This excerpt from NSCA's Essentials of Tactical Strength and Conditioning explains the importance of wellness programs for tactical athletes.

By understanding the means by which athletes encounter risk, strength and conditioning professionals can integrate exercise programs that may offset one of the steps toward injuries.

Explore tactical strength and conditioning careers across military, law enforcement, fire, and EMS. Learn about roles, pay, credentials, and how to get started.

This article uses relevant research and literature to provide suggestions for optimal recovery in tactical operators.

In the private sector, you are always auditioning. Joe Neal, owner of 2SP Sports Performance based near Detroit, MI, shares a blueprint for serving athletes from youth to the professional ranks. Those foundational principles support off-season training for National Hockey League (NHL) and Major League Baseball (MLB) players. Neal reflects on his untraditional path from an underserved college baseball athlete to a business owner. Along the way, his coaching was guided by self-experimentation, creative training techniques, and relentless learning. He explains what makes a strong private-sector program: coaches should be prepared, moving, and communicating, not buried in screens or programming. Neal also breaks down how he uses technology to individualize training, track progress, and support better decisions without losing supervision. He emphasizes long-term development, where overlooked athletes can keep growing, stay healthier, and outperform early expectations. Listen for practical lessons on culture, coaching, business, and private-sector development across every level of sport. Connect with Joe on Instagram: @joeneal2 or by email: joe@2spsports.com | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs and LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs Join the NSCA Entrepreneur Special Interest Group (SIG) on LinkedIn to connect with other coaches and explore ideas for building and leading in the private sector.

Elite sport often gets more attention, but youth training gives strength and conditioning coaches an earlier chance to build athletes’ competence and confidence. Kelli Brightwell specializes in youth development and brings more than a decade of sports training experience, including four years at Michael Johnson Performance. Brightwell defines peak height velocity as the period during which height increases fastest. She then explains why its timing can differ among teammates of the same age. So what should strength coaches test, and what do the results mean? The answer changes with each athlete’s maturity and training experience. Brightwell addresses the growth-spurt “awkward phase,” when familiar movement patterns can break down as an athlete adjusts to a changing body. She also considers how sport sampling can expand children’s range of physical skills and help them discover what they enjoy. Learn how maturation can affect movement, testing, and programming — and why young athletes need foundations before specialization.

This article encompasses some of the necessary experience, education, certifications, and personal development needed to become a strength and conditioning coach.

Squash demands speed, strength, and control at the edge of human range — but still suffers from a massive stigma around heavy lifting and underuse of strength and conditioning. Brigita Roemer is leading the shift as Director of Strength and Conditioning for U.S. Squash, where she oversees all off-court physical development. After suffering a devastating injury as a track and field athlete, she discovered strength and conditioning when a biomechanics team “put [her] back together,” setting her on a linear path in the profession. Assigned to a sport she had never heard of before, Roemer began by emphasizing injury risk reduction, full range of motion, and “strength at length” to meet squash’s extreme movement and deceleration demands. With frequent connective tissue injuries like sprains and strains, athlete availability remains a top concern. By prioritizing continuing education and building relationships, Roemer has helped U.S. Squash make history — on the path to LA 2028. Connect with Brigita on Instagram: @brigey_lux | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs and LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs Elite strength and conditioning pros like Brigita Roemer rely on NSCA events to stay sharp, grounded, and connected. Join them at the 2025 NSCA National Conference (NSCACon) this July 16–19 in Kansas City, MO.

The following article provides a list of tests that could comprise a fitness assessment to measure overall fitness and health prior to, during, and after an academy training program.

Various aspects of resistance training, such as specific exercises chosen, workout structure, resistance used, volume (repetitions and sets), rest intervals between sets, and training frequency, can be manipulated to mold the strength training program to best meet an endurance athlete’s goals.