My first day as a full-time Strength & Conditioning coach has just ended and it has been a pretty exciting one. Although I have been a Strength & Conditioning intern at the University of Stirling for the past 2 years and the environment was quite familiar to me, I have learned so much in such a short period of time. The day started at 7.30 am in the sports office at the gym, where I met up with Josh Walsh (University of Stirling high-performance S&C coach) and Shannon, a coursemate of mine who is going to get the same work experience as me through the placement. We first had a brief introduction to the program by Josh, who gave us a more detailed idea of what we should have expected from the upcoming week working together. Shannon and I have both been asked which expectations we had about the program and each of us wrote them down on a post-it so that we could all try our best to make the most out of this experience. Considering that I was not completely new to the program, my expectations were mostly related to getting a better insight into all the considerations an S&C coach should make when it comes to programme and managing different training modalities for different sports. We then went over some safety procedures to use in case of an emergency happening during any session. At 9 am we headed to Allan Grange (the small gym behind Pathfoot building) where we delivered the first session of the day for the High-Performance Swimming team. I knew the guys from previous sessions I used to shadow and it was nice to see how most of them managed to improve over the course of the year. I was in charge of delivering the warm-up routine for one particular athlete. The session focus was speed-strength. It was nice to have a chat with Josh about the way he programmed the swimmers’ specific training periodization. As an S&C coach is really important to explain the rationale behind each session and training block. It was exciting to see the athletes doing a few exercises I was not really familiar with and learn how to do them and the benefits of them. I really focused on a few exercises I usually include in my sessions as well, and it was useful to see on which specific teaching points Josh focused when giving feedback to the athletes. Right after the swimming session, it was time for a tennis session. I gave some of the athletes some feedback on how to perform a clean pull. Again, it was enjoyable to see some of the athletes from the previous year and catch up with them. After lunch, we spent some time programming the next session for men’s football. We took into consideration the different demands of the sport compared to the previous two we coached in the morning. We then delivered the session for the team. Although most of the athletes have a personalized program to follow (team builder picture above) that can be view on a specific app, team sports such as football have a team program to follow. Before starting the session, the coaches usually write the programme on the board and introduce it to the whole team (see picture above). I was new to that specific session, as I have never coached the men’s football team before. It was really nice to see that they are a nice group of athletes really committed to their sport, united and engaged with the session. The day finished with the last session delivered for the women’s football first team. As the number of athletes in the room was much higher than the previous sessions, it was overwhelming at first and I felt like there was so much to do and to check. The session was enjoyable and I helped a few athletes with some assistance work. It has been a very long and busy day as an S&C coach but I enjoyed every second of it and, although I was not completely new to the environment, I felt exposed to so many new things and dynamics in only one day. Even if the day has been really busy, there has always been time for a laugh during and in between sessions, which made the whole experience really enjoyable. I cannot wait to see what is going to happen in the next days!
Hi Sara, you have done a lot within one day! Thank you for sharing the pictures too! -Romie
Sounds like very fun and jam-packed day! Glad to hear your enjoying it so far! – Amy
That sounds like an amazing opportunity and I hope you make the most of it. It’ll put you in good stead for a job in that sector. Iona
This sounds interesting and busy! Excited to hear more.