Soldier Readiness Test Pilot: Overview of Combat Relevant Testing and Embedded Resources on Military Readiness

This excerpt from Developing Power discusses neuromuscular training for youth athletes.

In this session from the NSCA’s 2018 TSAC Annual Training, Karen Daigle presents the opportunities and challenges associated with various levels of strength and conditioning and medical resources embedded in operational military units.

TAT2022

Obstacle course training can offer variety to any physical readiness training program. Properly conducted obstacle course training may be a useful method to train strength, endurance, and mobility simultaneously.

Strength and conditioning coaches with knowledge of the exercise principles for youth and the specific demands of basketball can design effective integrative neuromuscular training (INT) programs based on the individual needs of youth athletes.

As a podiatrist, human movement specialist, and worldwide leader in barefoot science and rehabilitation, Emily Splichal has developed a keen eye for movement dysfunction and neuromuscular control during gait. In this session from the NSCA’s 2018 National Conference, Splichal discusses reflexive stabilization, macro- and micro-stability and how it relates to injury risk, and a ground-up approach to activation.

The purpose of this meta-analysis was to synthesize the literature and provide a robust estimate of the correlations between lower-body, multijoint, isometric and dynamic neuromuscular assessment variables and snatch (SN) and clean and jerk (C&J) performance in competitive weightlifters. A comprehensive search through 3 electronic databases (PubMed, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science) returned 12 studies that met the inclusion criteria. Meta-analyses were performed on Pearson’s correlations between SN and C&J performance and 15 variables from 5 neuromuscular assessments— countermovement jump (CMJ), squat jump (SJ), isometric midthigh pull (IMTP), back squat (BS), and front squat (FS) one repetition maximum (1RM). The FS and BS 1RM exhibited nearly perfect correlations (r 5 0.93 to 0.94), whereas the IMTP peak force exhibited very large correlations (r 5 0.83 to 0.85). The IMTP force at 250 ms exhibited very large correlations (r 5 0.77 to 0.78), and the CMJ and SJ peak power exhibited very large to nearly perfect correlations (r 5 0.88 to 0.92). These findings illustrate the importance of lower-body maximal and time-limited force-producing capabilities in weightlifters. Moreover, each assessment offers at least one variable that exhibits a correlation of .0.70. Therefore, these assessments may be used to gauge weightlifting performance potential.

The countermovement jump (CMJ) is one of the most used performance assessments in strength and conditioning. Although numerous studies discuss the usability of different metrics in this test, this is often performed within the context of a specific aim. However, to our knowledge, no information currently exists providing practitioners with some over-arching recommendations on which metrics to choose when the purpose of using the test differs. This article discusses how the metrics selected to monitor during CMJ testing may differ when aiming to use it as a proxy for athletic performance, as part of neuromuscular fatigue monitoring, or as part of a test battery for return to performance in injured athletes.

In this session from the 2015 NSCA National Conference, Charlie Weingroff discusses interventions based on the core foundations of movement, output, readiness, and sensory systems. Interventions are presented as an intersection between medicine, fitness, and science.