Learning Outcomes

Module 1

• You will gain a foundational understanding of the biomechanical principles including inertia, momentum, impulse, kinematics, and kinetics, and how they apply to strength and conditioning.
• You will learn about the physiological fundamentals, including the skeletal, muscular, energy, and cardiorespiratory systems. You will understand how these systems coordinate together to drive performance and effective function, which is a significant part of a strength and conditioning coach's role .
• You will understand the global training principles and methodologies that underpin the physiological processes involved in the adaptation of the human body. This includes principles like Supercompensation, General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS), Stimulus-Fatigue-Recovery-Adaptation (SFRA) Theory, and Fitness-Fatigue Paradigm.
• You will learn about the FITT Principle and how it can be useful when deciding upon a methodological approach to general population clientele. You will understand that it carefully considers many of the key variables used to enhance training outcomes, particularly Individualization and Variation.
• You will gain insight into specific options available within program prescription and how to compile all this information together, ensuring the final programming product will be a successful one. This includes executing these principles within your own training prescriptions, providing an opportunity for consistent and constant feedback
  
  

Module 2

• You will understand the importance of recovery in strength and conditioning. This includes understanding the physiological and psychological restorative process relative to time, and how the rate of recovery is controlled by individual responses to stress. You will also learn about the external and internal demands that affect recovery.
• You will learn about the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) and its three stages: the Alarm Phase, Resistance Phase, and Exhaustion Phase. Understanding these stages will help you understand why recovery is important for driving physiological adaptations such as maximal strength and preventing overtraining.
• You will learn how to manage training load by understanding individual responses to the stress of internal and external training loads. This includes understanding the responses of the nervous system during stress and relaxation, and how to calculate training load using the sRPE x Duration formula.
• You will understand the importance of sleep in recovery and the rejuvenation of the brain and body. This includes understanding how sleep aids in the improvement of mental and physical health, learning and memory, and the growth and repair of cells. You will also learn about the negative effects of sleep deprivation on both physical and cognitive performance.
• You will learn about the fundamentals of recovery, including sleep, hydration, nutrition, and managing training load. You will understand that these foundations are essential to both elite performance and optimizing training goals within general populations.

Module 3

• You will understand the importance of power and speed training adaptations. This includes understanding that sessions should be completed with minimal fatigue and maximal intent. Load selection should consider utilizing progressive overload prescriptions, which will be dependent on the exercise choice and the desired load/velocity outcome.
• You will learn about the key training principles including specificity, variability, and individualization. You will understand that individuals with higher levels of relative strength have shown to produce higher levels of peak power, meaning specific loading parameters should be given depending on the 1RM of the client.
• You will understand the concept of the "Window of explosive power development". This concept highlights that while specifically targeted programs (e.g., maximal strength only) still manage to improve power outcomes, a combination of strength and plyometric exercises returns the greatest improvements in maximal power output.
• You will learn about the importance of incorporating core training into a resistance training program to assist in both performance outcomes and injury mitigation. You will understand how to determine the client’s current tolerance and capacity for exercise loading, via testing, and how to use this data to compile a report which helps understand which area of the core requires greater development.
• You will learn about the principles of progressive overload for core strength. This includes understanding that program design should begin with simple prescriptions for untrained individuals, and then involve greater variation and specificity as the client becomes more experienced.
  
  

Module 4

• You will understand the biomechanics and physiology behind key training principles involved with strength and conditioning. This knowledge will allow you to make well-informed decisions about programming and prescription. You will also learn how to follow a systematic process when making these decisions, allowing for an appropriate selection of training methods to suit the desired physiological outcome.
• You will learn how to create a system for strength and conditioning. This includes understanding the importance of an assessment to determine what your client requires from the training interventions you'll be prescribing. You will also learn how to use principles such as "FITT" to determine the best approach for the individual.
• You will learn about energy system development and how different energy systems are dominant during specific durations and intensities. You will understand the importance of matching these prescriptions with appropriate resistance training interventions so adaptations are not 'competing' for optimization.
• You will understand the importance of determining the goals of the client when prescribing effective interventions. You will learn how to consider whether performance or body composition is the targeted outcome, and whether the prescription will have a negative effect on the resistance training outcomes.
• You will learn how to use the tables provided in the module to 'drag and drop' appropriate prescriptions into the programming templates, depending on the appropriate type of energy system development required.