The importance of physical fitness is never greater than when lives are at stake. Specifically, professionals in law enforcement, fire/rescue, and the military need fitness and tactical athleticism to efficiently respond to calls and complete missions regardless of the obstacles, mixed terrain, interference, and dangerous environmental conditions involved

A significant number of resistance training injuries occur at the shoulder complex. However, there is a lack of research identifying predictive variables, which may increase the risk of these injuries. Certain exercises, such as those requiring the apprehension position (glenohumeral abduction with external rotation), have been investigated and found to be associated with shoulder pain and injury. However, there are additional exercises or positions that may also be associated with increased injury risk. The position of end-range glenohumeral extension, particularly as it pertains to a dip, is a vulnerable position that may have previously been overlooked.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently recognized the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) as one of the first organizations to join the National Youth Sports Strategy (NYSS) Champion℠ program. HHS released the NYSS in September 2019 in response to Presidential Executive Order 13824, which called for a national strategy to increase youth sports participation. The NYSS is the first Federal roadmap with actionable strategies to increase participation in youth sports, increase awareness of the benefits of youth sports participation, monitor and evaluate youth sports participation, and recruit and engage volunteers in youth sports programming.

The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) is proud to announce the recipients of the organization’s 2025 Tactical Awards.

NSCA extends its CSCS® degree requirement timeline from 2030 to 2036, allowing strength and conditioning programs time to pursue CASCE accreditation. Read more.

Purchase the 2024 RSCC renewal course. - Achieve a minimum of 70% to renew your RSCC designation and earn 0.6 CEUs towards your certification.

Purchase the 2021 RSCC renewal course. - Achieve a minimum of 70% to renew your RSCC designation and earn 0.5 CEUs towards your certification.

Accentuated eccentric loading (AEL) can be combined with lower-body power-based movements to acutely enhance them; however, currently, there are limited recommendations for this training method. AEL can enhance force and power metrics during its utilization with lower-body power based exercises. When using AEL, exercises should consist of jump squats and countermovement jumps with loading methods consisting of weight releasors or dumbbell hand release. Elastic bands can be used; however, more research is needed in this area. External loads ranging from 10–30% of body mass can be used. Future research needs to investigate increased eccentric and concentric loads when using AEL with power based movements.