NSCA certifications can help differentiate you from the competition while joining the ranks of some of the top experts in the industry. Learn about the strength and conditioning certifications offered by the NSCA.

The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) announces the results of its 2025 Elections, as selected by NSCA Members

Strength coaches make up the foundation of the NSCA since its beginnings more than four decades ago and continue to drive our purpose and passion. Learn more about obtaining the acclaimed CSCS® certification, gain knowledge through NSCA's peer-reviewed journals, and get inspired by NSCA's coaching podcast. From tools and resources to thousands of top professionals across the globe, you've got the support and the credibility of an association dedicated to your profession.

Discovery Canyon High School’s Sam Melendrez explains how experts in his profession are having a profound impact on youth in sports.

The NSCA is proud to recognize the outstanding work of our professionals around the world. Please take time to nominate your peers when you see excellence that deserves recognition.

In the last several decades in the United States, university athletic departments and professional sport teams began hiring sport scientists to support team operations. Many variations in sport science–related job titles and a variety of duties are apparent across the industry internationally. Therefore, the aims of this article were to (a) define sport scientist roles because they may be positioned in U.S. sport organizations, (b) demonstrate potential levels of application, (c) demonstrate how a sport science program helps establish a standard of care for the athlete, and (d) highlight overseas practices that establish professional competency for those in sport scientist roles. This discussion may be used to optimize organizational structures, enhance organizational dynamics within sport organizations, leagues, and systems, and used to develop, refine, or support certification and training programs in the United States. In addition to the discussion in this article, several job descriptions are provided as Supplemental Digital Content, http://links.lww. com/SCJ/A347. These resources may help decision makers construct job descriptions for their organizations.

A major goal of the Foundation is to maximize assets to increase grants and scholarships for NSCA members. Donations come from contributors and selected sponsors who are also dedicated to science and research. With the growth of the Foundation, the NSCA has the ability to give back to its membership, affirming its mission of being the worldwide authority on strength and conditioning, supporting and disseminating research-based knowledge and its practical application to improve athletic performance and fitness.

Typically, a coach may follow a process in which they first identify the key performance indicators of their sport, determine the physical attributes that map back to them, and then distribute the development of those capacities over the allocated timeframe. Furthermore, effective training plans are based on a theoretical or biological basis for how we move and adapt to exercise stimuli, coupled with an understanding of how these are best sequenced, such that one stimulus and subsequent adaptation can potentiate the next. Thus, reverse or backward engineering, when appropriately converged with the plans of those devised around nutrition, conditioning, technical, and tactical training, for example, likely gives athletes the best chance of attaining their performance goals. The aim of this article is to describe the application of reverse engineering, exampling it within the context of developing an athlete who can demonstrate a high level of agility.