Hey guys I’m personal training now but I desparatly want to get into strength and conditioning. I’m currently studying for my CSCS and in the future (hopefully another year) hope to do my Poliquin level 1. My concern is this, I do not have a degree in any exercise related field and do not want to go back to school. So I’m busting my butt to learn all i can from the net and through text books. Aside from T-Nation what are some other good resources.
milo mag
[quote]miniross wrote:
milo mag[/quote]
which is?
the science and practice of strength training by zatsiorsky is awesome
Supertraining is the best book out there nothing is better…
CT and CW and everyone really also really rate Enokas work… Neuromechanics of Human Movement : Enoka
CTs books are excellent too
bompa outlines periodization pretty well… some argue that it is outdated but regardless you definetly need to know about and understand it…
the milo recomendation above is more about the practical side of training, it tells you “how”, rather than educating as to the “why”. some of the explanations are not the best but you wouldnt read that looking for them…
Milo tells you what you would learn from talking to the big guys in the gym… the others tell you would learn from speaking to Russian olympic coaches
in all reality you will need (probably several of) both “how” and “why” books…
milo is just a magazine that can be found at ironmind.com
you should already have the NSCA book if you are studying for CSCS yeah?
Yay western periodization.
HAHAHA
Read as much as you can at the Elite site and DeFranco’s site.
buy and memorize Parisi School dvd’s
Read Dinosaur Training by Brooks Kubik
But on top of all this and possibly more importantly, be able to DO everthing that you want to teach others to do. At least be proficient at the big lifts and their derivatives. Work on vert jump, sprint speed and mechanics etc. Perform and look like a good athlete. You don’t have to be a pro caliber athlete or an elite level powerlifter, just be able to say “Do as I do” and not just “Do as I say”.
If you’re studying for the CSCS, I assume you have The Essentials of Strength and Conditioning textbook. If you do not, you need to buy it as the information on the exam comes directly from this text. Also, the practice exam the NSCA offers is useful (about $30 I think). Look for them here:
http://www.nsca-cc.com
It’s been a while since I took the CSCS (about 7 years ago), but as I remember there was a lot of exercise physiology on the exam, so a basic Ex. Phys. textbook may also be useful.
Also, I noticed that you do not have a degree in an exercise related field. I just want to make sure that you do at least have a bachelor’s degree, as you CANNOT become CSCS unless you have a bachelor’s degree (the field it is in does not matter).
[quote]IL Cazzo wrote:
Yay western periodization.
HAHAHA[/quote]
yeah fair enough, but if he wants to pass virtually any exam or be able to dicuss training ideas with most coaches he will have to atleast be aware that it exists and the ins and outs of it
lets also not forget that the person he wants to do his next certification with is Poliquin who uses the “western”
accumulation and intensification approach…
The main problem is that its taken too literally. Staleys article on “diagonal summation” called “periodization that works” does a good job explaining an excellent approach.
[quote]gatordoc wrote:
I just want to make sure that you do at least have a bachelor’s degree, as you CANNOT become CSCS unless you have a bachelor’s degree (the field it is in does not matter).[/quote]
yes I have a degree but not exercise realted but that does not matter I can still test
Right now I have the CSCS book, T-Nation, and I’m getting the Poliquin prinicples. I also have an exes phys text book.
SO my next question is, would I be able to make a living doing this?
What kind of living…
How well can you market yourself?
How good are you going to be?
CSCS is overrated IMO. I think the exam got dumbed down a bit when it opened to anyone with a BS/BA degree regardless of what their major was. I took it when a degree in exercise related rule was still in effect and I thought it was easy enough. I didn’t even prepare for it till 15 minutes before looking through the NSCA book. I would say the best way to do get S&C job is by going back to school and working as a graduate student/assistant S&C. I think NSCA got desperate when they opened the CSCS certification program to anyone. As those guys have said it many time before - Death to NSCA!
sorry, not been back to this thread.
Milo is THE strength training mag for those who lift…well BIG.
You can get subscriptions there, and at least find out about it.
it’s been going for years and has back copies extending ways off.
good stuff, especially if youare into learning about the old stuff
You may be able to get some books on inner library loan. Take a big list in and they will search and see if any are available. Usually the good ones aren’t but sometimes you get lucky. Then you can read it for virtually nothing and if it turns out to be something good you can find somewhere to buy a copy. BTW I just purchased Designing Resistance Training Programs and so far I am not too happy with it.
[quote]bigpump23 wrote:
Right now I have the CSCS book, T-Nation, and I’m getting the Poliquin prinicples. I also have an exes phys text book.
SO my next question is, would I be able to make a living doing this?[/quote]
You can “make a living” at anything which you are adept at, truly enjoy doing and willing to work very hard at.
Oh…and if you have an accent that will help you big time in the field of strength training. 
Books on functional anatomy, biomechanics, and the like will be helpful. Go to the human kinetics publishers website as they carry many good texts at low cost.
Cheers,
Tags
It helps to adopt a foreign tilt, overprice everything, and call everyone “Comrade”.
[quote]ZEB wrote:
bigpump23 wrote:
Right now I have the CSCS book, T-Nation, and I’m getting the Poliquin prinicples. I also have an exes phys text book.
SO my next question is, would I be able to make a living doing this?
You can “make a living” at anything which you are adept at, truly enjoy doing and willing to work very hard at.
Oh…and if you have an accent that will help you big time in the field of strength training.
[/quote]
Or, for that matter, a funny, hard to pronounce name, with as many unneccesary vowels as possible.
[quote]Bodyd wrote:
BTW I just purchased Designing Resistance Training Programs and so far I am not too happy with it. [/quote]
By Fleck and Kraemer or something?
Why arent you happy with it?
[quote]Chris Aus wrote:
By Fleck and Kraemer or something?
Why arent you happy with it?
[/quote]
I have 2 other books by these guys Periodization Breakthrough and Strength Training for Young Athletes so I had a feel for what their books are like. I have only had Designing Resistance Training Programs for about a week so I haven’t been through all of it by a long shot. The book is full of charts and graphs. Tons of them. Studies of this and that. Most of them done with untrained subjects. I have a very good knowledge base on training and I’m really not getting much new out of this book. I was mainly interested in the chapters on designing programs for children, women, and seniors. Like I said, I haven’t been through it all and I’m sure I can learn from it. I certainly don’t know it all.