Poliquin Strength Coach Training

[hemingersl]

I've worked as a personal trainer and strength coach, off and on over the last 15 years (off the last 4 years as I reside in an EXTREMELY economically depressed region).
I'm finally about ready to begin my pursuit of a career in athletic strength training, since I'll be free to head move my home base. With that said, what is the general consensus of a certification with Poliquin? I know that other organizations also offer this specialized type of training, however many of them require a college degree in a human performance related field if I'm not mistaken. Poliquin has also got a great track record as he's trained a LOT of olympic medalists...or is it all hype? Is he for real or simply a great self-promoter?

Really I'm not looking at NASM or ACSM or anyone else at this moment. At a later date I will look into some of the others-individually like I'm doing here-but for now I just want to see if there is any kind of consensus on Poliquin.

[MARCMANtheDUDE]

IMO, he is top for what you want and the criteria you state.
Keep in mind that, while you are allowed to take level 4 and 5, you cannot be certified in those levels unless you have proof of having world and Olympic-level athletes who have actually gone to Worlds or the Olympics.
I also think that to be certified for level 3 that you must have national-level athletes.
For each level, you will also need to actually attend the practical training

[hemingersl]

IMO, he is top for what you want and the criteria you state.
Keep in mind that, while you are allowed to take level 4 and 5, you cannot be certified in those levels unless you have proof of having world and Olympic-level athletes who have actually gone to Worlds or the Olympics.
I also think that to be certified for level 3 that you must have national-level athletes.
For each level, you will also need to actually attend the practical training

Thanks Marc. I was aware of the 4-5 level requirements but the 3 I was not. I'm thinking that going as far as the two would probably be more than enough for working in the region. With that said, are you aware of what type of strength coaching employment level would be commensurate with each cert level?

[MARCMANtheDUDE]

Thanks Marc. I was aware of the 4-5 level requirements but the 3 I was not. I'm thinking that going as far as the two would probably be more than enough for working in the region. With that said, are you aware of what type of strength coaching employment level would be commensurate with each cert level?

hmmm. IMO, considering the level of athletes they want you to have depending on the level, I would say a fairley high level.
I would thing that levels 1 and 2 is more than enough to stand out from the crowd

[KyleAaron]

Don't bother, he's a charlatan.

His claims of "training over 300 Olympians" don't stack up. There's just no time. When athletes go to the Olympics, frequently they have a personal coach for the sport, and a personal strength and conditioning coach, etc. For example Sam Stosur's S&C coach was seeing her for four hours a day one-one-one for about twelve weeks. The woman thus had time to coach one other athlete at that level, in fact she was doing other stuff. You simply can't coach dozens of people at once, not at that level. You're talking at most a few people at a time. So unless Poliquin has been doing it for 80 years or something, he simply can't have actually coached 300+ Olympians.

Top athletes have actually had literally dozens of people involved in their training over the years they've done the sport. I found a woman doing squats and deadlifts in the gym once, she didn't know she was the strongest woman in the gym, nor did she think, "well if I'm one of only 3 or 4 women in a gym of 3,000 doing this, and if the same is true across the state... I'll be one of the 100 strongest women in the state... I should compete!" She didn't know there were competitions.

I trained her for a couple of months, then she moved to another city. She's since returned to the area, and now trains at a powerlifting and weightlifting gym, and has performed very well... under someone else's coaching for two years.

For thirty sessions I trained a marathon runner, his time went from 3hr47' to 3hr27', he improved to top 10 in the state in his age group.

I found a guy in the gym doing squats as quarter-squats, I got him squatting properly, after that he continued doing it properly, turns out he's a top 10 national level triathlete.

Do I get to say, "I have trained powerlifters, marathon runners and triathletes who were in the top 10 in the country"? If I were Poliquin, I'd definitely say that. But you know, "this is how to squat properly" done over 20 minutes, I think it doesn't really count. Even 30 sessions, not so much - the guy was a good runner already, I just improved things a bit.

I can say, "I got this powerlifter started", or "I helped improve this guy's marathon time," or whatever. But I can't claim credit for their whole performance or call myself a coach of national-level athletes. Poliquin has different standards, though, standards which help puff him up a bit. But since he believes in spot reduction and other broscience bullsht, he needs something to puff him up.

[hemingersl]

hmmm. IMO, considering the level of athletes they want you to have depending on the level, I would say a fairley high level.
I would thing that levels 1 and 2 is more than enough to stand out from the crowd

Thanks once again Marc. I appreciate the feedback and I'm thinking about the same thing. A level 2 cert ought to fit the bill nicely. The more research I do, the more Poliquin's reputation as a quality strength coach and designer of top quality programs seems supported and verifiable. Not only do you not stay in business without a unique and quality product for a couple decades but you certainly don't grow your business like he's done.

[bigballin6161]

Go to Poliquins Internships you wont regret it. Learnt more from them then my kines degree or CSCS...alot more. Worth every penny. Level 1 and 2 is all you need with the biosig.

[hemingersl]

Go to Poliquins Internships you wont regret it. Learnt more from them then my kines degree or CSCS...alot more. Worth every penny. Level 1 and 2 is all you need with the biosig.

Thank you bigballin!

I appreciate the tip for sure!