This article reviews the use of heart rate as a way to program cardiovascular exercise.

Congratulations to the NSCA's 2022 winners! This page is updated as new award winners are named throughout the year.

NSCA has a network of volunteer leaders who direct NSCA’s efforts at the state and provincial level. NSCA’s North Central Regional Coordinator provides oversight and training to local state and provincial directors. Members in the North Central Region can connect at local and regional events as well as on Facebook to others in this area.

Sheri Walters’ journey to Director of Sports Medicine at Texas A&M University reflects a career defined by innovation, collaboration, and comprehensive integration. Walters discusses the "arms race" in collegiate athletics and how Texas A&M shatters silos through unit alignment and being intentionally present. Drawing from her EXOS experience, she highlights the impact of integrating sports medicine with strength and conditioning. Walters employs research-based cross-body training to maintain strength, prioritizing long-term rehabilitation over limb symmetry index testing. She explains how her Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist® (CSCS®) and Certified Performance and Sport Scientist® (CPSS®) credentials enable her to elevate rehabilitation and speak the language of sport performance professionals. Walters underscores the importance of getting student-athletes back to team strength and conditioning as soon as tissues can tolerate it to promote physiological and psychological healing. She also shares how strength and conditioning coaches can optimize return to performance and reduce reinjury risk. Email Sheri at swalters@athletics.tamu.edu | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs and LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs Catch Sheri’s session on bridging the gap in the collegiate setting LIVE at the 2025 NSCA Coaches Conference! Register to watch online at NSCA.com/Coaches. Fascinated by the intersection between strength and conditioning and sports medicine? Join other professionals in the Sports Medicine/Rehabilitation Specialist Interest Group (SIG) to discover more resources and engage in discussion.

This excerpt from Developing the Core briefly defines closed- and open-chain exercises and their respective roles in training.

NSCA has a network of volunteer leaders who direct NSCA’s efforts at the state and provincial level. NSCA’s Great Lakes Regional Coordinator provides oversight and training to local state and provincial directors. Members in the Great Lakes Region can connect at local and regional events as well as on Facebook to others in this area.

Some of the major misconceptions concerning Olympic-style weightlifting for sport are addressed in this article, providing evidence-based recommendations to better implement the snatch, clean and jerk, and their derivatives in the training of high school and collegiate athletes.

The purpose of this article is to strongly suggest and offer a pragmatic and stepwise approach that takes into account the ideas and concepts of shared decision making that allows for the “best practices,” pre-participation screenings, evaluations, and stratification flow charts for safe and effective return to play for athletes.

This article presents information about assessing speed and agility in a controlled environment with a test that is similar to the actual demands of a specific sport.

Traditional lower-body resistance exercise alone may not be an optimal means of developing agility. Further, the effectiveness of straight-sprint training on agility performance has not been well established. In contrast, jump training, including loaded jump squats and horizontal and lateral jumps, holds promise.