Many an organisation has a vision to be world class. Yet for 33-year-old Darren Hide and his colleagues at the sportscotland institute of sport, it’s a buzzword with huge significance.
For as a strength and conditioning coach, Darren works within a nationwide organisation focused on giving high performance sports science and sports medicine expertise to athletes. Darren’s day is dedicated to helping world-class athletes reach the podium.
A graduate of Sport & Exercise Science from Edinburgh Napier, since 2011 Darren has been an integral part of the team within the sportscotland institute of sport (Grampian) office based at Aberdeen Sports Village. The Edinburgh-born strength and conditioning coach admits many people find it hard to grasp what his job involves.
“Because I’m based in a gym environment, people think a strength and conditioning coach is like personal training (PT). It’s not! As a strength and conditioning coach your focus is solely about maximising an athlete’s performance.
“I’m part of a multidisciplinary team of experts, including physiotherapists and physiologists who work together to support an athlete to ultimately achieve their goals in international competition.”
The eclectic mix of athletes Darren works with includes the likes of Alex Tilley (Torphins), GB’s No 1 ladies alpine slalom skier; World Cup half-pipe snowboarder Ben Kilner (Banchory); cross-country skiing ace Andrew Young (Huntly) and swimming star Hannah Miley. Top curlers, squash, basketball and rugby players, shooters and swimmers all benefit from the individually-tailored programmes designed by the likes of Darren and his line manager Neil Donald.
“It’s a challenge to ensure that athletes reach peak physical performance for their chosen sports but that’s why I love this job. They want to be the best, so every day you are constantly striving to create a positive performance culture within your training sessions so that athletes can achieve greatness.”
Darren, who before joining the institute also worked with Bristol Rugby, typically starts his day at 7am and finishes around 6.30pm. “I love coaching athletes. Being able to create an environment where athletes from multi-sport backgrounds warm up together, train together and push each other on is highly rewarding.”
Injury prevention is an important consideration. Before any athlete is written a strength and conditioning programme, they first undergo a detailed medical screening and assessment by a physiotherapist. This helps identify potential physiological weaknesses and imbalances which Darren, liaising with colleagues, can help to rectify through prescribing specific exercises. He also monitors (including remotely over Skype) the training routines that aim to maximise the individual’s physical readiness for competition.
Using equipment like free weights and medicine balls, Darren helps a Nordic skier like Andrew Young improve his physical robustness and strength. The diverse exercises, over sessions of up to 75 minutes long can include squats, lunges, jumps and pull-ups. Meanwhile, a top alpine skier like Tilley may be prescribed additional land work aimed at improving her power, agility and speed on the piste.
For anyone inspired to pursue such a career path, Darren recommends studying the likes of sports science, gaining UK Strength & Conditioning Association (UKSCA) accreditation and taking every chance to get hands-on practical experience, such as the internship run through the sportscotland institute of sport
“As a strength and conditioning coach within the sportscotland institute of sport, I’m just one cog in a process that’s focused on giving an athlete the competitive edge in competition. It’s a job that gives me huge satisfaction in knowing that I’m helping the likes of Miley, Young, Tilley and Kilner achieve their sporting goals and dreams.”
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