How To Become A Strength And Conditioning Internship: What It Is and Career Path

What is a strength and conditioning internship and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Building strength as an athlete is a lot more complicated than just lifting things up and putting things down. Many athletics programs have dedicated strength and conditioning coaches who design personal training programs for athletes, keeping in mind the skills they need to build for their sport, their body type, and even nutritional needs. Before becoming a coach, many start off as strength and conditioning interns.

Strength and conditioning interns learn about strength building and fitness by shadowing a strength and conditioning coach. They observe the coach's work and assist them with any matters from filing paperwork to cleaning equipment. Sometimes, the strength and conditioning intern gets to design a program themselves and teach athletes various exercises.

The job of a strength and conditioning intern is perfect for someone who is interested in helping others get fit and maybe has some experience as an athlete themselves, but does not have a lot of work experience. Strength and conditioning internships can be full-time or part-time, paid or unpaid, and can even count as college credit if an intern is currently studying.

ScoreStrength And Conditioning InternshipUS Average

Salary

3.7

Avg. Salary $47,497

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.4

Growth rate 19%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.49%

Asian 5.11%

Black or African American 7.05%

Hispanic or Latino 10.64%

Unknown 5.40%

White 71.31%

Gender

female 20.64%

male 79.36%

Age - 36

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 36

Stress level

4.4

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity level

5.5

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

10.0

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a strength and conditioning internship

Explore strength and conditioning internship education requirements

Most common strength and conditioning internship degrees

Bachelor's

84.0 %

Master's

8.3 %

Associate

5.0 %

Start to develop specific strength and conditioning internship skills

Skills	Percentages
Student Athletes	38.36%
Program Implementation	8.72%
Softball	5.44%
Soccer	5.36%
Volleyball	5.04%

Complete relevant strength and conditioning internship training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New strength and conditioning interns learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a strength and conditioning internship based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real strength and conditioning internship resumes.

Gain additional strength and conditioning internship certifications

Strength and conditioning internship certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific strength and conditioning internship certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for strength and conditioning interns include Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and Certified Personal Trainer.

More About Certifications

Research strength and conditioning internship duties and responsibilities

Manage various football, basketball, and speed camps while conveying the importance of self-motivation.
Attain familiarity with Basecamp, hootsuite, and various NUVO administer social medias to market the newspaper product.
Achieve TSA qualification and certification.
Coach football, soccer, lacrosse, softball, volleyball, rowing, and track teams in the weight room.

Prepare your strength and conditioning internship resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your strength and conditioning internship resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a strength and conditioning internship resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable strength and conditioning internship resume templates

Build a professional strength and conditioning internship resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your strength and conditioning internship resume.

Apply for strength and conditioning internship jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a strength and conditioning internship job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do strength and conditioning interns rate their job?

-/5

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Strength and conditioning internship reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2019

Pros

What I like the most is the fact that the S&C coach can have the experience and knowledge to teach a human being of any age and any level of performance how to get better, I love that I have the ability to tell a person more about his/her body, how does it move & how we can get it better. We have 7 billion people on earth and each person is a case study and a new experience to teach and learn from. It's amazing what this position can do to human in terms of spiritual, physiological & psychological growth. It's a life , it's more than a job for me.

Cons

I realize that there are some disadvantages and pains that I personally have suffered from, working with athletes & clients all day long can be hectic especially when you put full effort in day in and day out & the constant demand of growing your knowledge, then finding the right position that pays well and puts you in an organization to grow with...etc. these are all things that almost every S&C coach pass through, but these as well are what makes us grow as human beings & evolve around the field to make better decisions for us, our athletes and other trainers who want to set foot in this industry.