This is an excerpt from NSCA's Essentials of Sport Science by NSCA -National Strength & Conditioning Association, Duncan N. French & Lorena Torres-Ronda.

Nearly all fitness professionals are forced to address low back pain (LBP) to some extent, regardless of the age or population with which they work. The purpose of this article is to shed light on contemporary research surrounding LBP.

This article will explore the concept of “pink taxing,” whereby females must expend more metabolic energy compared to their male counterparts to achieve the same scores in standard military fitness tests.

The exerciser with 8 to 12 months of training experience can begin to include exercise complexes that combine trunk movement patterns with multijoint movements. Single-plane and multiplane movements can be performed using both open- and closed-chain exercises.

This excerpt briefly explains nutrition periodization for different training cycles to help maximize performance for endurance athletes.

Personal trainers should be aware of the physiological changes during pregnancy for each trimester in order to provide appropriate exercise modifications and alternatives for their prenatal clients, to positively influence overall health.

Dr. Sara Erdner, author of “Dear Coach: What I Wish I Could Have Told You, Letters from Your Athletes,” talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about the coach-athlete relationship. Topics under discussion include coaching education, giving athletes a platform to be heard, and what truly builds mental toughness and resiliency. Find Dr. Erdner on Twitter: @doc_serdner | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs

Developing Power brings an explosive take on the push-up and explains the technique behind the depth-drop push-up for upper body power development.

This article will present a sample program that was implemented successfully by a group of older women in competition, and discuss the general exercise principles utilized to increase BMD in postmenopausal women.

This book excerpt explains how to perform the box step-off landing assessment, which is used to determine an athlete’s readiness before beginning a program in agility and quickness.