Colorado Springs, CO – The National Strength and Conditioning Association Foundation is proud to announce the recipients of the foundation’s 2018 grants. Since the Foundation’s creation in 2007, it has awarded 136 grants, which includes the 16 new recipients this year.

The Head Performance and Strength Coach for the Sacramento Kings National Basketball Association (NBA) team, Ramsey Nijem, talks to the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about his recent experience completing a doctoral degree as well as his path to his current position.

Athletes engage in training programs that develop physical and physiological attributes to improve performance over time. However, ensuring athletes are optimally prepared just before competition is also of utmost importance. Indeed, such approaches may often adopt 1 or more strategies in the days, hours, and minutes preceding competition, including exercise priming, active warmup, and/or postactivation performance enhancing (PAPE) activities. Despite a plethora of discrete research, such information seems poorly synthesized, making it difficult for coaches and athletes to implement optimal evidence based physical preparation approaches in many sporting contexts. This article aims to provide a scoping overview of evidence, facilitate discussion, and where possible, propose practical exercise based recommendations that may be useful leading up to (~48 hours–~1 minute) tasks with a short or prolonged endurance component or requiring repeated intermittent efforts (e.g., team based field sports). Well-timed and –designed activities can facilitate several aspects of physical performance, potentially improve athletes’ psychological state(s) and mental preparedness. The benefits of a warm-up are most well documented, but priming and PAPE strategies also warrant consideration. It is intended that the evidence and suggestions presented will be useful for strength and conditioning professionals preparing athletes for competition.

Deloading is a period of reduced training stress where training demand is intentionally reduced to mitigate physiological and psychological fatigue and promote recovery. A deload is commonly implemented to enhance readiness for subsequent training and occurs between or during training phases. During a deload, training is typically modified by reducing the intensity of effort, training volume, duration, or frequency. Adjustments in exercise selection are based on recovery goals and the specific demands of the athlete’s training. Deloads are commonly preplanned and implemented into the training program every 4–8 weeks based on the structure of the training cycle and recovery needs. Alternatively, deloads are sometimes applied reactively using an autoregulatory approach to accommodate unexpected fatigue or performance decrements. While deloading shares conceptual similarities with tapering and training cessation, it should be differentiated based on its objective, structure, and positionality with the overall training program. The purpose of this article is to describe the current research landscape, propose areas for future research, and to provide broad practical recommendations for implementing deloading within the strength and physique sports training program.

Interlimb asymmetries have been recently investigated in athletic populations. However, the effects of training interventions on interlimb asymmetries have been scarcely examined. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the effects of training interventions on changes in interlimb asymmetries from pre- to post-training. Furthermore, to examine the effects of training programs on intervention groups compared with control groups. A database search was completed (MEDLINE, CINAHL, and SPORTDiscus). Eight studies were then included in the meta-analysis. Results showed small reductions in interlimb asymmetries in single-leg broad jump (SLBJ) and change of direction (COD) speed from pre- to post-training interventions, whereas moderate effects were found in single-leg countermovement jump (SLCMJ) and SL lateral jump. When comparing the training interventions with the control groups, results showed small effects in favor of the training groups for reducing interlimb asymmetries in SLBJ and large effects in SLCMJ and COD speed. Thus, training interventions can evoke small to moderate reductions in interlimb asymmetries from pre- to post-training programs. Strength training performed unilaterally or bilaterally may elicit these reductions. Furthermore, training interventions showed larger effects compared with the control groups in reducing interlimb asymmetries. However, further research is needed.

A common obstacle to achieving recommended physical activity and desired training goals is time. This is true for recreationally trained adults and athletes, particularly at the collegiate level, where greater restrictions on practice time and training are in place. One possible solution is to implement time-saving and time efficient training routines and methods that may limit the amount of time needed to attain desired physiological adaptations—by decreasing the time needed to train and/or by increasing the frequency with which brief workouts are completed throughout the week (e.g., “microdosing”). To provide the most optimal training stimulus, the correct method must be used. Unfortunately, numerous terms describe routines and methods discussed in the current body of available literature, many of which may seem similar and lead to confusion. The purpose of this article is to outline the similarities and differences of the numerous timesaving and time-efficient training routines and methods. Ultimately, this article synthesizes the current research into practical recommendations as programming options for strength and conditioning coaches and personal trainers. The information provided may also serve as a foundation for future research opportunities in time-saving and time-efficient training.

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

The National Strength and Conditioning Association Foundation is proud to announce the recipients of the foundation’s 2019 grants. Since the Foundation’s creation in 2007, it has awarded 154 grants, which includes the 16 new recipients this year. This year’s recipients add to the prestigious legacy of those who came before them and fulfill the foundation’s mission of supporting the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) by providing funding for educational and research endeavors that enhance the practical applications of strength and conditioning.

The use of exercise interventions to maximize athletes’ performance is a common practice in competitions. This systematic review aimed to compile research that explored the effectiveness of priming strategies to maximize physical performance in track and field. The literature search was conducted from PubMed and Scopus. One hundred eighty-two studies were assessed against the inclusion criteria: (a) minimum 1-year participation/competition experience; (b) randomized controlled trials with pre-post intervention outcomes; and (c) studies involving exercise interventions applied #6 hours before outcome measures were collected. Fifteen studies satisfied the criteria and were categorized according to the exercise interventions used (i.e., resistance training, plyometric/ ballistic training, resisted sprints, and modified warm-ups). Heavy-loaded resistance training (i.e., .85% 1 repetition maximum) and resisted sprints increased subsequent sprint performance. Plyometrics/ballistic training also positively impacted subsequent jumping (i.e., long jump) and throwing performance (i.e., shot put). Modified warm-ups (i.e., high-intensity sprints and heavier throwing implements) also improved subsequent running and throwing performance. Overall, exercise interventions performed at high intensity and low volume augment subsequent physical performance as close to 4 minutes before the event. However, a sufficient recovery interval must be considered for a positive performance response.

Multidirectional ground reaction forces (GRFs) and jump tests within baseball pitchers provide insight into athletic ability and coordination to produce lower-body force and power. Lower-body power is a biomechanical feature that denotes physiological capacity through dynamic and passive tissue stretch-shortening in transferring energy from the ground through the kinetic chain. Optimized lower-body power may lessen the magnitude of forces on the upper extremity. Insufficient lower-body power may create a greater risk of upper-body injury. Lower-body power and its relationship to ball velocity have been minimally investigated, yet some research points to a correlation between jumping ability and fastball velocity. Because pitching is unilateral, practitioners should consider unilateral jumps to determine the extent of bilateral asymmetry or stride to drive leg differences that can guide training to remediate deficiencies. The purposes of this brief review are to (a) examine factors that influence vertical jump performance among baseball players, (b) examine research on pitching multidirectional GRFs, and (c) examine literature concerning jump performances to baseball pitching performance. Collectively, this review can assist coaches and practitioners in lower-body power testing and training for baseball pitchers.