In this hands-on lecture from the NSCA's 2014 TSAC Conference, TSAC Program Manager Tyler Christiansen introduces the concept of not only teaching the Olympic lifts to tactical athletes, but simplifying them to encourage acceptance and competency.

Early sport specialization involves physically immature children participating in intensive year-round training and/or competition for a single sport. The lack of sport exposure and diversification during the developmental years may underlie the increased risk of overuse injuries, blunting of motor skill development, psychosocial issues, overtraining syndrome, burnout, and potential dropout from sport. With increasing number of youth choosing, or being encouraged, to specialize at an early age, we aim to provide evidence based recommendations for the integration of strength and conditioning into the development programs of young athletes who participate in sports with a culture of early specialization. In addition to the principles of programming, strategies are provided relative to monitoring of growth, maturation, and training load to illustrate the potential complexities of attempting to optimize long-term athletic development in early specializing athletes.

This excerpt from Developing Speed discusses the various start patterns that exist and how to include them in a speed development program.

In this session from the NSCA's 2016 National Conference, Boo Schexnayder demonstrates how to effectively design long-term and short-term programs for speed development. Schexnayder explains how to effectively periodize strength training in a manner that supports speed development, as well as how to use speed and power training as a neural integration tool to enhance strength development.

This NSCA Coach article discusses training modalities in bench press training and incorporating accessories to improve rate of force development (RFD) among athletes. Visit NSCA online to read more on strength training and exercise science.

This article provides essential guidelines for athletes beginning a strength and conditioning program that ensures safety and productivity of the training sessions.

This PTQ article shares strategies for personal trainers about the treatment and prevention of the female athlete triad. Visit NSCA online to read more on youth fitness and health news.

Patrick McHenry, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Castle View High School in Castle Rock, CO, and member of the NSCA Board of Directors, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about high school strength and conditioning and his growth in the NSCA from a volunteer to an NSCA Board mMember. Connect with Patrick on Twitter: @strengthcentral and Instagram: @ptmchenry | Find Scott on Instagram: @coachcaulfield and Twitter: @scottcaulfield

Power and strength translate into force, the key behind any push athlete's success. In this lecture from the NSCA's 2015 Coaches Conference, USOC Coach Brad DeWeese discusses periodization and the need to develop phase potentiation for push athletes.

This article breaks down youth training. To develop athleticism for youth, coaches should follow the C.O.R.E. principles: context in which to apply movement patterns, opportunities to develop proper movement, recognition of physical attributes required, and environments in which youth explore movement.