Nicole Rodriguez always knew she wanted to pursue strength and conditioning, but the extent of her journey — spanning 44 countries and the Paris 2024 Olympic Games — is nothing short of inspiring. During her time at Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning, Rodriguez recognized the value of experience and environment, later joining the EXOS International Program to coach globally. Eager to test her skills and help standardize coaching education, she sought out developing countries to advance their sport infrastructure. Rodriguez outlines key differences between U.S. and European approaches: while the U.S. excels in strength methodology, Europe enhances sport-specific application through tactical periodization. Additionally, she highlights Europe’s emphasis on rehabilitation and an “inverse relationship” between time in the weight room versus pitch-side with sport coaches. Rodriguez also describes her work with Poland’s Ministry of Sport and Tourism to pursue NSCA Global Chapter status, aligning with her passion for improving strength and conditioning education and implementation worldwide.

Connect with Nicole by email: nicole@coachnicolerodriguez.com and online at: coachnicolerodriguez.com | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs and LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs

Learn more about NSCA international programs mentioned in the episode at NSCA.com/Global.

Show Notes

“I think it's important for strength and conditioning coaches to know that our skill set and our scope of practice isn't just training this sport we work with. It's being able to adapt and form a needs analysis and build a program for any sport or activity based on demands, recognizing key aspects of an activity or a job or a sport or a position that give you windows of trainability to help that athlete or person.” 21:23

“I always believe in Harry Truman's word that you can be successful in life without getting the credit. And there's a lot of things that we have to do in the industry where we're just do not get any credit. And it's just part of the job. But we try to use it as a positive way of working together.” 31:30

“Those are the two things that I always work to remember is, hey, keep the peace in the environments that I work in because they are high-stress environments. But also, this concept of you don't always have to be super bubbly and always smiling. It's helpful. It's very helpful if you have that ability to stay positive through the thick of the scenario. But sometimes it doesn't always need to come from positivity but more of this idea of staying neutral, yeah, so you can make the next best decision.” 35:22

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