High knee drills help develop coordinated front-side mechanics and are often used as part of a warm-up. This article details several high knee drills that you can use with your athletes.

This Kinetic Select excerpt from the Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, Fourth Edition describes the results from electromyography (EMG) studies on the neural adaptations to anaerobic training.

This article is the 12th in 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.

Do you fear public speaking? It may seem counterintuitive for coaches who command the weight room every day, but it’s more common than you’d think. On the floor with your athletes, you’re in your element, but shifting audiences to administrators can have you second-guessing. Honing your communication and public speaking skills shouldn’t be saved until you’re eyeing a promotion — Coaching & Presentation Skills Coach Jenny Rearick advises getting in as many early reps as possible. Combining her experience as a collegiate athlete, strength and conditioning coach, and corporate marketer, Jenny founded Fit to Speak to empower fitness professionals in the “sport” of public speaking. Discover concrete strategies like the BLUF method to make sure your key message is heard. Learn how to seek out low-risk scenarios that can transform your speaking skills from just getting by to getting ahead. Plus, don’t miss her simple mindset shift to ease pre-presentation nerves. Connect with Jenny on Instagram at: @fit_to_speak or online at: fit-to-speak.com | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs Check out Jenny’s episodes in the new NSCA Presenter Playbook series on NSCA TV. Ready to take the big stage? Apply online to speak at a 2025 NSCA event before the May 15 deadline. BONUS: Answer Bryan Mann’s “call to arms!” Get involved locally and give back to your strength and conditioning community at NSCA.com/Volunteer

This excerpt from Developing Power explains how to use bands for variable resistance training.

This TSAC Report article discusses incorporating stress inoculation to help first responders reduce stress response and expedite recovery. Visit NSCA online to learn more about exercise research.

The path to actual integration of mental and physical training for the tactical athlete is paved with growing empiricism. The current challenge is to sustain creative development of functional approaches and demonstrate that integration can deliver potential benefits.

Acceleration is the rate of change in velocity, so this phase of sprinting is critical for changing directions as rapidly and efficiently as possible. Optimal technique for linear sprinting in the acceleration phase involves four factors that maximize stride length and frequency.

Learn about middle school and high school strength and conditioning from 2022 NSCA Coaches Conference presenter Elton Crochran. Coach “Croc” shares his story about transitioning from collegiate strength and conditioning to his work as the Strength and Conditioning Coordinator at Randolph Field School District in San Antonio, TX. Crochran is currently the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Veterans Memorial High School. He talks about his hands-on coaching session from Coaches Conference, as well as developmental milestones across key stages of long-term athlete development. Find “Coach Croc” on Instagram: @ecrock2 or Twitter: @TheCrocShow| Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs

This article discusses the influence of lower-body power on soccer performance in collegiate female soccer players. It also covers testing for muscular power qualities, different training modalities to use, and sample training programs as examples.