April 6 - New York, NY - Built in collaboration with the Greater New York ACSM Regional Chapter to learn from leading researchers in the field and help with more effective program design.

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.

[High School Athletic Directors] Help your coaches gain the skills they need to safely and confidently teach complex lifts to student-athletes with this 1-day course. Skilled coaches are a key to a safe weight room, happy parents, and improved sports performance.

Plan your schedule for 2026 NSCA Tactical Annual Training in Orlando. Experience practical, hands-on sessions and social events. Join us in person for 2.0 CEUs.

This CSCS Exam Prep LIVE Clinic is a comprehensive review of the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to successfully pass the CSCS certification exam. Join us May 14-15,2022 | Toledo, OH

Firefighting is a profession that has the potential to be extremely demanding, both physically and mentally. More specifically, these tactical personnel must be physically fit to perform their occupational requirements, all while they are exposed to daily stressors. This is likely to include everything from physical strain and shift work to interrupted sleep and witnessing potentially traumatizing events. Failure to prepare and mitigate these occupational demands can have long-lasting implications to overall performance as well as health and wellness. Unfortunately, many of these elements often go unaddressed. As such, considerations for collaborative and overarching cross-disciplinary allied health teams should be made. Human performance optimization (HPO) is a model that has been successfully adopted by the U.S. military to enhance the overarching health, wellness, and performance of soldiers. This article proposes the utilization of a similar HPO model by providing a rationale for how it can be used to reduce premature morbidity and mortality, as well as increasing overall readiness and resilience within the firefighting profession.

Coach Jay Spearman’s mission is to have a positive, lifelong impact on his students.

Are you interested in helping shape the future of the NSCA? Learn if you are qualified and how to apply to the NSCA Board of Directors. We are seeking dedicated individuals to lead the association and advance the strength and conditioning profession.

The demanding and hazardous nature of firefighting necessitates a fitness testing framework that directly addresses the unique physiological challenges of the profession. This paper sought to identify gaps in the current fitness testing and training environment that are focused on cardiovascular, respiratory, muscular endurance, and muscular strength components of fitness and to advocate for a targeted, occupation specific fitness testing approach that aligns with the physiological challenges firefighters face. Ultimately, implementation of these plans should reduce the risk of injury and death and improve operational efficiency.