This article is the first of a continuing series of tactical strength and conditioning (TSAC) research reviews. It is designed to bring awareness to new research findings of relevance to tactical communities.
When working with athletes who play team sports, your main goal as a strength and conditioning coach is to ensure that your athletes arrive at a competitive peak in a predictable way, Dave Hamilton says. No matter the athlete's level - college or elite - training loads impact the ability to perform. As coaches, we need to remove the subjectivity and use monitoring tools that are effective.
CoachesExercise ScienceTesting and EvaluationAthlete MonitoringMonitoring StrategiesRecoveryTraining Loads
By gathering information about potential risk factors associated with basketball injuries, strength and conditioning coaches can create individualized programs to help keep their basketball athletes healthy and performing at the best of their abilities.
TSAC FacilitatorsExercise ScienceExercise TechniqueProgram designTesting and EvaluationClient Consultation|AssessmentSeated Medicine Ball Throw (MBT)Strength & Power Training ProgramsLifting TechniquesProgram DesignLaw EnforcementPolice Academy TrainingFitness Testing
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.
CoachesExercise ScienceProgram designEnergy DemandsHockey Strength and ConditioningNHLRecoveryIce Hockey
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).
Personal trainersExercise TechniqueProgram designLow Back PainConventional Back SquatMachineBracingCore Stability
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.
TSAC FacilitatorsExercise ScienceTSAC ReportTSACtactical 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.
CoachesExercise ScienceTesting and EvaluationClient Consultation|AssessmentBasic Pathophysiology and Science of Health Status or Condition and Disorder or DiseaseProfessional DevelopmentInflammationMuscle TherapyMobilityPain ManagementSports Recovery
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.