Learn to plan and teach sports-specific exercise at a semi-professional, amateur and recreational level. The course includes sought-after Olympic lifting techniques, and SAQ and plyometric training.
When an athlete or sports team excel, it’s not because they have some superior natural talent! In the main it’s because they’ve undertaken the appropriate level of physical conditioning and skill development. Sports coaches typically take care of the skill development whereas strength and conditioning professionals and sports conditioners plan and teach the physical development.
Sports conditioning is concerned with evaluating the physical and to a lesser extent, the technical demands of a particular sport, or group of sports. Using this analysis, you’ll be able to design safe and effective training and exercise programmes that increase performance and reduce the risk of injury. Conditioning programmes will commonly include activities that promote muscular strength, endurance and aerobic capacity. They are also key with regards to increasing power and motor skills such as power, speed, agility and quickness (SAQ).
The Level 3 Award in Sports Conditioning is a qualification certificated by YMCA Awards, that is specifically designed for fitness professionals who recognise the importance of strength and conditioning and who are keen to help athletes and teams alike to gain that crucial, competitive edge. The course is not designed for those looking to work with elite athletes, because this requires more specialist levels of training that are normally delivered at degree level and beyond. This qualification is however ideal for those exercise professionals that want to offer their training services to semi-professional, amateur and recreational sportspeople.
The course is delivered over 2 days and includes around 4-weeks of home-study prior to attendance and a further 2-weeks of case-study work post-course. During the home-study phase, you’ll be supported extensively by our team of experienced Learner Support Tutors.
The Level 3 Sports Conditioning Award is a highly practical course that includes a wide-range of physical conditioning workshops. The course includes:
Sport and athlete profiling:
Sports-specific warm up and cool down:
Motor skill training:
Cardiovascular conditioning:
Resistance training for sports:
All of the teaching and learning materials you need to complete this course are provided as standard. These resources are specifically designed to aide and propel you through the course’s assessments, which include:
Worksheets and multiple choice assessments – Completed online before attending the practical workshop, they ensure you’re making sufficient progress.
Practical training workshop – Across two days, students will be informally assessed on their ability to perform a range of exercises, activities and drills. While the practical does not count towards the final outcome of the qualification, it is used to aide students with their professional development
Sports conditioning case study – Completed after the workshop, this will be based on a student’s choice of athlete/sport. Putting into practice all the knowledge and skills you’ve learned on the course, you’ll be able to analyse the demands of your chosen sport and use this to create a training programme.
Providing you possess a Level 2 Certificate in Fitness Instruction, you’ll be eligible to enrol on this course. This can either be in the context of gym instruction, exercise to music, circuit training or water-based exercise.
While it isn’t mandatory, you will ideally hold a Level 3 Personal Trainer qualification. If you’re interested in enrolling on the sports conditioning course, but have not yet obtained the prerequisite qualifications, our careers team will be able to assist you further.
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