This article is part of 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.

The path to the top is not always linear. For Jill Costanza, it included returning to school and stops in collegiate and military performance before becoming Director of Sport Science and Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach with the National Football League (NFL) Detroit Lions. Costanza describes today’s sport science landscape as a “Wild West,” where definitions differ by perspective. Her focus centers on assessing the athlete and program effectiveness against the demands of the game to identify holistic interventions. She outlines how intentional systems, a clear communication funnel, and data visualizations help athletes and stakeholders understand the “why,” build buy-in, and tap into competitiveness. Addressing common misconceptions, Costanza clarifies that elite athletes can still have foundational qualities that need rewiring. She emphasizes movement quality, proprioception, and breathing while adapting for individual needs and neurological fatigue. Learn how to build sport science systems, turn insights into action, and keep progressing on your professional path. Reach out to Jill by email at: jill.costanza@lions.nfl.net | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs and LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs Join the NSCA Football Special Interest Group (SIG) and explore 24 other specialized communities designed to support your development on the Special Interest Groups page.

The squat is one of the most essential movements in life and performance. In this Bridge video, Mandy Nice goes over the proper progressions for individuals to successfully and safely perform the squat.

People's attention span is limited, cautions Nick Winkelman in this lecture from the NSCA's 2014 National Conference. Join Nick as he talks about not inundating your athletes and clients with information, and tailoring your cueing to their individual needs.

The framework of the athlete system is fragile, and thus susceptible to the “black swan” injury event. In this session from the 2016 NSCA National Conference, Greg Myer explains how to develop a training model focused on anti-fragility, by which athletes train to continuously regenerate and increase performance through the integration of random events, stressors, and volatility into their training regimen.

This article focuses on a program for a Paralympic athlete born with a congenital limb deficiency (transradial peromelia) of the right arm.

NSCA Coach provides valuable takeaways for every level of strength and conditioning coach through quarterly, electronic issues. You can find scientifically based articles specific to a wide variety of your athletes’ needs with Nutrition, Programming, and Youth columns. You must be a member of the NSCA to access NSCA Coach.

In this session from the 2015 NSCA National Conference, Greg Myer discusses current concussion prevention strategies as well as possible innovative strategies of the future. By learning how nature may provide a key piece of information to reduce concussion injuries, the strength and conditioning professional may be able to help prevent sports related concussions.

Nick Savage, Director of Football Strength and Conditioning at the University of Florida, demonstrates warm-up complexes and Olympic-style lifting progressions to improve force development.

It is important for strength and conditioning coaches, sport coaches, athletic trainers, and administrators to recognize and address the evidence of stress within student-athletes in order to avoid chronic stress-related anxiety and injury.