This article features the recharge skate—an in-season hockey conditioning drill, designed by the authors, to maintain hockey-specific energy system fitness throughout the competitive season.

The purpose of this article is to help bring awareness of athletic recovery by useful fatigue monitoring and managing tools, such as external and internal load examples.

The Head Performance and Strength Coach for the Sacramento Kings National Basketball Association (NBA) team, Ramsey Nijem, talks to the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about his recent experience completing a doctoral degree as well as his path to his current position.

This article will highlight an intervention involving mental skills training and virtual reality (VR) to address acrophobia with this population.

Much in the same way that a single movement or a single workout does not make or break a training cycle, the same holds true for mental skills. The challenge is that the strength and conditioning coach will likely need to reach out to another professional trained in sport psychology to help establish the plan and construct the appropriate interventions.

Competence, autonomy, and relatedness are three keys to promoting a more intrinsically motivated athlete. These components can be combined in nearly limitless ways, which is especially important for the long basketball season.

Richard Howell, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Indianapolis Colts National Football League (NFL) team, talks to the NSCA Coaching Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about his impressive 21 years with the organization. Topics under discussion include going from pre-medical to strength coach, building relationships with athletes and staff members, and how technology provides hard numbers for sport coaches to understand stress management. Connect with Richard through email: Richard.howell@colts.nfl.net | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs

Hydration, footwear, and exercise frequency are only a few of the essentials to safe participation in cardiovascular activity. Make sure to include all six essentials in your program to ensure safe participation.

The purpose of this article is to help both personal trainers and clients with seven main concepts within exercise physiology that will improve training effectiveness and assist in explaining the body’s response to exercise.

Olympic-style lifting, functional training, powerlifting, and bodybuilding should all be considered when designing a program to improve general health, fitness, and functional capacity.