The next guy up after me was a sport science lab rat that had never really lifted, and he got blasted with technical questions.
-
Case study. You sit down with an assessor and present a power point case study for an athlete or team that you have trained, for a minimum of a three month period. You have to include an overview of the training cycle, micro cycles within that, and then individual sessions. Basically an assessment of your ability to program and periodise appropriately. Lots of questions from the assessor at this stage.
-
Written exam. 2 hours/100 questions, if I remember right. A few left-field questions on health and safety and facility design but mostly anatomy and physiology, skill acquisition, biomechanics and so on.
The UKSCA also offer 2-day training courses on weightlifting and plyometrics/speed. When I went through it they were talking about a programming course but I’m not sure if that’s up and running.
As far as I remember, you can sign up for the exam day without doing the training but I recommend doing the courses beforehand as you learn (as with EVERY qualification and training provider) to do things their way, which of course helps you pass the exam.
Overall, I think it’s legit training and certainly the most comprehensive examination process around today. The weightlifting course was excellent. The speed/plyo course was, in my opinion, too science-heavy, but a solid two days of learning.
My only cautionary tale is a guy I worked with failed the process (hard), complained, and they then re-assessed his case and passed him. This may well be a one-off and I’m not casting aspersions on their quality control. Just worth a mention.
As a frame of reference, I’ve worked in the fitness industry around 10 years, S&C for about 5 years, and been through most of the major courses and certs.
Hope this info helps.
it defiantly helps, thanks for your post. would you say it was an attractive qualification for employers?
[quote]caveman101 wrote:
it defiantly helps, thanks for your post. would you say it was an attractive qualification for employers?[/quote]
It seems like every S&C job I’ve seen advertised recently asks for “UKSCA accreditation or ability to qualify within 6 months”, or similar.
So for working in S&C at a pro level, yes, along with a basic Sport Science degree and, crucially, experience like an internship at pro level, or semi-pro hands-on experience.
For working in fitness or personal training, not so much.
[quote]TRWilliams wrote:
[quote]caveman101 wrote:
it defiantly helps, thanks for your post. would you say it was an attractive qualification for employers?[/quote]
It seems like every S&C job I’ve seen advertised recently asks for “UKSCA accreditation or ability to qualify within 6 months”, or similar.
So for working in S&C at a pro level, yes, along with a basic Sport Science degree and, crucially, experience like an internship at pro level, or semi-pro hands-on experience.
For working in fitness or personal training, not so much.[/quote]
If you haven’t done a sports science degree of any level is it possible go through other avenues to eventually be qualified as a pro level S&C coach… or is it a case of simply having to have a degree for that level of coaching?
Sorry to hijack your thread caveman.
[quote]jake_j_m wrote:
[quote]TRWilliams wrote:
[quote]caveman101 wrote:
it defiantly helps, thanks for your post. would you say it was an attractive qualification for employers?[/quote]
It seems like every S&C job I’ve seen advertised recently asks for “UKSCA accreditation or ability to qualify within 6 months”, or similar.
So for working in S&C at a pro level, yes, along with a basic Sport Science degree and, crucially, experience like an internship at pro level, or semi-pro hands-on experience.
For working in fitness or personal training, not so much.[/quote]
If you haven’t done a sports science degree of any level is it possible go through other avenues to eventually be qualified as a pro level S&C coach… or is it a case of simply having to have a degree for that level of coaching?
Sorry to hijack your thread caveman.
[/quote]
Generally speaking, there’s three routes. 1) You’re fresh out of school with a relevant degree, possibly an advanced degree as well (like a Masters), and a qualification. 2) Have a tonne of experience (15+ years) in multiple high-level sports working with national level athletes. 3) Play at a pro level, get a rep for being the best conditioned guy on the team, learn from the current S&C coach and pick up a job when you retire.
Having said that, I think the best guys in the field are a combination of the three. A solid educational background, coupled with a some certs from a variety of sources (for example, a Poliquin cert and a CSCS/UKSCA cert is a good mix). They’ll have have played some ball (not necessarily to a pro level, but I believe it makes you a better coach when it comes to demos and athlete buy-in), and some experience like an internship.
[quote]TRWilliams wrote:
Generally speaking, there’s three routes. 1) You’re fresh out of school with a relevant degree, possibly an advanced degree as well (like a Masters), and a qualification. 2) Have a tonne of experience (15+ years) in multiple high-level sports working with national level athletes. 3) Play at a pro level, get a rep for being the best conditioned guy on the team, learn from the current S&C coach and pick up a job when you retire.
Having said that, I think the best guys in the field are a combination of the three. A solid educational background, coupled with a some certs from a variety of sources (for example, a Poliquin cert and a CSCS/UKSCA cert is a good mix). They’ll have have played some ball (not necessarily to a pro level, but I believe it makes you a better coach when it comes to demos and athlete buy-in), and some experience like an internship.[/quote]
I often thought not playing sports on a competitive level yourself would hold someone back for sure.
The Poliquin/CSCS/UKSCA certs all seem worth getting though, even for someone like myself who perhaps wouldn’t be able to go do the coach route without going back to school and making lots of friends. I could just be the most overqualified PT around.
I think it’s more having the physical capacity to move well and demonstrate lifts to your athletes. Certainly when you’re introducing new movements it helps them learn if you can execute a nice clean or squat. Playing a reasonable level of sport isn’t a pre-requiste, but if you’ve been there and done it you have a better idea how to incorporate S&C into the demands of competition and practice.
The irony of all certs and qualifications is they will benefit the opposite intended end of the spectrum. Average joes in the gym will get much better results with some good ol’ fashioned strength training, and athletes who just lift will do well to include some mobilizers and soft tissue work.