Internships - What I've taken from them!

What Ive learnt/ taken from my previous Internships

Maintain your own standards/be proactive - By this I mean every day be on the ball, if anything needs to be done you’re there. Don’t be dragged down by other interns/members of staff, although “banter” is great, it can’t take the front seat! If you think something could be done better, then suggest it to the relevant member of staff, it is always good to get an outside opinion on something whether it’s a new way to maximise gym space or just a new system to put in place to speed data collection for example.

Ask Questions! – Most people say there is no such thing as a stupid question …. However there is an appropriate time to ask questions despite the relevance! Ask to have an informal chat with a supervisor or coach and ask away! I’m sure you will receive a positive response, it is in a coach’s nature to defend what they believe to be correct or their coaching philosophy – it can also lead to debates often involving multiple coaches putting their two pence in! Personally I find this is the best way to work and learn, asking the relevance of certain exercises for individuals or the structure of programs and as a collective, improving each other!

Take advantage! – As an intern, maximise your future by taking advantage of the facilities the club has to offer. For example, if they use GPS to monitor training loads, ask if you can get involved and add another string to your bow, or if they collect saliva/blood samples, find out if they have found any trends across there group!

Keep a logbook/Diary so you can see what events took place but don’t just be descriptive, make an excel worksheet and critique yourself for each day. What happened – what you would have changed – discussions with coaches – what was my own performance like? Etc. Writing up all these areas and more has enabled me to find pitfall and strengths in my own performance and bring up topics for debate/discussion with coaches in my travels.

Lastly from what I have seen from my own personal experiences is that strength and conditioning coaches must have a broader array of knowledge. Including the advantages of GPS metrics quantifying load and volume, nutrition – being able to offer advice to athletes, offering areas of physiology that can be monitored when applicable to head coaches and there potential to predict potential injuries/URTI. It is therefore imperative that during internships you take away as much as possible, as well as putting in the long hours and hard work.