IRONMAN University Coaching Certification

Cap and Shirt Not Included


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Image of me in my new cap and shirt only available to certified coaches.

Back in 2016 the IRONMAN Corporation launched IRONMAN U to the world allowing coaches and aspiring coaches to gain an online triathlon coaching qualification from the comfort of their homes. I was a little cynical at the time as it looked like a cash grab. Even with the large amount of money athletes were paying for IRONMAN branded races and huge profits the organisation was making through these events, I saw an online course granting a certification with little practical experience to be a little pointless.

Fast forward to 2020, and hello, I just finished the IRONMAN U certification training. Yep, I see the irony in saying this after the cynicism I had only a short time ago. But here I am documenting the process and trying to give some extra clarity to what you get for your $650USD.

If your interested in getting started with IRONMAN U, check out the link

So bare with me and I'll do my best to give you an idea on what you get from IRONMAN U, what is involved in completing the training and becoming a certified coach and what this potentially allows you to then do after you have achieved your certification.

Why Did I Do It?


So what made me make a 180 degree turn around from seeing IRONMAN U as a cash grab, to deciding to part with my hard earned cash and drink the cool aid? There's actually a couple of reasons;

  1. The first is that I am actually already training people. Even though this is in an informal capacity, I still take it pretty seriously and this includes my own training. I was actually curious with the way I was training people to see if it was actually inline with current coaching philosophies.
  2. Second, in the past few years, I've found myself writing a lot of articles and posts for different publications and content providers. Even though I see myself as a journalist, I wanted to add some weight to the writing I was putting out to the world.
  3. The fact that the training program was 100% completely online was a bonus for me. Working full time limits the time I can spend attending training seminars and other events, so I saw it as a perfect way to gain these credentials.
  4. Lastly, I was hoping it would add to my current knowledge. I do a lot of reading and even though it seems like a short online course, I did actually gain some valuable information and knowledge from it.

What Does The Training Consist Of?


The certification training is a combination of both online text and video tutorials running through a number of specific topics relevant to IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 training. You're given 150 days to complete the training and for a part time course, if you are travelling through the content at a consistent pace it will probably take you this long to complete all of the training.

The content is broken down into 12 different units consisting for the following:

  • IRONMAN Coaching Philosophy
  • Exercise Science
  • Swim
  • Bike
  • Run
  • Sports nutrition
  • Strengh and Conditioning
  • Training plans
  • The art of coaching
  • Event Preparation
  • Coaching Business
  • Final Assessment

All of the content is clear and concise with the only topics that are overly complex I would say are the exercise science unit as it includes an amount of prior knowledge of human anatomy. The coaching philosophy used by the training is the tried and true methods of periodized training made famous by coaches like Joe Friel. The program also follows zone based training to improve aerobic endurance. Some of the coaches presenting on the videos do suggest they do use other training methodologies but the IRONMAN U content rarely moves from this script.

Even though its not really discussed, you can sense some of the content is being sponsored by different companies for example, it's pretty clear the Training Plans unit is sponsored by Training Peaks as it is geared towards using this software to allocate training to your clients.

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The above image is from the interface that has sample training questions throughout the course.

The training course finishes off with two assessments. A 50 question multiple choice online exam where you need to get 80% or higher to get a passing mark. The second assessment is a lot more involved. They give you a fictitious client with athlete details, completed swim, bike and run assessment forms. You are given the athletes goal races and you are tasked with getting this athlete ready for their goal race. This includes answering 15 or so questions that range from setting up specific training weeks for the athlete, to putting together a nutrition plan, to providing them with more confidence to take on the later parts of their training. This part of the assessment took me close to a week to put together, which gave me a good result in the end.

The Bad Points


I got a lot of good information from the course but there was some points that I didn't like:

  • The web interface is a little dated and crappy and sometimes just doesn't work. At times it's not very responsive and can be difficult to navigate.
  • There are some old references in the content which really need to be updated and even found some errors, for example old references that are no longer being updated like https://www.facebook.com/IMAntiDoping
  • The nutrition chapter is very basic and still preaches that carbohydrates are king. They definitely don't go into nutrition that may be specific to women as well, but this could simply be the limit in time available to deliver the content.
  • There is also a little talk about visualisation to help with athletic performance but do not really include any of this type of information in as part of the certification.
  • The Run unit is the only unit that provides content on possibly injuries and how to prevent and treat these injuries.

The Good Points


Some of the good points I found from the training was:

  • It was very detailed even for a short course they expect you to complete in 150 days. There are a lot of useful videos from certified coaches including Dave Scott and Paula Findley.
  • Training plans are basic but very thorough. You are given access to a basic 70.3 and full IRONMAN distance triathlon plan in spreadsheet format. There is a lot of work that has gone into these training plans and they are a great place to get started if you are delivering training plans to clients.
  • Lots of content provided including exercises and training drills to help athletes. There is also a searchable database to look through these specific drills and exercises.
  • Athlete centred coaching is something they seem to preach as IRONMAN does take up a lot of time and effort and the only way normal people are going to complete these races is by being flexible and making sure their training is catered to their lifestyle.
  • They have you training virtual athletes. Both through the training modules and the final assessment which actually give you a lot of confidence taking the information you have learnt and delivering it to your eventual clients.

So You Passed...Now What?


The coaching certification opens up some more resources for you once you have completed the certification. You are eligible to join the IRONMAN U Coaching Association which is free to join. You get access to all the training plans and resources you have been able to access during the training and also have access to online webinars and meetings open only to IRONMAN U association members. Your certification also provides you with a coaching profile that clients are now able to message and make contact with you.

You will need to re certify every two years, which fortunately only costs $99 to do.

Conclusion
I am currently coaching myself and my girlfriend and at the moment no 100% sure what I am going to do with my new found certification. I like the shirt and cap though. If you're interesting in speaking to me more about the certification, feel free to contact me through my profile page at the following url:
https://u.ironman.com/profile-coach_profile/17161

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