The path to actual integration of mental and physical training for the tactical athlete is paved with growing empiricism. The current challenge is to sustain creative development of functional approaches and demonstrate that integration can deliver potential benefits.

This research review covers topics such as the effects of police officer equipment loads, military occupational specialties, and the effects of protective clothing and self-contained breathing apparatus for firefighters.

This article is the seventh in 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.

Several obstacles can derail women from reaching or succeeding in the elite combat schools and will need to be mediated. The main obstacles this article focuses on are the current standard fitness requirements for attending an advanced combat school, the high absolute strength and power demands required by these combat schools, and the unique physiology of women compared to men.

Because fitness test results are part of performance evaluations, smaller service members have an advantage in terms of attaining promotions, despite evidence that suggests that greater body size, strength, power, and load carrying capacity is correlated with tactical performance.

Advice and guidance for firefighter-specific TSAC practitioners and trainers, including steps to building a health and wellness program for firefighters.

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) 63rd Annual Meeting was held in Boston, MA, May 31 – June 4, 2016. The number of TSAC presentations continued to increase, compared to the last few years, when the Federal Government sequester severely affected attendance.

Military and law enforcement needs analyses are not specifically matched to firefighting, but those training styles are better than basic fitness regimens or no regimen at all. For firefighters who are attracted to other styles of training not specific to firefighting, there are ways to train for all the demands of firefighting without making the firefighter use training modalities that they dislike or are not comfortable using.

This article summarizes several sessions at the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) 62nd Annual Meeting, held in San Diego, CA, May 27–30, 2015 that examined various aspects of tactical performance.

Those who are in key decision-making positions should understand the importance of proper research, validation, and implementation procedures when developing physical fitness standards.