In this session from the 2015 National Conference, Brian Brabham provides ideas for improving the overall athletic ability of youth athletes, a better understanding of injuries sustained by youth athletes, methods to help prevent those injuries, and practical examples of training programs that can be effective options.

As the second of a three part series, this article will focus on the Practitioner Pillars of LTAD, including relevant monitoring and assessment tools, as well as systematical progressions and individualized training programs for successful long-term physical development.

Learn how to design programs with maximal effect within the tactical population. In this session from the NSCA’s 2017 TSAC Annual Training, Cal Dietz explain differences between tactical and conventional athletes and identifies the six performance qualities needed by tactical athletes. CEUs available.

This excerpt briefly explains nutrition periodization for different training cycles to help maximize performance for endurance athletes.

Do interlimb asymmetries impact performance and what are some training programs to reduce them?

The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) recognizes and supports the premise that many of the benefits associated with adult resistance training programs are attainable by children and adolescents who follow age-specific resistance training guidelines.

Developing safe and effective exercise training programs requires the application of abundant training variables and the implementation of appropriate progression for each variable. Importantly, the outcomes of each training program are the product of these variables and their progression, so practitioners are keen to select methodologies and overload strategies that effectively support their target training outcomes. One such training variable is mechanical loading, which describes the forces of gravity, resistance, and muscle contraction and how these forces affect musculoskeletal adaptations. Numerous research articles and texts have been published regarding mechanical loading and its effects on exercise adaptations; however, these findings can be arduous to organize, which requires additional time investment by professionals. Developing a succinct system is critical because practitioners face clients and patients with a wide range of physical skills and challenges, and having an easily referenced loading guide may assist them in designing appropriate strength and conditioning or rehabilitation programs. Thus, the purpose of this review is to define and describe the mechanical loading continuum and its individual components to better assist the practitioner in identifying appropriate exercise modes and progression strategies.

The NSCA is committed to providing its members with new resources. Here, NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Scott Caulfield provides his review of the Volt© Athletics web-based platform.

This article briefly examines the most popular instability training devices and provides examples of how instability training can be incorporated into traditional resistance training programs.

Development of grip strength is often overlooked in traditional resistance training programs, but small program adjustments that target grip strength can be of benefit athletes.