This NSCA Coach article offers a brief description on the various methods for setting resistance training loads. Visit NSCA online to read more on strength training and program development.

Building athletes who are strong, healthy, and resilient requires more than sets and reps, starting with a shift in mindset. Christi Edson, Head of Performance for the Orlando Pride in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), shares how she integrates strength and conditioning with sport science to sustain athlete health and performance. She reflects on the field’s evolution from the well-known “Bigger, Faster, Stronger” program to a training culture emphasizing resilience, active recovery, and durability. Drawing from her experience coaching high school athletes to NWSL professionals, Edson highlights the adaptability and creativity coaches need. Those qualities help her to develop athletes who can thrive through a demanding 11-month season. She details how tools like GPS, force plates, and velocity-based training sharpen communication and reshape expectations in the gym. Her story points coaches toward the future of athlete development: collaboration, precise load management, and long-term health as the foundation of strength. Connect with Christi on Instagram: @christiedson and LinkedIn: @christiana-edson | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs and LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs Read the article, “A Creative Mind in the Professional Development of a Strength and Conditioning Coach,” from NSCA Coach, 11(1), February 2024 — referenced in this episode’s return-to-play discussion. NSCA Members enjoy full publication access. Interested in bridging coaching and sport science? The Certified Performance and Sport Scientist (CPSS) credential can help you expand your qualifications, open new career paths, and strengthen cross-department collaboration.

Strength and conditioning coaches should strive to teach athletes in a way they can understand: by hearing, seeing, and practicing. This article describes some techniques that a coach can use to accomplish this.

This article provides a background on the benefits of plant-based nutrition for athletic performance, recovery, and overall health.

This article aims to explain why integrating multiple tests such as Anaerobic Speed Reserve (ASR), Intermittent Fitness Test (IFT), and Maximum Aerobic Speed (MAS) can provide a comprehensive evaluation of soccer players’ fitness levels and help to design effective training programs tailored to their individual needs.

This article will explore aspects of the struggle of parents to maintain personal wellness with pre-school age children and offer strategies that may help personal trainers or their clients increase quality of life

This article discusses the importance and impact a qualified fitness professional on the fitness and readiness of soldiers for the United States Army.

This article is the eleventh 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.

NSCA Coach 11.4 shares how strength training of the posterior chain in athletes can reduce injury risk and aid rehabilitation. Visit us online to read more about exercise research.

While a basic fitness assessment will always be a part of a comprehensive client assessment, there is an array of more sophisticated tests and measures that are available to the personal trainer today.