In this career series article, developing personal training skills to train special populations is discussed; it includes starting out as a novice through the expert level.

The strength and conditioning profession involves combined competencies for the application of sport/exercise science, administration, management, teaching, and coaching. Its professionals must also comply with various laws and regulations while responding to instances of potential injury, and related claims and suits. This creates remarkable challenges, and requires substantial experience, expertise, and other resources to effectively address them, especially in multi-sport (e.g., collegiate and scholastic) settings.

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.

Discover how hospitality-focused ownership and management can create a gym that attracts and retains members for long-term success. Visit NSCA online to read more on professional development, the fitness industry, and health.

This article is part of a continuing series on practical, evidence-based approaches to reducing the risk of injury while developing tactical strength and conditioning.

With the rapid development of technology, the daily demands for physical activity are significantly reduced. This article details four distinct phases for personal trainers to implement when working with clients coming from sedentary lifestyles.

Knowing the risks of cold weather training is only half the battle. It is important to be familiar with a proper risk management strategy to help guide decision-making that can enhance safety and exercise performance.

This is an excerpt from NSCA's Essentials of Sport Science by NSCA -National Strength & Conditioning Association, Duncan N. French & Lorena Torres-Ronda.

This NSCA Coach article outlines the best practices for Achilles recovery in soccer. Visit NSCA online to read more on athletic performance and sports recovery.

This NSCA Coach article focuses on the in-season resistance training and mobility exercises designed for the 100-m sprint track and field high school athlete.