Oct 15, 20242024 Strength Coaches Survey results
Strength and conditioning coaches have two primary goals. The first is to improve athletic performance, which usually means improving athletes’ speed, strength, and power through systematic training programs for teams and individual athletes, often working closely with coaches.
The second primary goal is to reduce athletic injuries. To that end, strength coaches design regimens to strengthen body parts prone to injury in a particular sport.
Building strength, power, and speed while actively participating in injury prevention and rehabilitation in athletes — that’s the name of the game for strength coaches. And that sort of transformative development has taken shape in the industry overall. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the health and fitness trainer industry is expected to see a 12 percent growth through 2029 and produce roughly 30,000 jobs.
Training & Conditioning Magazine asked strength and conditioning specialists across the country what’s affecting their industry currently, the injuries they see, and the important principles of strength training.
Below is a snapshot of those results.
What’s On Your Mind
We asked strength coaches to rank the industry issues they feel are most concerning. Though ‘Lack of Certification/Education’ received the highest percentage of ‘very concerned’ responses (60.4%), ‘Salary/Compensation’ took the top spot in 2024. ‘Limited Resources/Budget Constraints’ received the highest percentage of ‘not concerned’ responses (50.9).
In Their Own Words…on their primary training philosophy
“I emphasize the importance of consistency, discipline, and gradual progression to achieve sustainable performance improvements.”
“Gaps in development lead to gaps in performance. Fill in the gaps. Train movements, not muscles. Develop athleticism first and foremost.”
“Give young people a sense of joy, victory, and accomplishment in competition and training.”
“In general, use it or lose it. Everything works, but nothing works all the time, so mix things up. Full-body well-rounded fitness tends to be a focal point until there is a specific context where exposure balance needs to be skewed in one direction or another. Train all the foundational movement patterns. Get exposure to all planes of motion.”
“More is not better. Better is better. Be savagely simple and consistent.”
“Combine different training means and methods, including practical training, simulated competition and psychological training.”
“Player safety is paramount. Making sure we do what we do for a reason and not because we saw it on TikTok. Using full ROM. Proper technique and effort.”
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“Emphasize the importance of recovery, including adequate sleep, appropriate rest days, restorative training and possible rehabilitation therapy.”
“Divide the training program into different cycles, such as preparation, competition and transition, to accommodate different stages of training.”
