Through a well-designed resistance training program, firefighter recruits can gain the movement skills, confidence to exercise, and foundational strength/physiological adaptations that they need for a long and healthy career.

This TSAC Report article highlights the need for recovery strategies to support both physical readiness and psychological resilience in military training. Visit NSCA online to learn more about tactical athletes.

Get NSCA’s Essentials of Tactical Strength and Conditioning, Second Edition — a trusted resource for TSAC-F® exam prep and military and public safety training.

This article discusses performance under stress, as well as factors influencing this performance in tactical personnel.

Matt Wenning a renowned power lifter and strength and conditioning coach who has over 12,000 hours of experience as a Division I college strength coach in a variety of sports, including football, track and field, swimming, baseball, as well as United States Army Rangers, firefighters, triathletes, and general populations. Matt talks to the NSCA’s Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield. Matt’s discusses the obstacles he had to go through both academically (undergrad and grad school) and physically (powerlifting) to get where he is today.

The research reviewed in this article provides a baseline snapshot of clinically-relevant tools to screen, diagnose, and provide treatment that can improve behavior surrounding sleep, as well as quantity and quality of sleep in occupational firefighters.

This article discusses the importance of upper body power training for protective security personnel and its potential for an occupational performance marker.

John Hofman, CSCS, MS, spoke at the NSCA's 2013 TSAC Conference on preventing injury when providing firefighters with an in-house training program. In this hands-on presentation, John demonstrates exercises and prevention strategies.

The program described in this article is an example of how a department can attempt to address and potentially prevent musculoskeletal injuries in firefighters and similar tactical populations. This process includes the use of movement screens, active workshops, and various modes of feedback.

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.