Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialists® (CSCS®) are professionals who apply scientific knowledge to train athletes for the primary goal of improving athletic performance. Learn more about becoming a strength and conditioning coach with the NSCA certification! Visit NSCA.com for more information on strength and conditioning jobs, strength and conditioning internships, continuing education and CEUs.

NSCA has a network of volunteer leaders who direct NSCA’s efforts at the state level. NSCA’s Southwest Regional Coordinator provides oversight and training to local state directors. Members in the Southwest Region can connect at local and regional events as well as on Facebook to others in this area.

Traveling overseas to administer a strength and conditioning program can be an immensely beneficial experience for both the coach and the athlete. It can help build a strong rapport, which can ultimately build more trust and adherence to the training program.

The Certified Performance and Sport Scientist (CPSS) is a practitioner with training and applied experiences across the scientific disciplines applicable to sport science and athletic performance (i.e., generalist) or predominantly within a select few (i.e., specialist). These scientific disciplines, as related to sports performance, include, but are not limited to: biomechanics, data science, nutrition, physiology, psychology, research methods, and strength and conditioning. A CPSS demonstrates competency in the application of scientific disciplines, assessment, training theory and process, needs analysis, monitoring, communication, and education with the primary goal of safely and effectively improving athletic performance.

As Director of Sport Science at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), Heather Farmer spearheads comprehensive integration efforts. This includes ensuring every stakeholder, from sport performance staff to academic advisors, has a seat at the table. Farmer also outlines developing an internship and graduate assistantship program to meet staffing needs and offer opportunities for practical experience. She recounts how leveraging relationships — not data — has been her key to scalability. Additionally, Farmer recognizes that to make an impact, she must meet athletes and sport coaches where they are, which she uncovers through “highlights” and “hurdles.” She suggests that sport scientists with strength and conditioning backgrounds, like herself, are uniquely equipped to excel due to their communication skills. Farmer and McMahon also discuss avoiding “analysis paralysis” and how to incorporate data to elevate the student-athlete experience — an unignorable factor as athletes bring an element of “self” in the age of name, image and likeness (NIL). Reach out to Heather by email at: heather.farmer@unlv.edu | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs

This excerpt briefly explains the steps to create a resistance training plan for endurance athletes.

The hip hinge and squat exercises, and their variations, are used in many strength and conditioning programs to develop athletes of many sports. The listed progressions are examples of practical implications used to develop athletes, but there may be additional practical and effective methods used by strength and conditioning coaches for similar purposes.