This Personal Training Quarterly article presents time-efficient fitness strategies to maintain physical and mental health during early parenthood. Visit NSCA online to read more on nutrition, health science, and fitness news.

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

Tactical jobs are fast-paced, physically and psychologically intense, and failure can have tragic consequences, making it vital to train tactical athletes to perform better under stress.

Knowing when to train and how much time to devote to training each of the three energy systems is an important ingredient of success in endurance sports. This knowledge is also reflected in a well-designed and scientifically-based training plan.

This article is a personal perspective of creating and providing a fitness assessment and resistance training program from scratch to a large law enforcement organization.

Strength and conditioning professionals who incorporate a properly designed and supervised training program can help their young athletes train, compete, and reduce the likelihood of injury.

In the first of a two part series, this article will briefly highlight the main components of a needs analysis and apply it to the context of soccer.

Elite sport often gets more attention, but youth training gives strength and conditioning coaches an earlier chance to build athletes’ competence and confidence. Kelli Brightwell specializes in youth development and brings more than a decade of sports training experience, including four years at Michael Johnson Performance. Brightwell defines peak height velocity as the period during which height increases fastest. She then explains why its timing can differ among teammates of the same age. So what should strength coaches test, and what do the results mean? The answer changes with each athlete’s maturity and training experience. Brightwell addresses the growth-spurt “awkward phase,” when familiar movement patterns can break down as an athlete adjusts to a changing body. She also considers how sport sampling can expand children’s range of physical skills and help them discover what they enjoy. Learn how maturation can affect movement, testing, and programming — and why young athletes need foundations before specialization.

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

This NSCA Coach article aims to equip coaches, athletic trainers, and support staff with the knowledge and tools necessary to manage REDs among college athletes. Visit NSCA online to read more on mental health and sport performance.