Concurrent training (CT), which combines resistance exercise and energy systems conditioning, is the default approach to preparation in high-intensity intermittent (“stop and go”) team sports. This review provides an overview of CT, emphasizing its complexities and challenges in managing fatigue and optimizing performance. These complexities are specifically compounded by the variability in game demands across the season, where the presence of intensified and nonintensified competition periods necessitates a flexible and adaptive training approach. In this context, there are essential training variables to consider, including intensity, volume, session order, and recovery intervals between sessions. In addition, nontraining variables such as travel, sleep, and nutrition play a role in the fatigue experienced while training and competing. These variables interact to influence acute performance and training adaptations and can be strategically adjusted by strength and conditioning practitioners. The aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive understanding of fatigue management for practitioners in team sports, emphasizing the complexities and challenges of CT and offering simplified practical recommendations for adjusting training variables within any given microcycle.

Join the 2026 NSCA Performance Science Integration Summit in Austin, TX, on March 28. Explore applied sport science research, train hands-on, and earn 0.8 CEUs.

Falls resulting from trips are a leading cause of injury and can sometimes result in death, especially in the older population. Numerous researchers have studied the biomechanical mechanisms that differentiate fallers from nonfallers and determined whether training can beneficially impact those outcomes. Exercise and task-specific interventions have demonstrated fewer falls after trips but can be costly and often require specialized equipment, making their applicability less practical. Qualified health and fitness practitioners can develop evidence-informed, exercise-based programs focusing on 3 components (balance training, task-specific training, and resistance exercise). Such programs may help to reduce fall risk in older adults based on previously documented studies identifying the biomechanical demands of a successful fall arrest after a trip perturbation. These multicomponent programs should include a safe task-specific training element that does not require specialized equipment.

Choose your 2026 NSCA Fall Performance Summit from two focused strength and conditioning events. Earn 0.8 CEUs with expert continuing education.

Interlimb asymmetries have been recently investigated in athletic populations. However, the effects of training interventions on interlimb asymmetries have been scarcely examined. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the effects of training interventions on changes in interlimb asymmetries from pre- to post-training. Furthermore, to examine the effects of training programs on intervention groups compared with control groups. A database search was completed (MEDLINE, CINAHL, and SPORTDiscus). Eight studies were then included in the meta-analysis. Results showed small reductions in interlimb asymmetries in single-leg broad jump (SLBJ) and change of direction (COD) speed from pre- to post-training interventions, whereas moderate effects were found in single-leg countermovement jump (SLCMJ) and SL lateral jump. When comparing the training interventions with the control groups, results showed small effects in favor of the training groups for reducing interlimb asymmetries in SLBJ and large effects in SLCMJ and COD speed. Thus, training interventions can evoke small to moderate reductions in interlimb asymmetries from pre- to post-training programs. Strength training performed unilaterally or bilaterally may elicit these reductions. Furthermore, training interventions showed larger effects compared with the control groups in reducing interlimb asymmetries. However, further research is needed.

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Sprinting is a key component for many individual and team sports. Therefore, to enhance sprint performance, various training methods are widely used by coaches and practitioners, including maximum sprint speed and resisted sprint training. Resisted sprinting with sled towing is a method that has recently received considerable attention from the sport science community. However, to date, no consensus exists regarding its acute and chronic effects in team sport athletes. This narrative review aimed to (a) review and analyze the mechanics of sprinting under unresisted and resisted conditions with a specific focus on team sport disciplines; (b) provide a thorough and applied discussion on the importance of considering acute and chronic effects of sled loading on technique, electromyographic activity, and force production, as well as on the role of muscle architecture and neural factors in sled training; (c) analyze the effects of increasing sled loads during acceleration and maximum velocity phases on contact and flight phases, while concomitantly examining kinetic, kinematic, and neuromuscular aspects, because all these factors affect each other and cannot be properly understood in isolation.

Resistance training or strength training has become one of the most popular forms of exercise, because it is the only method capable of improving physical fitness and increasing muscle mass simultaneously. Among the variables of training, the relationship between intensity and volume has been extensively addressed to enhance exercise induced muscular hypertrophy. For many, mechanical stress is seen as a factor of greater relevance and, because high loads promote greater mechanical tension and high intensities are traditionally used to increase muscle mass. However, evidence has shown greater safety and similar results through training based on lower intensities and increased training volume. Thus, this narrative review aimed to search the current literature for evidence on using different training loads to promote muscle hypertrophy. An extensive nonsystematic literature review was conducted in the PubMed, Google Scholar and Scielo databases. It was possible to conclude that the use of high and low intensity promotes similar results in muscle hypertrophy in all groups, leading to the belief that there is greater safety and adherence to the use of lower intensities compared with close effort to concentric failure.

This continuing education opportunity explores a variety of topics as they pertain to training the youth population. To earn your CEUs, it will be necessary to review several articles and pass a 50-question quiz. Please note: this quiz awards 1.0 CEU (10 contact hours). Articles 1) Effects of Balance Training on Physical Fitness in Youth and Young Athletes: A Narrative Review 2) Seven Pillars of Prevention: Effective Strategies for Strength and Conditioning Coaches to Reduce Injury Risk and Improve Performance in Young Athletes 3) Navigating the Complex Pathway of Youth Athletic Development: Challenges and Solutions to Managing the Training Load of Youth Team Sport Athletes 4) Energy and Macronutrient Considerations for Young Athletes 5) Assessing Athletic Motor Skill Competencies in Youths: A Narrative Review of Movement Competency Screens