With the current rise in overweight individuals, obesity, prediabetes, and diabetes, the role of qualified personal trainers is absolutely crucial for creating a more active and healthy society.

What's behind enduring success at the highest level of college athletics? Kate Smith, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at the University of Michigan, shares insights from nearly 14 years of experience coaching multiple sports in a competitive collegiate environment. Smith emphasizes sustained excellence through adaptability, genuine curiosity, and openness to opportunities — even outside of athletics. Drawing on her private-sector experiences, she explains how diverse roles helped shape her flexible, athlete-centered philosophy. Smith candidly addresses current collegiate challenges, including navigating Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) distractions and adjusting motivational strategies across team cultures and generations. As a Certified Performance and Sport Scientist® (CPSS®), Smith highlights how integrating data-driven insights helps her create a more effective training environment. This expertise uniquely positions her to bridge athletics with academics, deepening collaboration on campus-wide performance initiatives. Learn how to implement practical strategies for keeping athletes engaged amidst external pressures, leverage performance data meaningfully, and continually refresh your coaching approach. Connect with Kate via email at kannehay@umich.edu and on Instagram: @katehaycock | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs and LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs

This article dives into the extensive benefits of strength training for aging exercisers, emphasizing its positive effects on muscle mass, bone density, balance, and metabolic health.

This article provides essential guidelines for athletes beginning a strength and conditioning program that ensures safety and productivity of the training sessions.

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.

While pharmaceutical treatment is complex, dynamic, and important for optimal glycemic control, exercise clearly plays a critical, but often overlooked, role in the overall treatment plan for patients with T2D or those at risk of developing it.

In this session from the 2016 NSCA Coaches Conference, Matthew Chandler explains how to implement the core lifts (cleans, snatches, squat variations, deadlift variations) for high school athletes throughout a multi–sport demographic. Coach Chandler explains adjustments that can be utilized with groups that have mixed ability levels in order to maximize the understanding and execution of each lift.

The extent to which a special operator’s training schedule can be planned in advance is often limited due to their unpredictable operational demands. However, there may be opportunities to plan for specific training during certain periods.

This article in NSCA Coach examines whether athletic coaches, educators, and institutions are adequately prepared to support athletes through athletic retirement. Visit NSCA online to learn more on LTAD and coaching strategies.

In this first of a five-part series, Rachel Balkovec—the first female strength and conditioning coach in the history of professional baseball—provides an overview of her journey and how she got into professional baseball. This video starts with her recruitment by the University of New Mexico and includes her journeys to the Dominican Republic.