This session from the NSCA’s 2015 TSAC Annual Training provide examples of how different agencies (i.e., fire, military, and police) have implemented legally defensible fitness tests. Previous experiences will be shared as well as general recommendations on how to implement a scientifically-based testing battery.

Ivan Lewis, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Seattle Seahawks National Football League (NFL) team, shares his journey to becoming a strength coach, advice on professional development, how he hires people, and how to work in collaboration with other sports medicine professionals to help athletes return-to-play.

With the need to be ready under any circumstances from operational missions to physical training, understanding how the adrenal gland functions is important for any tactical athlete. The adrenal gland mediates performance and can have a negative effect on the body’s physiology when exhausted. It is vital to understand the interventions needed to obviate the negative effects and enhance the positive aspects of such physiological function. This session from the 2015 TSAC Annual Training sheds light on this important physiological system that impacts both physical health and functional performance.

Because fitness test results are part of performance evaluations, smaller service members have an advantage in terms of attaining promotions, despite evidence that suggests that greater body size, strength, power, and load carrying capacity is correlated with tactical performance.

The Physical Readiness Training Manual includes many exercises intended to keep military personnel in optimal physical condition while staying at a low risk to injury. Additionally, the application of progressive overload may be beneficial to periodization programming in ROTC cadet preparation for the Army Physical Fitness Test.

This article explores what a facility-level culture may look like, identifies some of the expected benefits of purposely developing that culture, and discusses some misalignment between what coaches say they want the culture to feel like and the message the athletes are likely to receive.

This article is an overview of several studies that look into the effects of intensity and volume in the training of combat soldiers and its relation to injury.

This article is the first 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 communities.

This article is the first of a continuing series on practical, evidence-based approaches to reducing the risk of injury while developing tactical strength and conditioning. The focus of this article is on how to reduce non-contact ACL rupture injuries from turf and artificial fields.

What makes a well-rounded athlete, and more importantly, how do you train them? Andy Zalaiskalns, MARSOC Human Performance Strength and Conditioning Coach, discusses a systemic approach to developing the well-rounded tactical athlete.