Strength and Conditioning for Sport

Strength and conditioning in sport and exercise

The core role of strength and conditioning coaches is to design, implement, and monitor safe and effective training programs for athletes. ¹ They ideally work with other support team members - such as the head coach, nutritionists or dieticians, sports medicine staff and other medical practitioners (e.g. physiotherapists) – to achieve individual and team performance, rehabilitation, and/or recovery goals. ^{2, 3}

Strength and conditioning coaches perform a broad range of tasks that contribute to individual and/or team sport performances, including: ²

• Screening athletes for potential injury risks or physical limitations that might impact performance.
• Providing activities to address identified general wellness issues (e.g. improving posture or breathing).
• Identifying or developing suitable testing protocols for various types of movement, flexibility, speed, endurance, strength, and power.
• Designing, implementing, and monitoring programs using a range of methods: resistance training, conditioning / energy systems training, speed and agility drills, flexibility, mobility, and warm up and warm down programs in various settings.
• Monitoring and assessing progress via physical testing, wellness monitoring, and other monitoring systems/technology (e.g., Heart rate variability, Global Positioning Systems).
• Providing general information on basic physiological recovery modalities.

Groups, societies and professional bodies

Vocational educational training

The path to becoming a strength and conditioning coach blends coursework, practical training, and experience. The ASCA provides a range of accreditation options from introductory/entry level through to professional, elite, and master.

To work at an elite level in Australian sport an undergraduate degree in in exercise, movement science, sports science, or a related field is required, as well as additional ASCA accreditation.

Standards

The Australian Performance Support Practitioner Minimum Standards represent the minimum standards for Performance Support staff and contractors engaged to deliver professional services in identified practice disciplines by National Sporting Organisations (NSOs), National Institute Network (NIN) partners, the Australian Olympic Committee, Paralympics Australia, and Commonwealth Games Australia. These standards, along with the AIS Sport Science Sport Medicine Best Practice Principles are a recommendation within the National Integrity Framework, opens in a new tab.

The AIS develops evidence-based position statements on new and complex topics in sports science and sports medicine to provide guidance and leadership for the Australian high-performance sports system.

Research and Resources

• National Institute Network Research. Recently published sports science/sports medicine research from NIN researchers. This list is updated on a monthly basis.
• Blood flow restriction training guidelines, Australian Institute of Sport, (February 2021). These guidelines are intended to inform the safe application of Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) training. They may also be used as a reference for the development of minimum standards by National Sporting Organisations.
• National protocols for the assessment of strength and power, National Institute Network/Australian Institute of Sport, (version 2; 202?). These protocols outline updated testing methods for strength and power assessment that have a sound theoretical basis but are also practical in the training environment.
• Training load in relation to loading and unloading phases of training, Australian Institute of Sport, (version 2; 2021). This can be used by coaches, performance support team members and organisations in the national high performance sport system as a resource to guide conversations relating to holistic approaches to well-periodised and individualised training load planning following unloading.