This article is part of a continuing series of tactical strength and conditioning (TSAC) research reviews. It is designed to bring awareness to new research findings of relevance to tactical strength and conditioning communities.

Learn overtraining syndrome (OTS) risks, symptoms, and outcomes for tactical athletes from NSCA’s Essentials of Tactical Strength and Conditioning, 2nd Edition.

Puberty is a critical period for young athletes, characterized by significant physical, psychological, and social changes. During puberty, young athletes experience the adolescent growth spurt at the same time as intensified training regimens, which can affect performance, injury risk, and overall health. Systematic training can improve physiological and performance outcomes, but the increased training volume and changes to the body during adolescence can also heighten the risk of injuries. This article discusses the injury risks associated with adolescent growth and provides comprehensive recommendations to mitigate these risks. Key recommendations include limiting training hours to the athlete’s age, monitoring growth and maturation to adjust training loads and content, and incorporating and modifying consistent strength and conditioning prescriptions. In addition, optimal nutrition, sleep, and interdisciplinary planning among coaches, parents, and stakeholders should be emphasized to support young athletes’ holistic development and well-being during the adolescent growth spurt.

This excerpt briefly explains nutrition periodization for different training cycles to help maximize performance for endurance athletes.

Strength and Conditioning Coaches who are NSCA-Certified are preparing youth for training, using proven strategies that improve their safety and competitiveness.

This article covers commonly used terminology from United States of America Weightlifting (USAW), plus it contains illustrations of the basic positions for weightlifting exercises.

This article discusses the importance of upper body power training for protective security personnel and its potential for an occupational performance marker.

This Kinetic Select from Developing the Core reviews the effects of muscle activity when performing exercises on unstable surfaces.

What training approaches are efficient and effective at developing functionality and resiliency at the core? The answer lies within an intelligent, systemic, multi-method approach to training the core, including an eclectic set of training tools to individualize specific needs of athletes.