The focus of this article is to describe the physiological needs of soccer athletes and then provide assessments for testing endurance of athletes of various ages, abilities, and genders.

Dr. Bryan Mann, from the University of Missouri, discusses the efficacy of using the 225-lb bench press test for measuring maximal strength.

Neural adaptations help mediate growth-related processes and the early increase in strength is attributable mainly to improved neural function. Along with neural changes, various aspects of the protein metabolism in the muscle are changing in the early phases of training.

Due to the principle of specificity, training should be tailored to the goal of the lifter in terms of the prioritization of strength, hypertrophy, health, and functional outcomes. If the goal is muscular hypertrophy, it may be beneficial to vary the repetition range, and to utilize a variety of loads and loading strategies in the pursuit of maximizing hypertrophy.

Almost all functional movements of the trunk are combinations or variations of four basic movement patterns: trunk flexion, trunk extension, trunk rotation, and trunk lateral flexion. This article lists exercises to address each of these movement patterns.

In this session from the 2016 NSCA Coaches Conference, the Sports Science and Performance Manager for the Seattle Sounders Major League Soccer (MLS) team, David Tenney, discusses the “high performance model” in the American elite sports environment. Tenney delves into how this model impacts hierarchy and daily decision making, as well as the obstructions that many organizations face, how this model can help to drive decision making and optimize training strategies, and the different strategies that can help make this happen.

Nick Clayton, Personal Training Manager at the NSCA, shows key coaching points and progressions for single-leg squat and lunge movements.

While no recruitment process will ever be perfect, it is time to address the “legal defensibility” of physical employment standards as the primary consideration in developing recruitment guidelines that are concurrently designed to increase workplace diversity.

The purpose of this article is to strongly suggest and offer a pragmatic and stepwise approach that takes into account the ideas and concepts of shared decision making that allows for the “best practices,” pre-participation screenings, evaluations, and stratification flow charts for safe and effective return to play for athletes.

In this Info-graphic, block periodization and traditional periodization are reviewed on the effects on both upper and lower body strength and power.