In this session from the 2017 NSCA National Conference, Mike Stone explains what rate of force development (RFD) is, how it is derived, and the underlying mechanisms affecting RFD.

This article discusses baseball-specific strength and conditioning techniques, focusing on lower extremity training and improving shoulder mechanics.

Football is a high intensity collision based sport that has an inherent risk of injury in both competition and practice. The focus of ACL injuries and the development of injury prevention programs have been key in the development of youth athletes to keep them participating in sport with reduced risk of injury.

Robert Panariello, Chief Clinical Officer with Professional Physical Therapy and the Professional Athletic Performance Center, talks to the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about education in the field, being a well-rounded coach to excel or compliment your career, and key things to remember in the strength and conditioning field.

Developing safe and effective exercise training programs requires the application of abundant training variables and the implementation of appropriate progression for each variable. Importantly, the outcomes of each training program are the product of these variables and their progression, so practitioners are keen to select methodologies and overload strategies that effectively support their target training outcomes. One such training variable is mechanical loading, which describes the forces of gravity, resistance, and muscle contraction and how these forces affect musculoskeletal adaptations. Numerous research articles and texts have been published regarding mechanical loading and its effects on exercise adaptations; however, these findings can be arduous to organize, which requires additional time investment by professionals. Developing a succinct system is critical because practitioners face clients and patients with a wide range of physical skills and challenges, and having an easily referenced loading guide may assist them in designing appropriate strength and conditioning or rehabilitation programs. Thus, the purpose of this review is to define and describe the mechanical loading continuum and its individual components to better assist the practitioner in identifying appropriate exercise modes and progression strategies.

The extent to which a special operator’s training schedule can be planned in advance is often limited due to their unpredictable operational demands. However, there may be opportunities to plan for specific training during certain periods.

This excerpt from NSCA’s Essentials of Sport Science describes strength as a velocity-dependent concept.

In this session from the 2017 NSCA Personal Trainers Conference, Kamal Patel explains the main mechanisms involved in the development of pain, and identifies the nutrients and supplements that play a role in pain and recovery.

This infographic describes athletic movements through the force-time curve and associated considerations necessary to report and assess athletic force.

In this session from the NSCA’s 2016 TSAC Annual Training, Lance Walker identifies current trends in acceleration training for athletics, and discusses ideas for integrating elements of acceleration development into all facets of training.