Learn practical programming ideas to implement in youth speed training programs. In this session from the NSCA’s 2017 National Conference, Lance Walker explains how to leverage the differences between starting, acceleration, and maximum velocity dynamics (movement preparation) and plyometrics. Learn about the most common errors made by young athletes when training linear speed with practical tools, teachings, and contextual cues.

The following article provides a list of tests that could comprise a fitness assessment to measure overall fitness and health prior to, during, and after an academy training program.

This article discusses the ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) scales and how to educate older clients to utilize them, as well as how to monitor and safely progress their training intensity.

CC 2023

This article details an example assessment battery that could be used to measure the relative health and fitness of community service officers (CSO) within the context of similar populations.

Sprinting is a key component for many individual and team sports. Therefore, to enhance sprint performance, various training methods are widely used by coaches and practitioners, including maximum sprint speed and resisted sprint training. Resisted sprinting with sled towing is a method that has recently received considerable attention from the sport science community. However, to date, no consensus exists regarding its acute and chronic effects in team sport athletes. This narrative review aimed to (a) review and analyze the mechanics of sprinting under unresisted and resisted conditions with a specific focus on team sport disciplines; (b) provide a thorough and applied discussion on the importance of considering acute and chronic effects of sled loading on technique, electromyographic activity, and force production, as well as on the role of muscle architecture and neural factors in sled training; (c) analyze the effects of increasing sled loads during acceleration and maximum velocity phases on contact and flight phases, while concomitantly examining kinetic, kinematic, and neuromuscular aspects, because all these factors affect each other and cannot be properly understood in isolation.

Explosive Techniques for the Mixed Marital Artist

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of two different durations of training cessation on upper and lower body maximal strength performance, and to investigate the mechanisms underlying performance changes following short-term training cessation.

Explosive Techniques for the Mixed Marital Artist

This excerpt from the Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning outlines what training typically looks like in the preparatory period, or off-season.