This article reviews the basics of the Olympic lifts, including strength base, skill transfer, snatch progressions, and clean and jerk progressions. This article also covers several suggested practices for strength and conditioning coaches to fine-tune and progress learning and coaching of the lifts.

This article explores the possible causes of low back pain, as well as three potential strategies that a personal trainer may use to work with someone dealing with low back pain.

This article describes an innovative approach that was used to implement a long-term athletic development (LTAD) program in a health club, and includes the steps used for implementation.

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.

One method that is becoming increasingly popular for building strength, stability, and power in the shoulder joint is the use of barbells attached to a stable base known as a “landmine.”

The focus of this article is to describe the physiological needs of soccer athletes and then provide assessments for testing endurance of athletes of various ages, abilities, and genders.

Why are some behaviors so easy to change while others are so excruciatingly difficult? In this session from the 2015 NSCA Personal Trainers Conference, Annette Lang explains how to identify specific components that have contributed to success—or lack thereof—in changing behaviors and ultimately, habits.

Learn a 9-step plan for opening your own gym. In this session from the NSCA’s 2018 Personal Trainers Conference, David Crump shares his experience owning a facility.

Knowledge of metabolic rate can help athletes as well as health-conscious people improve their exercise performance or obtain the fat-to-lean-mass ratio optimal for their personal situations. Two examples of how this works follow.

The purposes of assessment are to gather baseline data and to provide a basis for developing goals and effective exercise programs. Gathering and evaluating the various pieces of information give the personal trainer a broader perspective of the client. The process and the data collected assist the trainer in identifying potential areas of injury and reasonable starting points for recommended intensities and volumes of exercise based on the goals and fitness outcomes.