Explore predeployment training periodization mesocycle samples for tactical athletes from NSCA’s Essentials of Tactical Strength and Conditioning, 2nd Edition.

This article aims to explain why integrating multiple tests such as Anaerobic Speed Reserve (ASR), Intermittent Fitness Test (IFT), and Maximum Aerobic Speed (MAS) can provide a comprehensive evaluation of soccer players’ fitness levels and help to design effective training programs tailored to their individual needs.

This article discusses how high-intensity interval training may be an effective metabolic training method for soldiers trying to maintain physical preparedness during deployment.

This excerpt from NSCA's Essentials of Tactical Strength and Conditioning aims to educate on some fundamentals of energy systems training in tactical personnel.

This article provides essential guidelines for athletes beginning a strength and conditioning program that ensures safety and productivity of the training sessions.

This article is intended to provide an understanding of the demands of football from a bioenergetic perspective and provides a framework in which strength and conditioning professionals can design conditioning plans that focus on preparing athletes for competition.

Athletes have sought out intermittent fasting as a strategy to optimize performance. However, it is important to critically evaluate the research available in order to establish specific recommendations and determine if intermittent fasting is safe or effective.

The physiological response to breath holding includes bradycardia and peripheral vasoconstriction, which contrasts with that of exercise which includes tachycardia and peripheral vasodilation. This raises the question as to what the physiological response is to breath holding during exercise. During low-intensity exercise, the breath holding response of bradycardia and peripheral vasoconstriction prevails over the exercise response of tachycardia and peripheral vasodilation, but nevertheless the exercise may be sustained. Due to the lack of availability of extrinsic oxygen (O 2 ) from the atmosphere during breath holding, the energy demands can be met by increased reliance on intrinsic O 2 stores (i.e., O 2 that was in the body before the breath hold) via increased O 2 extraction at the muscle compared with exercise while breathing, or increased contributions from anaerobic energy systems. During high intensity exercise of short duration, the exercise response may prevail over the breath holding response due to the increased parasympathetic withdrawal and sympathetic drive of higher intensity exercise. If breath holding during high-intensity exercise was sustained for long enough, the breath holding response may eventually overcome the exercise response, although this may be difficult due to the inverse relationship between exercise intensity and breath hold duration.

The steps on this page will help you select the right certification that fits your career goals.

The purpose of this article is to present the reader with the prescription of a daily specific stretching routine that can help athletes avoid the onset of injuries and chronic pain in muscle-tendon structures of the lower extremities.