This article seeks to provide personal trainers with eight brief modifications that clients can benefit from if they suffer from both acute and chronic lower back pain (LBP).

This article is part of a continuing series on practical, evidence-based approaches to reducing the risk of injury while developing tactical strength and conditioning.

This NSCA Coach article examines the effectiveness of cupping therapy and assesses whether its benefits are evidence-based. Visit NSCA online to read more on athletic performance and sports recovery.

In this session from the 2015 NSCA National Conference, Nelson Ayotte—the Strength and Conditioning Coach for the St. Louis Blues National Hockey League (NHL) team—explains how to design and implement a specific energy systems program at the elite level. Ayotte demonstrates the characteristics of each of the three energy systems and their trainability, and explores how to understand the energy demands of a sport by analysis of its characteristics, competition intensity, and duration of efforts and recovery periods.

This article presents the shoulder taps, which could serve as a more time-efficient screening tool for tactical operators. Although this article will present the shoulder taps as an assessment modality, it may be expanded upon and prescribed as an exercise for the purpose of improving trunk, hip, and shoulder stability.

Castle View High School Strength and Conditioning Coach says science is leading to safer training methods being used in high school weight rooms.

The article discusses the talent crisis that is currently plaguing United States first responders, public safety agencies, and military organizations, and concludes with highlights of select successful programs.

This article discusses the importance of a creative and open mind in strength and conditioning coaches, as well as tips to develop it.

Ground-based free weight lifts, especially the explosive Olympic-style lifts, are highly recommended for athletic conditioning for the core muscles. They can provide a moderately unstable stimulus to augment activation of the core and limb muscles, while still providing maximal or near maximal strength, velocity, and power output.

Monitoring training load is essential for determining if athletes are adapting positively or negatively to their training program. This article goes over the various measurement metrics and includes recommendations to monitor training load for football athletes.