Because a client’s functional abilities will change in each of the tissue healing phases, the fitness professional must understand the time it takes to heal and the science behind each phase in order to prescribe safe exercises for clients in those phases.

The NSCA is offering a new book that contains a holistic overview of the knowledge and skills required to support athlete and team performance as a modern-day sport scientist. Learn more here about this new resource.

Have you ever considered getting a K-12 teaching license, with your CSCS, to gain employment as a high school strength and conditioning coach? Coach Justin Loudon serves as the Chair of the NSCA High School Coaches Professional Development Group (PDG). He shares PDG updates with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, including highlights from the 2024 NSCA Coaches Conference and direction for the future of high school coaching. Learn about the impact of school-based strength and conditioning beyond the weight room, and important benefits for students over their lifetime. Connect with Justin on Instagram at: @coach_loudon or by email: loudonsc@gmail.com| Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or X (Twitter): @ericmcmahoncscs | Here is a link to engage with NSCA Professional Development Groups. As mentioned in the episode, check out the book: NSCA's Guide to High School Strength and Conditioning

Part 2 of this article series explores the possible benefits of mindful meditation for coach development as well as how it can improve reflective practice and the coach-athlete relationship.

Most people suffer from some degree of injury, illness, or disease at some point. As a result, there is a need for strength and conditioning professionals who can develop effective exercise programs for people with disabilities.

If the strength and conditioning field largely keeps to itself, or the knowledge base is not seen to transcend the training facility, it seems reasonable to think that this will present a problem for strength and conditioning coaches. This article examines some actions strength and conditioning coaches can take to increase the awareness of the good work they do on a daily basis.

The strength and conditioning profession involves combined competencies for the application of sport/exercise science, administration, management, teaching, and coaching. Its professionals must also comply with various laws and regulations while responding to instances of potential injury, and related claims and suits. This creates remarkable challenges, and requires substantial experience, expertise, and other resources to effectively address them, especially in multi-sport (e.g., collegiate and scholastic) settings.

Position statements are official statements of the NSCA on topics related to strength and conditioning and exercise science. All NSCA Position Statements are published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research® and free to the public.