From the 2021 NSCA National Conference, Dr. Abbie Smith-Ryan discusses updated information, nutritional components, sex-specific considerations, and practical applications of high-intensity interval training.

The purpose of this article is to review the physiological determinants of police work, provide the strength and conditioning professional with an overview of comm on constraints associated with training police officers, discuss the role of autoregulated training, and provide programming recommendations for training police officers around their patrol shifts.

The ability to manage the adaptive response, handle accumulated fatigue, and capitalize on the aftereffects established from training is central to the training process.

Brad Schoenfeld, MS, CSCS, CSPS, NSCA-CPT discusses training intensity for maximum results.

The Science and Application of High Intensity Interval Training

The Science and Application of High Intensity Interval Training

Tactical jobs are fast-paced, physically and psychologically intense, and failure can have tragic consequences, making it vital to train tactical athletes to perform better under stress.

Concurrent training (CT), which combines resistance exercise and energy systems conditioning, is the default approach to preparation in high-intensity intermittent (“stop and go”) team sports. This review provides an overview of CT, emphasizing its complexities and challenges in managing fatigue and optimizing performance. These complexities are specifically compounded by the variability in game demands across the season, where the presence of intensified and nonintensified competition periods necessitates a flexible and adaptive training approach. In this context, there are essential training variables to consider, including intensity, volume, session order, and recovery intervals between sessions. In addition, nontraining variables such as travel, sleep, and nutrition play a role in the fatigue experienced while training and competing. These variables interact to influence acute performance and training adaptations and can be strategically adjusted by strength and conditioning practitioners. The aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive understanding of fatigue management for practitioners in team sports, emphasizing the complexities and challenges of CT and offering simplified practical recommendations for adjusting training variables within any given microcycle.

In the first of a two part series, this article will briefly highlight the main components of a needs analysis and apply it to the context of soccer.

This NSCA Coach article aims to equip coaches, athletic trainers, and support staff with the knowledge and tools necessary to manage REDs among college athletes. Visit NSCA online to read more on mental health and sport performance.