This article is part of a continuing series of tactical strength and conditioning (TSAC) research reviews. It is designed to bring awareness to new research findings of relevance to tactical strength and conditioning communities.

Because fitness test results are part of performance evaluations, smaller service members have an advantage in terms of attaining promotions, despite evidence that suggests that greater body size, strength, power, and load carrying capacity is correlated with tactical performance.

This article discusses the ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) scales and how to educate older clients to utilize them, as well as how to monitor and safely progress their training intensity.

This article serves as a guide for current and future strength and conditioning professionals who oversee program design for fire academy recruits. This includes a summarized needs analysis and a sample training program that considers the unique challenges of the fire academy.

Behavioral Changes and Physical Activity: Progressive Program Design

From the 2019 NSCA’s Coaches Conference, Andrew Paul, Senior Athletic Performance Coach for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the National Basketball Association (NBA), discusses the importance of the emerging role of the dual-credentialed physical therapist/strength and conditioning specialist and identifies communication strategies to help facilitate good relationships and player transitions between the medical and performance teams.

In this session from the 2017 Coaches Conference, Joe Eisenmann explains the three major energy systems in the human body, identifies appropriate tests of physical work capacity, and explains how to design programs that maximize energy production and fatigue resistance in sports.

Rhodri S. Lloyd, lead author of the LTAD Position Statement, provides an abbreviated look at what long-term athletic development is and how strength and conditioning professionals can implement effective training strategies into programming to improve health, well-being, and growth.

The purpose of the following article is to discuss current interventions surrounding prevention of musculoskeletal injury and improved physical fitness across military, fire, and police populations.

This continuing education opportunity explores a variety of topics as they pertain to common racquet sports - badminton, racquetball, squash, and tennis. To earn your CEUs, it will be necessary to review 5 articles from the NSCA Strength & Conditioning Journal and pass a 50-question quiz. Please note: this quiz awards 1.0 CEU (10 contact hours). Articles include: 1) Agility Training for Experienced Athletes, A Dynamical Systems Approach 2) Review of the Badminton Lunge and Specific Training Considerations 3) Strength and Conditioning Considerations for Racquetball Athletes 4) Physical Preparation for Elite Level Squash Players, Monitoring, Assessment, and Training Practices for the Strength and Conditioning Coach 5) New Approaches for On-court Endurance Testing and Conditioning in Competitive Tennis Players