This article seeks to provide a sample periodized program plan that will progress wrestlers for multiple years while considering the diverse individual needs and weight class-specific goals.

The NSCA is proud to present awards that recognize individuals who have demonstrated excellence in their chosen profession.

This article provides an overview of a resistance training program for tactical strength and conditioning facilitators in large law enforcement academy settings.

Are you looking for research-based infographics you can use to educate your clients and athletes? If you’re an NSCA member you can download these resources below, along with referenced discussion points.

This article, tailored to individuals who do not have access to traditional equipment, will explore the exercise methods that less-impacted populations utilize during the shutdowns, and examine how those training effects can benefit strength-, power-, and hypertrophy-minded athletes.

C. Keith Harrison, Associate Program Director and Associate Professor of Sport Business Management for the University of Central Florida, talks at the 2015 National Conference about coaching and training in a multicultural environment. Harrison discusses his background and diversity in society, and engages the audience on diversity within the coaching and training environment.

Knowledge of metabolic rate can help athletes as well as health-conscious people improve their exercise performance or obtain the fat-to-lean-mass ratio optimal for their personal situations. Two examples of how this works follow.

This is my story of how a strength and conditioning coach influenced not only one of Pakistan’s up and coming cricket team’s approach to fitness and lifestyle, but also that of the wider community.

Considering the great popularity of eccentric-based training, the purpose of this review is to first provide the scientific rationale for its use; second, summarize the eccentric-based training modalities that can be used; and finally, offer practical recommendations on how to implement eccentricbased modalities to enhance sports performance. The molecular and neural mechanisms underlying eccentric actions are partially distinct from those of concentric and isometric actions. During eccentric actions, theories suggest a strain-induced modulation of actin-myosin interactions at the crossbridge level, activation of structural protein titin, and winding of titin on actin. Eccentric acute physiological responses differ from concentric exercise responses, including variations in neuromuscular, metabolic, hormonal, and anabolic signaling. Eccentric training elicits greater improvements in muscle strength, power, and stretch-shortening cycle function compared with concentric-only or traditional resistance training. Therefore, eccentric-based training can lead to unique neuromuscular (e.g., improved coordination of motor units) and morphological (e.g., increased muscle fascicle length and enhanced distal cross-sectional area) adaptations that could play a key role in sport performance. Practitioners may implement eccentric exercises with external loads, fully eccentric-based exercises (e.g., Nordic hamstring curl), accentuated eccentric loading, flywheel resistance exercise, and plyometrics to develop specific physical adaptations in line with their goals. Eccentric work (e.g., for hamstrings) can be obtained during other exercises such as downhill running tasks, decelerations, and sprinting activities. Practitioners need to be aware that no single “silver bullet” training modality exists; consequently, practitioners should use a combination of eccentric-based training approaches with their athletes to obtain the desired adaptations.

Learn the basics of conducting a needs analysis for tactical athletes based on the athlete’s goals and desired outcomes, assessments, limitations on workout frequency and duration, equipment availability, health and injury status, and occupational physiological demands.