This article aims to provide a good understanding of sleep health and the way it affects high performance populations.

With over 20 years of experience in the field, former co-founder of EXOS, Brandon Marcello, discusses general sleep knowledge as it pertains to overall health, wellness, and performance in this session from the 2019 NSCA Tactical Annual Training.

The research reviewed in this article provides a baseline snapshot of clinically-relevant tools to screen, diagnose, and provide treatment that can improve behavior surrounding sleep, as well as quantity and quality of sleep in occupational firefighters.

This excerpt from NSCA's Essentials of Tactical Strength and Conditioning explains the importance of wellness programs for tactical athletes.

This article is the 11th in 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.

Firefighting is a profession that has the potential to be extremely demanding, both physically and mentally. More specifically, these tactical personnel must be physically fit to perform their occupational requirements, all while they are exposed to daily stressors. This is likely to include everything from physical strain and shift work to interrupted sleep and witnessing potentially traumatizing events. Failure to prepare and mitigate these occupational demands can have long-lasting implications to overall performance as well as health and wellness. Unfortunately, many of these elements often go unaddressed. As such, considerations for collaborative and overarching cross-disciplinary allied health teams should be made. Human performance optimization (HPO) is a model that has been successfully adopted by the U.S. military to enhance the overarching health, wellness, and performance of soldiers. This article proposes the utilization of a similar HPO model by providing a rationale for how it can be used to reduce premature morbidity and mortality, as well as increasing overall readiness and resilience within the firefighting profession.

There are many factors, both personal and environmental, that play a role in the success of a training and diet program for an individual client. This article looks at the factors to be aware of and some solutions to finding the best fit program for an individual client.

The purpose of this article is to discuss caffeine use in tactical populations and provide recommendations for responsible consumption.

The effects of alcohol on athletic performance vary depending on quantity, demographics, and type of exercise, making it difficult to determine specific recommendations. From an athletic performance standpoint, the acute use of alcohol can influence motor skills, hydration status, aerobic performance, as well as aspects of the recovery process.

This article is the eighth in 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. On this occasion, the focus is on new research presented at the 2016 NSCA National Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, July 7 – 8, 2016.