The evaluation, treatment, and management of concussions are an ongoing evolution in sports injury management and medicine. Strengthening the neck and shoulder region has been one way of trying to reduce head and neck injuries.

Strength and conditioning coaches that temper their posterior chain exercises with some threshold training and specific trunk exercises designed to break the extension/compression stabilization strategy (ECSS) to restore proper stabilizing strategies may find their athletes will move better, get injured less, and actually perform better.

This article covers the anatomy and mechanics of spinal stabilization and how to properly brace for both maximal and sub-maximal lifts. Because of the forces that are generated by, and transmitted through, the body during resistance training, having a sound understanding of stabilization is paramount for safe and effective training.

One way to potentially lower an athlete’s susceptibility to injury is a proper warm-up protocol. Warm-ups can potentially aid in injury prevention as a result of optimized movement preparation, and it can also reduce muscle soreness and improve performance.

The purpose of this article is to share the importance of the menstrual cycle’s effects on elite athlete performance, and how these effects should influence the training and recovery of high-performing athletic women.

Hear from Lacey Jahn, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the United States Marine Corps East School of Infantry. Jahn shares her unusual path into strength and conditioning with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, including stops in curriculum development and working as a lifeguard. Learn more about tactical strength and conditioning jobs, athletic qualities as they relate tactical performance in the military, and the how to approach attending strength and conditioning education events as a young coach. You can reach out to Lacey on Instagram: @laceylyrla | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs

Stuart Hart, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for women’s basketball at the University of Nebraska, talks to the former NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about his journey from high school athlete to personal trainer to volunteer coach to full-time college strength and conditioning coach. Topics under discussion include a day in the life at the University of Nebraska, building relationships throughout the entire athletic staff, and the value of going to conferences for both educational and networking reasons. Find Stuart on Twitter: @No_DaysOff06 or Instagram: @strength_byhart

The purpose of this article is to provide strength and conditioning coaches with practical knowledge from the framework of self-determination theory to facilitate student-athlete motivation within the weight room across varying sports.

In this session from the 2015 NSCA National Conference, Greg Myer discusses current concussion prevention strategies as well as possible innovative strategies of the future. By learning how nature may provide a key piece of information to reduce concussion injuries, the strength and conditioning professional may be able to help prevent sports related concussions.

In this session from the NSCA’s 2018 Personal Trainers Conference, Mark Roozen describes his experience working as a strength and conditioning coach and his transition to doing performance training in the private sector.