I need some help deciding what type of education to further pursue

[NewbieX2]

I'm currently attending university and nearly done with a bachelors in health sciences. It was a new program when I started and I was in a period where I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to do with my life. In retrospect, exercise science probably would have been more up my ally, but I realize now that there's not one strict path with education. My final goal and dream is to own a gym where I train serious athletes looking to step their game up. Think Joe DeFranco. I talked with an old coach of mine and he said that the more ground you can cover, the more potential money you can make. For example, if I was a licensed physical therapist and I had an athlete come to me with an injury, instead of recommending him go to someone else, I could help the athlete myself and also profit there as well as with training. I was thinking of getting into athletic training for the same reasoning, but I'm second guessing that decision now. So I'm coming to you guys for help. What type of masters program would most help me in my goals? Or is the masters program not even necessary?

[LiftHardOrDie22]

Guidance Counselor bro. Without knowing what degrees are available where you attend school, noone on here can help you more than an academic advisor. Schedule a meeting and take it from there. You seem a lil wishy washy about what you want.... owning a gym will require a background in business and physical therapy is an entirely different program. Think it over with your advisor, they deal with this for a living.

[NewbieX2]

I'm not locked in to this school, so I'm not sure that part matters. I've spoken to my adviser before. They're pretty specific in knowing about their particular program. I'm not sure I would get much help from her regarding a topic like this. It seems too open ended. Can I ask, though, what made me come off as wishy washy? I want to own a gym and train athletes. That is 100% for certain. The only part I'm uncertain of is what type of degree would benefit me most in that field.

[Ciper]

I'm not locked in to this school, so I'm not sure that part matters. I've spoken to my adviser before. They're pretty specific in knowing about their particular program. I'm not sure I would get much help from her regarding a topic like this. It seems too open ended. Can I ask, though, what made me come off as wishy washy? I want to own a gym and train athletes. That is 100% for certain. The only part I'm uncertain of is what type of degree would benefit me most in that field.

Yes take some proper guidence as its a very big decision

[jonmd123]

I'm currently attending university and nearly done with a bachelors in health sciences. It was a new program when I started and I was in a period where I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to do with my life. In retrospect, exercise science probably would have been more up my ally, but I realize now that there's not one strict path with education. My final goal and dream is to own a gym where I train serious athletes looking to step their game up. Think Joe DeFranco. I talked with an old coach of mine and he said that the more ground you can cover, the more potential money you can make. For example, if I was a licensed physical therapist and I had an athlete come to me with an injury, instead of recommending him go to someone else, I could help the athlete myself and also profit there as well as with training. I was thinking of getting into athletic training for the same reasoning, but I'm second guessing that decision now. So I'm coming to you guys for help. What type of masters program would most help me in my goals? Or is the masters program not even necessary?

I don't want to discourage you from getting more education but my suggestion would be to get your CSCS and just start training. You'll have to 'train' a bunch of youth athletes and pay your dues but ultimately being good at what you do means a lot more than how many letters you have after your name. Another option would be to find an internship program at a University that will pay for your Master's. Mike Boyle started out as a strength coach at BU and built up his business from training kids in the summer.

The reason I recommended training over more education is because I learned more in 3 months of training and research than I did in 4 years of college. You'll learn a lot about muscles, bones, and energy systems but very little on what they do and how to affect them. Usually the result is a person that can name every muscle involved in the power clean with zero ability to do/coach one.

An example would be the strength coach at the small college I played at. He has his MS and Doctorate and knows nothing related to S&C. We would have marathon 'plyometric' sessions 9 months out of season, doing things like 45-60 second line hops to increase explosiveness. The result, 25% of our team with some sort of lower leg injury and him scratching his head.

Read "Movement," by Gray Cook and "Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning" and start training.



"Don't let schooling interfere with your education," Mark Twain.

[NewbieX2]

I don't want to discourage you from getting more education but my suggestion would be to get your CSCS and just start training. You'll have to 'train' a bunch of youth athletes and pay your dues but ultimately being good at what you do means a lot more than how many letters you have after your name. Another option would be to find an internship program at a University that will pay for your Master's. Mike Boyle started out as a strength coach at BU and built up his business from training kids in the summer.

The reason I recommended training over more education is because I learned more in 3 months of training and research than I did in 4 years of college. You'll learn a lot about muscles, bones, and energy systems but very little on what they do and how to affect them. Usually the result is a person that can name every muscle involved in the power clean with zero ability to do/coach one.

An example would be the strength coach at the small college I played at. He has his MS and Doctorate and knows nothing related to S&C. We would have marathon 'plyometric' sessions 9 months out of season, doing things like 45-60 second line hops to increase explosiveness. The result, 25% of our team with some sort of lower leg injury and him scratching his head.

Read "Movement," by Gray Cook and "Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning" and start training.



"Don't let schooling interfere with your education," Mark Twain.

Excellent advice, thank you very much! I'm currently reading Essentials of Personal Training and I plan to get my PT certification within 3-4 months. Afterwards, I will start reading Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning at once. I'll also try to get the other book you suggested. I have a quick question, though, that maybe you can answer. How much overlap is there between Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning and Essentials of Personal Training? The PT book seems to be in pretty decent detail, so I'm just wondering if there will be a lot of things in the other book that I've already read.

[foodandfitness]

You could get a degree in nutrition and be an RD and still take the exam for the CSCS. That's what I did.

I've worked with trainers that have an MS in kinesiology or biomechanics and you can definitely tell the difference between having a formal university education. Acquiring more knowledge is always a good thing.

[jonmd123]

I've never read the one for the CPT so I couldn't tell you. The CSCS is really geared towards team training and gives you no information about consultations and injury rehab. From what I've read the CSCS text is much heavier on the science and CPT will give you more information on personal training. It's good information though, especially if you want to focus on athletes. I've been through it 3-4 times and still learn new things each time.

I use "EoSTaC" for the science of training, and "Movement" for the art.

[weaponxpf]

I have my ACSM personal trainer certification. Man was it tough! Passed on the second try. I run my own successful business with just that and a business background. I have the eTextbook version of the ACSM personal trainer certification books and the NASM certification book. If anybody is interested just PM me or check out the link in my signature below :-)