Strength and Conditioning students on their way to Gold Medal careers thanks to University course

Developing key professional networks and gaining a deeper understanding of strength and conditioning is helping two graduate students to ‘gold medal’ careers supporting sportsmen and women.

Kyle Craig and Ian Greenwood have just completed their Masters (MSc) in Strength and Conditioning with the University of Northampton with a view to working as, respectively, a professional sport coach or sport conditioning researcher.

The course, which lasts for one year, is geared toward those who have a degree in a relevant subject area* such as Sport and Exercise Science and/or work in sport rehabilitation, training, strength and conditioning, such as personal trainers, instructors or coaches.

Modules in the course cover training methods and how to prescribe exercise, how different methods of strength training can impact on exercise performance and, for those wanting to progress into research, how to conduct data collection studies and how to analyse and present the results.

On how the course has benefitted his career options, Kyle said: “I decided to choose the University of Northampton because the course is extremely specialised and one of only a few universities that offers an MSc in Strength and Conditioning.

“I have recently completed a placement which gave me the chance to work with professional boxers, providing them with fitness testing and sport-specific strength and fitness programmes.

“Training elite athletes has been the highlight of my recent career progression, all made possible with the University’s diverse networks and academic connections.

“Studying at University of Northampton has given me the chance to put my education and career into my own hands. It’s allowed me to build a solid foundation about what it takes to be a successful and influential coach.”

Ian added: “The University of Northampton is a supportive and encouraging environment that gets you out of your comfort zone.

“I want to go into sport research and this course offered me the opportunity to conduct a six-month project about endurance running performance and I was able to network with local running clubs and recreational athletes across the UK.

“This will benefit me greatly after graduation and will definitely enhance my future career prospects.

“If you are eager to follow a career within exercise and sports performance, you should aspire to gain the highest level qualifications and at the University of Northampton they give you the opportunities to do this.”

For more information about the MSc in Strength and Conditioning, see the University’s website.

*There is a 20% course fees discount for University of Northampton alumni.