Colorado Springs, CO – The National Strength and Conditioning Association is proud to announce that Jay Dawes, PhD, CSCS,*D, NSCA-CPT,*D, TSAC-F,*D, FNSCA, has been selected as the NSCA’s Tactical Strength and Conditioning Professional of the Year for 2021. Award winners are selected by a volunteer committee, the NSCA’s Awards Taskforce, who determine the winner based on their contributions to the NSCA and their community, and whose influential contributions to the field result in its advancement in a measurable way that exceeds the outcomes achieved by others.

There is no argument that periodization is successful, and that different models can be applied with success in different fashions. The question of how shift work really affects a periodized program—more specifically firefighter shift work—is less clear.

What makes a well-rounded athlete, and more importantly, how do you train them? Andy Zalaiskalns, MARSOC Human Performance Strength and Conditioning Coach, discusses a systemic approach to developing the well-rounded tactical athlete.

HRV is thought to provide objective insight into understanding fatigue, “trainability,” and “readiness” to perform in athletic populations. Evolving access to HRV data may enhance the understanding of individualized fitness and training responses in tactical athletes.

This excerpt briefly describes the different energy systems used by structural and wildland firefighters.

This article compares an equipment-heavy Army Combat Fitness Test to a minimal-equipment training program and test.

The NSCA’s Tactical Strength and Conditioning (TSAC) Course upcoming events.

From the 2019 Tactical Annual Training, Matt Thompson, explains the principles that have helped guide his program design process and how coaches can utilize similar principles to help filter systems and methods to create a more effective training program.

This article contains a sample progression to use with high call volume fire departments to help maintain mobility while building job-specific strength and avoiding a hyper-fatigued state.