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

Resistance training or strength training has become one of the most popular forms of exercise, because it is the only method capable of improving physical fitness and increasing muscle mass simultaneously. Among the variables of training, the relationship between intensity and volume has been extensively addressed to enhance exercise induced muscular hypertrophy. For many, mechanical stress is seen as a factor of greater relevance and, because high loads promote greater mechanical tension and high intensities are traditionally used to increase muscle mass. However, evidence has shown greater safety and similar results through training based on lower intensities and increased training volume. Thus, this narrative review aimed to search the current literature for evidence on using different training loads to promote muscle hypertrophy. An extensive nonsystematic literature review was conducted in the PubMed, Google Scholar and Scielo databases. It was possible to conclude that the use of high and low intensity promotes similar results in muscle hypertrophy in all groups, leading to the belief that there is greater safety and adherence to the use of lower intensities compared with close effort to concentric failure.

This article briefly examines the most popular instability training devices and provides examples of how instability training can be incorporated into traditional resistance training programs.

This Personal Training Quarterly article presents time-efficient fitness strategies to maintain physical and mental health during early parenthood. Visit NSCA online to read more on nutrition, health science, and fitness news.

This article provides a brief overview of literature where regional hypertrophy was reported. It also discusses the basic science and application of regional hypertrophy training.

Trainer Tips are infographics designed to help you, an NSCA professional, educate clients and promote your services. These member-only resources can be used for client education, motivation, and promotion.

This article addresses three main areas of resistance exercise that best prepares tactical personnel for load carriage.

This excerpt from Developing Power explains how to use bands for variable resistance training.

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.

This excerpt from Exercise Technique Manual for Resistance Training, Third Edition goes over the technique and execution in each phase of the push jerk.