This is the NSCA’s Coaching Podcast, where strength and conditioning coaches share their experience, lessons learned, and advice about how to thrive in a highly competitive profession.

Firefighting is a profession that has the potential to be extremely demanding, both physically and mentally. More specifically, these tactical personnel must be physically fit to perform their occupational requirements, all while they are exposed to daily stressors. This is likely to include everything from physical strain and shift work to interrupted sleep and witnessing potentially traumatizing events. Failure to prepare and mitigate these occupational demands can have long-lasting implications to overall performance as well as health and wellness. Unfortunately, many of these elements often go unaddressed. As such, considerations for collaborative and overarching cross-disciplinary allied health teams should be made. Human performance optimization (HPO) is a model that has been successfully adopted by the U.S. military to enhance the overarching health, wellness, and performance of soldiers. This article proposes the utilization of a similar HPO model by providing a rationale for how it can be used to reduce premature morbidity and mortality, as well as increasing overall readiness and resilience within the firefighting profession.

Mark Stephenson explains the systems of stress response for tactical personnel and the cognitive influence on decision-making and reaction time.

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Colorado Springs, CO – MAJ Donald Bigham and Mark Stephenson named the 2017 TSAC-Facilitator and TSAC-Practitioners of the Year at NSCA’s TSAC Annual Training April 3-6, 2017 in Orlando, FL.

Congratulations to the NSCA's 2025 awardees for their dedication and contributions to the NSCA and the field of strength and conditioning.

Meet the winners of the 2026 NSCA Elections, elected to strengthen the organization, support NSCA Members, and advance the strength and conditioning profession.

NSCA's Education Content, Including Articles from the TSAC Report, Personal Training Quarterly and NSCA Coach.

This is the NSCA’s Coaching Podcast, where strength and conditioning coaches share their experience, lessons learned, and advice about how to thrive in a highly competitive profession.