For many athletes, being agile is the end goal of physical performance training. It represents their capacity to change velocity and direction in response to the actions of their opponent and the opportunities and constraints of their environment. The aim of this article was to describe the pitch-based development of agility, focusing on 60–1808 turns. This ensures all turns have the demand of deceleration, turning, and reacceleration, requiring both outside leg turns (608) and inside leg turns (1808). To enable the effective coaching of these, coaches must understand movement mechanics and thus the fundamental principles that underpin good technique. Within agility training, a detailed appreciation of how the center of mass and base of support interact to affect the direction of force is fundamental to this. This understanding and the ensuing technical models ensure athletes have the best chance of executing the task optimally and ensure coaches can effectively instruct athletes and adapt drills accordingly.

Parkinson disease (PD) is a progressive and chronic neurodegenerative disorder that compromises both motor and nonmotor functions, ultimately leading to a decline in functional capacity and quality of life. Although the etiology of PD is multifaceted, exercise has shown promising effects in managing PD symptoms and enhancing patient well-being. Although aerobic and resistance exercise demonstrate benefits within this specific population, the exact application of these modalities varies and often differs depending on disease progression and the individual. Although individuals diagnosed with PD are encouraged to exercise, there is still a lack of information pertaining to how to successfully structure physical activity into their daily routine. There are also distinct barriers and motivators impacting their decision to engage in regular exercise. This manuscript offers practical recommendations and personalized exercise guidelines for exercise professionals, empowering them to optimize PD management through targeted exercise interventions. In addition, it offers current information on promoting exercise among patients with PD, specifically to enhance their functional outcomes.

Learn, participate and network with colleagues in your state/province or region while earning CEUs. Hosted by the state, provincial and regional directors, these local events bring cutting-edge research and application to your backyard.

An emerging body of research has explored the potential ergogenic effects of noninvasive interset recovery strategies involving the application of cold substances to the extremities distal to exercising muscles (e.g., palms of the hands or the soles of the feet). It was suggested that such strategies may acutely enhance resistance training (RT) performance by augmenting excitation and motor unit recruitment of the working muscles through enhanced stimulation of the central nervous system, resulting in greater force production and the ability to perform more repetitions to fatigue. Moreover, peripheral stimuli such as distal cooling may acutely reduce the sensation of distress during RT, allowing individuals to tolerate more exercise and achieve higher training volumes. Although there is some evidence that interset distal cooling confers an ergogenic benefit during RT, certain methodological considerations, a paucity of longitudinal research, and contrasting findings call into question its effectiveness. Thus, the purpose of this review is to assess the current evidence regarding the effects of interset palm and sole cooling on RT performance outcomes.

One resistance training variable that may be altered to achieve desired outcomes is the range of motion used in training. Generally, the strength and conditioning field has accepted that using a greater range of motion in strength training exercises results in more substantial muscle hypertrophy outcomes. However, this theory has proved to be inconsistently supported in the literature, and to date, no sufficient explanation exists to explain this phenomenon. This review article seeks to outline a novel approach for potentially describing the disparities seen in range of motion research with respect to hypertrophy outcomes by applying the unique length-tension curve of each muscle being examined. As will be discussed in the review, virtually all the results from range of motion studies in various muscles have corresponded to each muscle’s length-tension curve; muscles that are active on the descending limb of the curve appear to garner greater hypertrophy from using larger ranges of motion. Conversely, muscles that are not active on the descending limb exhibit similar adaptations despite alterations in range of motion. A novel hypothesis for applying this information to resistance training programs will be presented and discussed.

High school administrator discusses the considerations for athletes, non-athletes, faculty and the school budget.

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.

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.

Time-restricted eating (TRE) is an application of intermittent fasting where an individual consumes their calories in a specific eating window (e.g., 8 hours) followed by a prolonged fasting window (e.g., 16 hours). Several randomized controlled trials have analyzed the combined effect of resistance training (RT) and TRE on physical adaptations, including fat mass (FM) loss, fat-free mass (FFM) retention, hypertrophy, local muscular endurance, power, and strength. In this mini review, we highlight the methodology and results from these studies and conclude by providing practical application suggestions for fitness professionals striving to maximize RT + TRE with their clientele. Generally, RT + TRE leads to positive body composition changes, including FM loss and FFM retention, which culminates in improved body fat percentage. Similarly, RT + TRE consistently stimulates positive neuromuscular adaptations, such as increased hypertrophy, local muscular endurance, power, and strength. When positive changes are not observed, and when safely implemented, RT + TRE rarely confers negative effects on the abovementioned adaptations. In short, RT + TRE may be a beneficial dietary and exercise strategy to improve body composition and muscular fitness. However, there are several caveats for practitioners to consider, which are discussed at length in this article.