The Path to the Starting Strength Coach Credential

[stef]

by Tom Campitelli

“For those who wish to earn the Starting Strength Coach credential, the Level II Seminar is the venue for selection. We cannot turn a novice trainee into a qualified coach in two-and-a-half days. At the seminar, our aim is not to make coaches, but to identify coaches. Successful candidates are those who have prepared themselves with study, training, and coaching practice.”

Article

[yessy]

Very helpful, thanks a lot! Maybe that's a stupid question, but I did no really understand when the written exam takes place?! At the end of the last day, or after the seminar (at home)? Sorry!

[Mark Rippetoe]

The exam is designed to be challenging and you need to be able to write clearly to pass. You will have ten days to
complete the test and it is wise to start the work upon receipt. Leaving yourself two days to finish the
test invites failure. People have turned in thirty and even fifty-page exams. While you may not need to
write fifty pages, you will not answer these essay questions in eight pages, either. The questions require
you to synthesize and apply the material covered in the seminar, which encompasses at least twenty-
four contact hours over two and a half days.

You'll need to improve your reading skills before taking the exam.

[vietnamlit]

I am thinking of it as the bar exam. You study for two or three years, cram for two or three months, and still plenty of people fail. But while you can pass the New York bar exam and still be worthless anyone who fails the Wichita Falls one probably can do squat. Here is the summary I just drafted for the facebook page of my gym to recruit a study group:

They call it the Starting Strength II seminar but they encourage anyone to start with it. The Starting Strength Level I seminar teaches the lifts. Level II presents the whole method in light of theory. At both seminars you spend time on the platform. At the Level II seminar the instructors ask you to coach as well as lift. They compare notes like military cadre and invite those who display mastery of both lifts and cues to sit a written exam. Candidates have ten days after the seminar to return the exam. Many fail but they win the right to pay to attend the seminar lectures again then sit the exam a second time. The Starting Strength credential is intended to inspire study and practice. Those considering the Level II seminar should master the books Starting Strength and Practical Programming for Strength Training. They should work past the novice level in the lifts. They should coach other people and observe the lifting and coaching displayed online at the Starting Strength forums. The organization also intends the credential as the portal to a profession. Once won the credential must be maintained by active coaching and continuing education such as taking part in the annual conference of the Starting Strength Coaches Association.

Oh hey there is a typo, "prerequistes" on this page: http://startingstrength.com/index.ph.../seminars#ssl1

[PDRusso]

It makes sense, right ? If you want to teach the material, you have to know the material.