Adarq.org

Quote from: Mikea on August 21, 2011, 04:09:31 pm

Hey everyone-- just had a quick question.

I'm 16 years old and want to be a strength and conditioning coach for athletes when I grow up.
What is the best major to get when I go to college?

Kinesiology?
Exercise science?
Health and Human Performance?
Biomechanics? (Doubt it, but threw it in there.)
Any others that I probably missed? Haha.

Just let me know what you guys think and what you would recommend.

Thanks!

If that is what your wanting to be, a great coach, all of them. Exercise physiology, Kinesiology, Nutrition, Exercise Biology, Biomechanics, Human anatomy etc etc, you never stop learning.

I did an individual course on terrestrial locomotion & learn't so much.

You don't need to have a degree to be a coach / trainer. Especially not in the fields mentioned in this thread so far. The majority of things you will need to know about you will likely not learn in college / university studying exercise science anyways. Getting a degree is not a bad idea in general though. But you might be better off making a business major and learn training related things in your free time through learning from great coaches, reading, asking questions and collecting experience in the weight room / on the track. Compete in a sport as well if you do not already. Get an idea what exactly it is that you want to do as well and get a plan how to accomplish those goals. This includes financial aspects of this endeavor as well. Talk to people who have been down this road and get an idea of what this is about. There are plenty of good coaches on the internet offering Q&A and you might ask for specific advice there as well. Just don't be naive thinking that a degree in Exercise Science is going to give you the job you wish for OR make you a great coach.

Quote from: Mikea on September 05, 2011, 08:33:11 pm

Quote from: steven-miller on September 05, 2011, 07:23:10 pm

You don't need to have a degree to be a coach / trainer. Especially not in the fields mentioned in this thread so far. The majority of things you will need to know about you will likely not learn in college / university studying exercise science anyways. Getting a degree is not a bad idea in general though. But you might be better off making a business major and learn training related things in your free time through learning from great coaches, reading, asking questions and collecting experience in the weight room / on the track. Compete in a sport as well if you do not already. Get an idea what exactly it is that you want to do as well and get a plan how to accomplish those goals. This includes financial aspects of this endeavor as well. Talk to people who have been down this road and get an idea of what this is about. There are plenty of good coaches on the internet offering Q&A and you might ask for specific advice there as well. Just don't be naive thinking that a degree in Exercise Science is going to give you the job you wish for OR make you a great coach.

I get you, I just figured if I'm going to go to college, I might as well major in something that interests me, that's all. By no means did I mean it will automatically give me a job, I know that. I totally get you though, thank you for the feedback! 

I can understand that you want to study something that you are interested in and in general I would encourage that. But I would advise you to go ahead and listen to some lectures in uni or college before committing to this. That way you can form an opinion whether this might be useful and interests you after all. Good luck with everything!