Benefits of being an RD as a strength coach/personal trainer?
What do you feel are the benefits of being a Registered Dietitian (RD) as a strength coach or personal trainer? I ask because I am at a crossroad; I know that my passion lies in strength training and conditioning, but I just spent the past 4.5 years as a Dietetics major before I realized this. I am at the point where I need to either:
A.)Apply for a Dietetic Internship and complete the RD exam THEN go to grad school for kinesiology/ExSci
B.)Apply for graduate school (for Kinesiology or Exercise Science) and begin a career as a strength coach or personal trainer.
If I go the route of the Dietetic Internship, I will be in a hospital setting counseling patients regarding nutrition. This does not appeal very much to me at all. The only reason I would do this is if becoming an RD would benefit me as a personal trainer/strength coach down the road. AKA would I be more credible?
Basically, I’m asking your opinion whether postponing my passion (strength training/athletics) for about 1 year would be worth it in the long run to get the RD credentials. I’m torn because I don’t want the past 4.5 years to be worth nothing and I want to be as marketable as a trainer/coach as possible, but at the same time I don’t know if having the “RD” after my name will make a big difference either way. I
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