OVERVIEW

The internship experience was nothing better than I can ask for. As I do aspire to become a personal trainer in hopes of running my own fitness facility, this internship gave me reassurance that I was on the right path. Being able to work in group fitness setting can be complicated at times to make sure everyone is doing the proper workout at the same time. Calls for making sure eyes are always open. Always searching for minor adjustments. I learned it is always better to over coach than to say nothing at all.

The commute was a huge factor as I was always able to make each session in a timely manner. Also due to location I even road my bike there sometimes. Weather did have a critical role sometimes but staff worked around it. If there was lightning we just moved conditioning into the WRC. It’s the goal to stay out of the rain as much as possible because using a wet field becomes a hazard and you never want injuries during the offseason. Weather made me become more resourceful and in fact made me check ahead schedule lots of times to come up with alternative solutions incase something became off track. The heat was one of the biggest challenges we had to combat when it came to conditioning. The 7am group never had issues with over heating as the sun is just coming up. Although the 3pm group was nearly getting cooked alive most afternoons. The sun shining bright with little to no clouds in the sky had the coaches take different approaches. This required longer breaks in between sprints. Water bottles filled with ice had to be filled before every session with a longer recovery period after taking it a bit longer in order to transition into the weight room.

Biggest factors I learned was to always have a positive mindset and have the motivation in improving everyday no matter the situation. A negative mindset will affect the mood of others around and as a trainer/ strength coach it can put a negative impact on your athlete’s performance. It is the coach’s duty to set the tone and the players will feed off of it. As well as being vocal. It is important to make sure your voice projects through the room in order to get your coaching heard by all. If one player has a question it is a good idea to reiterate that question and answer for everyone incase the other athletes were having that same struggle. Be confident in what you are training because athletes won’t trust you if you’re questioning your own workouts. Have a reason/purpose for every exercise to explain how each movement will help them on the field. Become transparent as possible. Critical to always reviewing the anatomy of the body in order to pinpoint agonist muscle groups. Also that it is a competitive field and you determine how much money you make by the amount of work you put in behind the doors. You decide your rates, scheduling, and who you train.

Things I would do differently is to implement the yoga program earlier into the internship. Players only got to see a glance and I feel longer time they would have been able to spiritually feel the difference. Not be so timid in the beginning and be more hands -on from the start to instantly share my knowledge. Do wish we hosted more events like the prospect camp. I feel more experience at the production of sporting events are huge since I want to have my own facility in the future, knowing the ins and outs of event planning is crucial. 

Ways to help me reach my goals is to personally become the best athlete I can. This allows me to become the best brand in selling myself. So I personally need to stay determined and worked into shape just as much as potential clients. No one wants to hire an unfit individual to train them to become fit there’s no selling point. Definitely build connections continuously throughout my career.