HRV is thought to provide objective insight into understanding fatigue, “trainability,” and “readiness” to perform in athletic populations. Evolving access to HRV data may enhance the understanding of individualized fitness and training responses in tactical athletes.

Heart rate variability (HRV) testing is at the forefront of a wave of cutting-edge assessment tools that are becoming available to the personal trainer. In this session from the 2015 NSCA Personal Trainers Conference, Carmine Grieco provides an overview of the physiological background and dynamics of HRV, including the most current supportive evidence, with an emphasis on the practical application for personal trainers.

In recent years, performance and prevention strategies have grown to include monitoring training load (TL) to understand fatigue and the potential effects of fatigue on training adaptation and performance.

Biofeedback is a tool that not everyone knows about, yet many coaches and athletes could benefit from using it. This article will describe the psychophysiological principle, introduce biofeedback, and provide descriptions of two biofeedback modalities that may be useful for strength and conditioning professionals to improve performance.

Part 2 of this series on allostatic load theory will focus on how monitoring personnel holistically can contribute to a well-rounded health and performance model supporting the tactical athletes.

The third and final article in this series will introduce the practical and technical elements of heart rate variability (HRV) monitoring in greater depth and detail.

Develop a better understanding of the brain’s role on exercise and recovery for the tactical athlete, and learn how to identify and implement heart rate variability (HRV) markers for prescribing recovery strategies. Presented by Mark Stephenson, Director of the Human Performance Program at a special operations unit for the Department of Defense, at the NSCA’s 2016 TSAC Annual Training.

This article will discuss specific measures of stress that can be monitored, as well as coping skills to mitigate the negative effects of stress.

Colorado Springs, CO – MAJ Donald Bigham and Mark Stephenson named the 2017 TSAC-Facilitator and TSAC-Practitioners of the Year at NSCA’s TSAC Annual Training April 3-6, 2017 in Orlando, FL.

While a basic fitness assessment will always be a part of a comprehensive client assessment, there is an array of more sophisticated tests and measures that are available to the personal trainer today.