Kayleigh Fournier, now Assistant Director of Strength and Conditioning at Dartmouth College, talks to the former NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about her journey from unpaid intern to head strength coach. Topics under discussion include work ethic as a young professional getting into the field, programming for unconventional sports, and diversifying your network of support. Connect with Kayleigh through email: kayleigh.fournier@dartmouth.edu

Lyndie Kelley, Coordinator of Strength and Conditioning at the University of New England (UNE), talks to the former NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about her journey from athlete to strength coach at UNE. Topics under discussion include coaching and mentoring a variety of athletes and students, finding creative solutions for things and being resourceful at the Division III level, and having a fully integrated team from the athletic staff all the way to the non-athletic administration. Find Lyndie on Instagram: @noreaster_strength | Find Scott on Instagram: @coachcaulfield

This article from TSAC 76, describes first responder wellness and the effects of PPE on occupational performance. Visit NSCA online to learn about exercise science and tactical fitness.

How do you find your coaching voice? Michelle Pifer, Associate Director of Strength and Conditioning at Rutgers University, shares how mentorship and professional communication helped her establish an authentic coaching identity. Reflecting on her extensive intern journey across Ivy League and Division III athletics, Pifer highlights key milestones that shaped her coaching approach. These include observing experienced coaches, applying constructive feedback, and effectively navigating challenging athlete personalities. She offers practical strategies, such as structured time-blocking and maintaining clear boundaries, to accommodate athlete accessibility, in-season travel, and work-life balance. Pifer discusses how coaches must adapt to evolving roles, like managing and interpreting athlete monitoring technology. She also addresses common coaching pitfalls, including inappropriate language during presentations, stressing that coaches can be both authentic and relatable without sacrificing professionalism. Tune in to clarify your coaching identity, enhance your professional skillset, and maximize your impact in the strength and conditioning profession. Connect with Michelle via email at mpifer@scarletknights.com, on Instagram: @coach_pifer, and on Twitter/X: @coach_mpifer | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs and LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs

Official Rules for the 2026 NSCA Experience Day Giveaway

What defines true toughness in coaching? Dan Perlmutter presents an alternative to the “tough strength coach” stereotype, reframing success as adaptability, resilience, and relentless positivity. As Director of Sports Performance and Head Olympic Sports Performance Coach at Duke University, Perlmutter reflects on building a strong culture rooted in genuine relationships and longevity. He explains Duke’s structured approach to developing interns and coaching assistants, highlighting purposeful recruiting and intentional mentorship to transform passion into professionalism. Perlmutter emphasizes a gratitude lens and people-focused philosophy, always prioritizing the athlete in front of him. He also addresses how strength and conditioning coaches can navigate collegiate shifts, such as Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals and the transfer portal, by reinforcing the weight room environment and culture. If you are seeking practical strategies to build a sustainable career and a workplace you look forward to each day, this conversation is your blueprint. Connect with Dan via email at dan.perlmutter@duke.edu and on Instagram: @theothercoachp | Meet the Duke University Sports Performance Staff on their website | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs and LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs

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.

This article provides guidance for women on the steps involved in an academic career, including earning graduate and terminal degrees and obtaining tenure and promotions at universities.

This article presents ways to add variety to workouts using Bulgarian Bags as an alternative to kettlebells. It also provides an effective sample Bulgarian Bag program.