Building athletes who are strong, healthy, and resilient requires more than sets and reps, starting with a shift in mindset. Christi Edson, Head of Performance for the Orlando Pride in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), shares how she integrates strength and conditioning with sport science to sustain athlete health and performance. She reflects on the field’s evolution from the well-known “Bigger, Faster, Stronger” program to a training culture emphasizing resilience, active recovery, and durability. Drawing from her experience coaching high school athletes to NWSL professionals, Edson highlights the adaptability and creativity coaches need. Those qualities help her to develop athletes who can thrive through a demanding 11-month season. She details how tools like GPS, force plates, and velocity-based training sharpen communication and reshape expectations in the gym. Her story points coaches toward the future of athlete development: collaboration, precise load management, and long-term health as the foundation of strength. Connect with Christi on Instagram: @christiedson and LinkedIn: @christiana-edson | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs and LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs Read the article, “A Creative Mind in the Professional Development of a Strength and Conditioning Coach,” from NSCA Coach, 11(1), February 2024 — referenced in this episode’s return-to-play discussion. NSCA Members enjoy full publication access. Interested in bridging coaching and sport science? The Certified Performance and Sport Scientist (CPSS) credential can help you expand your qualifications, open new career paths, and strengthen cross-department collaboration.

Determining VO2max can be useful in all areas of health, from potential diagnosis of heart disease in the elderly to measuring peak performance in elite athletes. This article will discuss the physiological limiting factors of VO2max and the role each plays in cardiovascular improvement.

This review will focus on two of the most common and costliest injuries in rowing, as well as provide resources that can be used by strength coaches, rowing coaches, and self-coached rowers to inform training practices.

This article reviews the use of heart rate as a way to program cardiovascular exercise.

This Kinetic Select excerpt from Developing the Core describes how to perform the medicine ball twist variation as a rotational core movement.

It is important for coaches to understand the relationship between commonly measured variables (e.g., displacement, velocity, and force) and their relationship to the derived variable of power.

While acute inflammation is a normal response to high-intensity training, chronic inflammation results in depressed immunity and impaired muscle response. Learn about nutritional strategies to help balance exercise-induced inflammation to optimize performance outcomes.

This excerpt from Developing Speed describes an agility drill that aims to develop change of direction.

High standards improve the quality of professionals working within the fitness industry. This article provides steps that may help to increase income for personal trainers.

Psyching up can be an effective technique for improving confidence and getting an individual ready for a sporting performance. This infographic shows that psyching up can affect the performance of short-distance sprinting.