Learn about processes of data collection and presentation, and how to use the data to individualize athletes’ training. In this session from the NSCA’s 2016 National Conference, Kevin Paxton demonstrates an age-specific long-term athletic development (LTAD) syllabus for soccer players.

In this session from the NSCA's 2016 National Conference, Boo Schexnayder demonstrates how to effectively design long-term and short-term programs for speed development. Schexnayder explains how to effectively periodize strength training in a manner that supports speed development, as well as how to use speed and power training as a neural integration tool to enhance strength development.

The implementation of long-term athletic development (LTAD) aims to improve health, physical activity, and performance of all youth. Contemporary LTAD models suggest that a broad range of physical and psychosocial competencies should be developed in youth, but few resources are available for coaches that describe “how” to achieve these outcomes. This article overviews a coaching session framework built around the following components: raise, activate, mobilize, prepare, activity, games, evaluate (RAMPAGE). The framework provides practitioners with information on what can be planned and delivered and when within a coaching session, across multiple ages and stages of development within multiple contexts (e.g., physical education and talent development).

David Crump describes strategies on client retention and how to make memorable experiences for your client as a personal trainer.

In this session from the NSCA’s 2015 Training for Hockey Clinic, Joe Maher from the University of Michigan covers the process of developing an annual plan for a collegiate ice hockey year. It will cover the benefits and results of an annual plan, and how it relates to long-term athletic development for a collegiate ice hockey player.

The lack of specific training for tactical athletes during long deployments poses a significant issue. This article addresses mitigation strategies that can help them perform at their best and reduce the risk of injury.

Bert Sorin, President and Co-Owner of Sorinex Exercise Equipment, discusses his road map to staying relevant in a growing field of competition, provides alternate views of success and the long-term impact as a trainer, and offers insight into effective leadership qualities in this session from the NSCA’s 2018 Personal Trainers Conference.

The NSCA is providing a course for physical education teachers that connects strength and conditioning, physical education, coaching, physical literacy, and long-term athletic development.

Providing a safe and effective youth strength and conditioning program is only the foundation of their long-term athletic development.

Long-Term Athletic Development (LTAD) models have provided a youth sport framework for more than 2 decades, aimed at improving skill progression, training outcomes, and athlete preparation. Although influential, traditional LTAD approaches are limited by their sport-centric orientation, linear design, and focus on elite performance, leaving them less relevant for most youth and adults who do not pursue competitive sport. In response, we propose reframing LTAD as Long-Term Activity Development (LTActD), an accessible and flexible model designed to promote lifelong engagement in physical activity, including recreation, exercise, and sport. LTActD emphasizes 5 dynamic phases—Explore, Develop, Apply, Sustain, and Thrive—that accommodate diverse pathways, periods of inactivity, and opportunities to re-enter active living at any age. Represented as a curvy road, the new model underscores that participation in physical activity is rarely linear, more like a winding journey shaped by health, motivation, environment, and social context. LTActD bridges sport science and public health, positioning physical activity as a lifelong resource for health, independence, and fulfillment. LTActD offers a practical framework to empower individuals of all ages and abilities to discover meaningful ways to move, re-engage, and embrace active living throughout the life course.