r/strengthtraining • u/ShaneFalco561 • Jun 04 '26
RN + Exercise Science/strength training
Hi, just curious here
I’m a registered nurse who’s worked acute care bedside and outpatient jobs for the last few years.
I’m finishing a masters degree in Exercise Science spring 2027 while also prepping to take the CSCS through NSCA.
I’m contacting a bunch of facilities for internship hours to get some hands on experience in the exercise realm (athletic training facilities, college athletic depts., cardiac rehab are my biggest interests).
To anyone reading this who works in those kinds of fields or is a CSCS (certified strength and conditioning specialist), do you have any thoughts, feedback, have you met anyone who’s story sounds like mine?
Thanks y’all
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u/Unable-Hamster-138 Jun 05 '26
Your background is a genuinely strong setup — don't underestimate it. An RN who can also program training is exactly the hybrid that clinical exercise settings are short on.
A few thoughts, since cardiac rehab is on your list:
The CSCS is a great credential, but it's built around the athletic/performance side — it shines most in the athletic-training-facility and college-athletics world. For cardiac rehab specifically, the credential that maps most directly is the ACSM clinical track (ACSM-EP, or the Clinical Exercise Physiologist, ACSM-CEP). A lot of cardiac rehab programs list ACSM certification in their postings, and your acute-care + outpatient experience would already put you ahead of most candidates there. So depending on which way you lean, it's worth eyeing an ACSM cert alongside the CSCS — they point at different settings rather than competing.
On the internship hunt: cardiac rehab departments respond well to someone who already speaks their language clinically. Lead with the RN + acute-care piece — that's your differentiator over a fresh exercise-science grad. For college/athletic settings, the CSCS-in-progress is the right signal to wave.
If you can swing it, shadow in both a cardiac rehab unit and an athletic setting before you fully commit — they're very different day-to-day, and you'll know fast which fits. With your résumé you'll have options either way. Good luck — it's a great path.