Life as an Intern

Being an Intern at The Spot Athletics: 

Some of What I’ve Learned So Far

     I start my days waking up by 5 am, so it’s pretty important to be a morning person for this job (although some of the coaches are already working by that time). When 5:45 rolls around, you better be sure that you’re fully awake and functional so you’re ready to follow the coaches and help train clients. I suggest 2 cups of coffee minimum and some loud energetic music, maybe ABBA, for the drive to work. You can’t expect to be able to teach a front squat or critique deadlift form or run a warm up if your eyes are only half open and you’re struggling to not lay down and nap on the weight room floor.  If on the off chance you are able to do those things half asleep, your clients are probably seriously bored with you and unmotivated so you still suck.

     Most of the day consists of following the coaches here and being quizzed on lifting form, how to conduct an assessment, the proper way to spot clients, etc. These are the best parts of the day mainly because the opportunities presented for learning are never ending. You will learn more here in one day than you’ll learn in a semester at school. Any time not spent on that stuff is spent cleaning floors, hanging stuff on the walls, and running to the store to get supplies for whatever project JL came up with for that particular day. Which doesn’t sound like you’re learning much aside from how to mop and drill holes in concrete but everything is a learning experience if you look for it. Projects like this teach you hard work, completing tasks thoroughly, and following instruction.

     Being able to interact and communicate with the coaches is another important aspect of the job. You can’t be afraid to ask questions. I would learn almost nothing if I stand there and just watch the whole time. Obviously you should watch and be observant but asking why a coach put a specific exercise in the program or what a client’s specific movement pattern means or whatever is a great way to learn in this environment as long as you’re not annoying with it. Building a solid relationship with the coaches helps also. While it’s important to stay professional when interacting with the coaches aka your bosses, it’s also important to create a comfortable relationship with them. At the beginning of this internship I was so cautious about how I talked to most of the trainers here. Once I started to lighten up and joke around with them, it made the job more fun for me and the coaches and I was more eager to come to work and learn from them.

     It’s not the end of the world if you mess up (unless it’s when you’re spotting someone, then it’s the end of the world. Or at least your internship). Today, I totally screwed up an assessment trying to find if an athlete’s lats were tight and instead of dwelling on the mistake like I would’ve when I first started my internship, I identified exactly what I did wrong and learned how to fix it so it would never happen again, then moved on. Mistakes happen, as long as it doesn’t happen twice and not constantly, I figure I’m at least not the worst intern in the world.

Interning at The Spot has taught me more than any other facility or school could in such a short time (and I still have a couple months left here) so hopefully I’ll be able to use that to come up with better articles than this one in the future and share all the knowledge I’ve gained). I strongly encourage anyone who’s interested in this business to look for an internship at a facility like this one (or interview here) if you really want to learn how to coach or train.