This excerpt from NSCA’s Essential of Tactical Strength and Conditioning explores the neural and muscular adaptations to training over time.

The goal of this brief review is to describe what classifies as high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and summarize the potential benefits for various populations: athletic, general, and clinical.

Factors such as the types of exercises used, the number of muscle groups trained per session, the structure of the program, and the client’s training status and overall fitness level dictate training frequency.

This excerpt from the book Developing Endurance, published by Human Kinetics, presents a sample 5K training plan for runners.

Circuit training is quick and effective way to induce training adaptations that are similar to the demands that tactical officers face in their career. This is a basic layout of a circuit training program that can be implemented to recruits during training to prepare them for the physical demands they will face.

Join the 2026 NSCA Training for the Endurance Athlete Summit in Tempe, AZ, on March 28. Explore endurance training performance, learn hands-on, + earn 0.8 CEUs.

This article will explain the interference effect and provide a rationale for why low-intensity steady-state (LISS) cardiovascular training may be a useful tool for those interested in improving their body composition.

This review analyzes relevant variables involved in acute interference effects of concurrent training (CT) sessions of aerobic exercise followed by strength exercises. The aerobic exercise intensity, mode, volume, duration of recovery interval between exercises, muscle groups involved, and utilization of ergogenic aids are the variables identified in this review. High-intensity interval aerobic exercises result in more pronounced negative effects on strength-endurance exercise but not in maximal strength. Cycling results in more negative effects on strength endurance performance exercise than running. A 4-hour to 8-hour recovery interval seems to be enough to avoid interference on strength-endurance performance. Reduction in strength-endurance performance is located in muscle groups involved in both exercises. Low aerobic exercise volume (3 km) with; 18 minutes of duration does not diminish strength endurance, whereas higher volumes (5 and 7 km) with ;30 and ;42 minutes of duration, respectively, generate impairments. Caffeine, carbohydrate, and beta-alanine are not able to revert the deleterious effect on strength-endurance performance, whereas creatine and capsaicin analog supplementation are. Thus, these variables must be taken into consideration to prescribe and organize a CT session. This information may help coaches to organize exercise sessions that minimize or avoid the impairment in strength performance after aerobic exercises.

This excerpt from Developing Endurance goes over tapering and peaking in aerobic training for competition.

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