In the fitness industry, some professionals take their job seriously – though unfortunately, many do not. Too often, personal trainers are little more than paid babysitters for adults who wouldn't otherwise go to the gym. Workouts are made up on the spot, pins are set on machines and the trainers can generally hold a conversation to kill an hour of time. As long as the client is sweating and gets sore the day after, they'll call it a win and everyone goes home happy.

However, if measurable and quantifiable progress is what they’ve promised a client, then kneeling one-arm cable rows, hip thrusts and planks on a Bosu ball simply won't cut it. Instagram feeds are full of trainers who have their clients perform dozens of exercises that all have one important thing in common: they don’t require coaching competency from the trainer. In fact, their selection is predicated precisely on the basis that they don’t need to know how to teach or coach any complex movement pattern like the squat, press, bench press, deadlift or Olympic lifts.

There are, however, some individuals who decide to take on the responsibility of learning anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, and programming. They then spend years teaching and correcting movement patterns across a spectrum of demographics to effectively help the people they’re working with. Time is a finite resource, and when we’re trusted with some of a person's precious time we should have the integrity to maximize it as best we can.

In It to Win It

The Starting Strength Coach credential is widely recognized as the most valuable certification in the industry, and by far the most rigorous to obtain. Potential coaches don't even get to talk about what they know until they have successfully demonstrated their ability to teach, coach, and correct the major barbell exercises in front of Rip and other staff coaches at a seminar. The pass rate is low because the standards are high, and there is very little wiggle room. You either know what you're doing or you don't – and this isn't something you can fake your way through. Coaches on staff know immediately the type of candidate they're dealing with, and if they're prepared. It's that simple.

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As candidates prepare for the seminar, they’ve likely spent thousands of hours on the platform getting people stronger and solving the complex problems that arise. As is often heard during the Friday evening lecture, staff are there to identify coaches, not to produce them. To have any chance of getting through the first part of the certification process, the legwork needs to be done well in advance.

Before the Starting Strength Gyms franchises began popping up and affiliate gyms were few and far between, coaches who prepared for their evaluations did so the hard way: they had to spend years coaching friends and family, getting one-on-one clients, and offering free sessions to whoever was willing to be coached. The process was long, and I'm sure more than a few potential coaches gave up when they realized how long it would take to do it on their own. When the franchise model started and apprenticeships became available, everything changed.

Starting Strength Apprenticeships

The value of getting a coveted spot as an apprentice in a franchise or affiliate gym cannot be overstated, because it is the fastest and most efficient way to learn what you need to know to become an effective strength coach. Some people will inevitably view their time as a service and expect renumeration for the hours they spend at the gym. I've had conversations with potential apprentices who immediately bring up money when inquiring about whether we can offer them a position in Brussels. These are never the kinds of people we want – they've come to us because they need our help, not the other way around. Bringing up money right away tells us everything we need to know about that person's motives for wanting to come here.

The ones who are actually deserving of one of these spots know they will be paid, but they also understand that they’re there to receive an education, a new career, and a fast track to a certification that is in high demand. They ask questions about coaching, are curious about the gym and its culture, and are eager to contribute. They know they’re here to learn from coaches who have done it before them – the information and experience is worth its weight in gold. After all, had they been able to do it by themselves, they wouldn't be asking for our help in the first place. We love talking to people like this, and I personally feel an obligation to pay it forward when it comes to helping them get to where they want to go. If someone is serious about getting it done and is in it for the right reason, then we're all in.

Real-World Learning from Day One

When an apprentice walks into a Starting Strength facility, they’re immediately immersed in an environment with dozens of lifters of varying demographics who show up specifically to be coached. They don't need to spend any time trying to convince people to try barbells, because it's already been done for them. It's hard to convey to people just how valuable walking into a situation like this is. As a personal trainer in an industry-standard machine-based gym, it takes a long time to a build a barbell clientele on your own, and most trainers will never get to a sufficient number. When you start as an apprentice at a Starting Strength facility and the clients are already there, all you have to do is show up and learn.

You get to skip the hardest legwork that was needed to get these gyms to where they are. In short, you're jumping to the front of the line to ride the train that was built by others, so that you can get to where you want to go faster. It's an incredible opportunity that I hope you appreciate, and I would encourage anyone who wants to earn the SSC credential to do everything they can to secure one of these spots. Additionally, if you are currently working as a personal trainer and are looking make a change, Starting Strength is now offering coach development events to make it easier to learn more about this first hand.

My Path to the SSC Credential

When I retired from professional basketball and started coaching people in a commercial gym, I did so for five-and-a-half years before attempting to pass the platform evaluation. Over 3 of those years were spent solely teaching the Starting Strength method to anyone who would let me coach them. I paid 730 EUR (790 USD) per month in rent to the facility I was working out of and had to spend months on the floor trying to acquire a clientele to coach.

It's a less-than-glamorous activity to engage in after being a professional athlete but it needed to be done. Clients would come and go as Brussels is a very transient city, so the number of people I was coaching would fluctuate on a regular basis. Many people I spoke with had no interest in barbells and could not be talked into it, no matter how much I went on about the benefits of strength training. I wasted countless hours on people who never even wanted to be coached in the first place. This is, unfortunately, part of the process if you're going do this by yourself.

And in total, I paid that gym almost 50,000 EUR (54,000USD) during my time there, and most of it was spent trying to chase down the Starting Strength Coach credential. Had the opportunity to intern in a franchise or an affiliate gym been available to me, I would have happily done it for free. Knowing what I know now, the time and money I would have saved – not to mention the amount of knowledge and experience I would have gained – would have made my life a lot easier.

I’d have jumped at the opportunity to learn from an SSC on the floor, in real time, while seeing huge numbers of people eager to train that I could not get on my own. On busy days at the commercial gym, I was working between 9 and 12 private sessions with little or no breaks between clients, and doing it 7 days a week. When I think back to the mistakes I made and the problems I couldn't solve, I cringe knowing how fast a seasoned SSC could have guided me through those challenging times. The funny thing is, I really believed that I was making great progress!

Real World Training, Expedited

I know that coaching 9 to 12 people in one day seems like a lot of practice, but it absolutely pales in comparison to working in one of these gyms. First of all, the small group format of up to 8 lifters means the apprentices receive a ton of information and learn at a much faster rate than they would on their own. In a single class, that person might see more than 200 reps of the squat alone, and often from wildly different types of individuals. Try to understand what that means for the development of the coach in comparison to working with a few lifters individually. What they're seeing in those 90 minutes forces them to analyze complex movement patters from various lifters in real time, plus ensure they’re conforming to the model of the exercise.

With more than 5 classes in a day, a full day at one of these gyms can provide the coach with thousands of reps to watch, analyze and correct if necessary. All the while, they have SSCs by their side, asking them questions about what they're seeing, which forces them to think and accelerates their progress. I haven't met the majority of my SSC colleagues in person, as we live all around the world, but I'm confident that each of them would be willing to help potential coaches in any way they can. Apprentices at these locations can get more done in a week than a personal trainer does alone in 3 months. Trust me on this because, I've done both extensively.

Brussels Barbell Apprenticeships

At our gym, we've been very fortunate with the apprentices who have come here to learn and prepare for the platform evaluation. Though the Starting Strength franchises would be the absolute ideal place to go, unfortunately this isn't a realistic option for candidates who live outside of the United States. Currently, we have three apprentices working at Brussels Barbell who have all made the decision to leave their homes and move to Belgium to learn and work in our gym. They’ve relocated from Brazil, Bulgaria, and Italy, respectively, and have all seamlessly fit in with the lifters here. They’re learning and improving all the time.

All 3 of them work extremely hard, are great with our lifters, and ask questions when they’re unsure of something. Because our gym has continued to grow, they’re being exposed to tens of thousands of repetitions a month and are learning to think on the fly, adapt to lifters, and make programming changes to different demographics as needed. As they continue to hone their skills before making the trip to Texas, we will be with them every step of the way to help prepare them however we can. The progress they've made from their first day on the floor until now has been a pleasure to watch.

Every couple of weeks on the Starting Strength Slack Channel there’s another announcement congratulating a new SSC for passing the evaluations and earning their credential. Not surprisingly, they mostly come from the franchise gyms where they had been lucky enough to learn from the exceptional coaches on staff and fast-track their development. Just like the Starting Strength method itself, becoming a coach through an apprenticeship is:

Simple: Show up and learn from the coach.

Hard: Work to learn and improve everyday.

Effective: Significantly expedite the rigorous process of becoming an SSC.

If you want to join the small number of coaches who are improving lives through barbell training, you might as well do it efficiently.  

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