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The differences between personal trainers and strength and conditioning coaches can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a personal trainer, becoming a strength and conditioning coach takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a strength and conditioning coach has an average salary of $49,382, which is higher than the $37,214 average annual salary of a personal trainer.
The top three skills for a personal trainer include CPR, customer service and resuscitation. The most important skills for a strength and conditioning coach are student athletes, NCAA, and weight room.
| Personal Trainer | Strength And Conditioning Coach | |
| Yearly salary | $37,214 | $49,382 |
| Hourly rate | $17.89 | $23.74 |
| Growth rate | 19% | 20% |
| Number of jobs | 34,023 | 14,934 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | 4.5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 76% |
| Average age | 37 | 36 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 6 |
A personal trainer is responsible for monitoring the client's fitness goals by assisting the client with specific and customized routines and exercises to promote healthy well-being. Duties of a personal trainer also include evaluating the client's fitness progress, creating safe programs to improve the client's stamina, educating the client with workout benefits, suggesting on a client's best nutrition plans, and motivating clients with their capabilities. A personal trainer should have excellent knowledge of the fitness industry to support the client's needs.
A Strength And Conditioning Coach designs, implements, and supervises the strength and conditioning programs for multiple sports programs. They generally work with athletes.
Personal trainers and strength and conditioning coaches have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Personal Trainer | Strength And Conditioning Coach | |
| Average salary | $37,214 | $49,382 |
| Salary range | Between $26,000 And $53,000 | Between $29,000 And $81,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Morgantown, WV |
| Highest paying state | California | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | AEA Investors | Mayo Clinic |
| Best paying industry | Retail | Education |
There are a few differences between a personal trainer and a strength and conditioning coach in terms of educational background:
| Personal Trainer | Strength And Conditioning Coach | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 76% |
| Most common major | Kinesiology | Kinesiology |
| Most common college | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
Here are the differences between personal trainers' and strength and conditioning coaches' demographics:
| Personal Trainer | Strength And Conditioning Coach | |
| Average age | 37 | 36 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 63.3% Female, 36.7% | Male, 83.5% Female, 16.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.1% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 10.6% Asian, 5.1% White, 71.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 8.7% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 13.0% Asian, 5.4% White, 66.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 13% | 8% |