This NSCA Coach article summarizes key findings on coach-focused strategies to help educators use resistance training to support healthy youth development. Visit NSCA online to read more on mental health and youth sports.

Matthew Ibrahim, Co-Owner of TD Athletes Edge, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about using setbacks as a learning opportunity. Topics under discussion include creating a holistic approach to a client’s training by collaborating with other professionals, and the importance of deceleration technique and eccentrics in his programs for skill acquisition. Find Matthew on Instagram: @matthewibrahim_ | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs

Coaches can help children and adolescents develop athletic ability by including motor skills training into sports practice and training. This approach is called integrative neuromuscular training.

This section from the book, Developing Endurance, gives an overview of how to plan and develop a program for endurance athletes by following four steps.

This Personal Trainers Quarterly article shares considerations to counteract the decline of muscular fitness in older adults. Visit NSCA online to read more on corrective exercises, health, and fitness

Similarities and overlaps exist between the realm of sport psychology and the profession of strength and conditioning coaching. This article provides a basic introduction to sport psychology and provides some guidance for preliminary directions; ideally, it will help strength and conditioning coaches find effective people and resources to help them in their coaching pursuits.

Brett Bartholomew talks about the risks posed to athletes who are partaking in randomized and unstructured training practices often supervised by non-certified professionals. This session from the NSCA’s 2017 Coaches Conference will help you identify ways in which a “skills not drills” approach towards movement training design can not only lead to enhanced transfer of training to the competitive environment, but also better retention on behalf of the athlete as they progress through future training.

Elite sport often gets more attention, but youth training gives strength and conditioning coaches an earlier chance to build athletes’ competence and confidence. Kelli Brightwell specializes in youth development and brings more than a decade of sports training experience, including four years at Michael Johnson Performance. Brightwell defines peak height velocity as the period during which height increases fastest. She then explains why its timing can differ among teammates of the same age. So what should strength coaches test, and what do the results mean? The answer changes with each athlete’s maturity and training experience. Brightwell addresses the growth-spurt “awkward phase,” when familiar movement patterns can break down as an athlete adjusts to a changing body. She also considers how sport sampling can expand children’s range of physical skills and help them discover what they enjoy. Learn how maturation can affect movement, testing, and programming — and why young athletes need foundations before specialization.

Rhodri S. Lloyd, lead author of the LTAD Position Statement, provides an abbreviated look at what long-term athletic development is and how strength and conditioning professionals can implement effective training strategies into programming to improve health, well-being, and growth.

This article discusses training strategies for law enforcement officers, including strength training, fitness scaling, and readiness programs that improve performance and career-long operational effectiveness. Visit NSCA online to read more on strength training and law enforcement officer fitness