Coaches can also benefit from understanding the concepts of positive and negative reinforcement and positive and negative punishment as they relate to motivation. Although coaches use a mixture of both reward and punishment, using rewards and a positive approach is arguably the best approach because it focuses on what athletes should do and what they did right.

This book excerpt is from Developing Agility and Quickness, Second Edition and goes over change of direction drills to help with speed and power development as well as an athletes cognitive and decision making skills.

The ability to manage the adaptive response, handle accumulated fatigue, and capitalize on the aftereffects established from training is central to the training process.

This article emphasizes environmental and nutritional dimensions in which there is enough robust evidence to make meaningful recommendations for sustainable nutrition practices.

Mike Snowden, University of Alabama Men’s Basketball Strength Coach, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about having a genuine relationship with head sport coaches. Topics under discussion include building players into the program, creating buy-in, and embracing new and unique career opportunities. Find Mike on Instagram: @mike__snowden or Twitter: @Mike__Snowden | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs

Molly Galbraith, Woman-in-Charge at Girls Gone Strong, talks to the former NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about the history of bringing Girls Gone Strong to fruition and filling the void of fitness information geared towards women. Topics under discussion include getting involved with the fitness industry and the NSCA, how to better coach women in a fitness setting, and creating educational content to support those who want to learn more. Find Molly on Instagram: @themollygalbraith or @thegirlsgonestrong

In the first of a two part series, this article will briefly highlight the main components of a needs analysis and apply it to the context of soccer.

NSCA Member Spotlight: Diane Homan shares her journey from club volleyball to coaching youth and professional athletes, built on NSCA credentials and community.

This three-part series shows how personal trainers can create a physically literate cradle-to-grave culture for all, with LTAD as the framework.

In recent years, performance and prevention strategies have grown to include monitoring training load (TL) to understand fatigue and the potential effects of fatigue on training adaptation and performance.