This article sets out to address and dispel these myths, offering evidence-based insights into the significance, safety, and multifaceted benefits of strength training for youth.

This NSCA Coach article offers a brief description on the various methods for setting resistance training loads. Visit NSCA online to read more on strength training and program development.

Triathlons are unique compared to other sports as athletes are required to master three distinct disciplines: swimming, cycling, and running. This article lays out a training program that focuses on a balance between strength training and sport training to avoid overtraining and overuse injuries and to maximize performance in a multi-sport athlete.

As Director of Sport Science at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), Heather Farmer spearheads comprehensive integration efforts. This includes ensuring every stakeholder, from sport performance staff to academic advisors, has a seat at the table. Farmer also outlines developing an internship and graduate assistantship program to meet staffing needs and offer opportunities for practical experience. She recounts how leveraging relationships — not data — has been her key to scalability. Additionally, Farmer recognizes that to make an impact, she must meet athletes and sport coaches where they are, which she uncovers through “highlights” and “hurdles.” She suggests that sport scientists with strength and conditioning backgrounds, like herself, are uniquely equipped to excel due to their communication skills. Farmer and McMahon also discuss avoiding “analysis paralysis” and how to incorporate data to elevate the student-athlete experience — an unignorable factor as athletes bring an element of “self” in the age of name, image and likeness (NIL). Reach out to Heather by email at: heather.farmer@unlv.edu | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs

The purpose of this article is to describe the 165-lb body drag as performed by California law enforcement recruits in order to graduate academy.

This article shares various options for integrating mental skills training into existing strength and conditioning programs. Such simultaneous, dual-training approaches may better prepare officers for the realities of occupational performance.

This research review covers topics such as the effects of police officer equipment loads, military occupational specialties, and the effects of protective clothing and self-contained breathing apparatus for firefighters.

There is no argument that periodization is successful, and that different models can be applied with success in different fashions. The question of how shift work really affects a periodized program—more specifically firefighter shift work—is less clear.

Evidence suggests a positive relationship between physical activity, exercise, and mental health. Exercise as a treatment modality is now being considered alongside psychotherapeutic and pharmacological approaches, and the role of specifically trained exercise specialists and personal trainers is an important component of the multi-disciplinary team.

This TSAC Report article highlights the need for recovery strategies to support both physical readiness and psychological resilience in military training. Visit NSCA online to learn more about tactical athletes.