The purpose of this article is to provide an introduction to contrast training, including how it is defined, what variables are utilized, and examples of how to use it in training.
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.
This second article of a two-part series continues the discussion of long-term athletic development (LTAD). This article provides practical application of the LTAD principles by examining two sample programs.
CoachesNutritionProgram designOrganization and Administration
From the 2021 NSCA’s Coaches Conference, Matthew Ibrahim, Co-Owner, Director of Strength and Conditioning, and Internship Coordinator at TD Athletes Edge, discusses how to help athletes develop the skills necessary to build the brakes in the athletic development process. Other topics covered include how to create a better understanding of the transfer from training in the weight room to sport performance.
For emerging athletes to move properly and develop athletic skills, they must first develop proficiency in fundamental motor skills. The ABCs of athleticism, therefore, must reflect the development of fundamental motor skills first, and specific athletic skills second.
Personal trainersCoachesExercise TechniqueProgram design
The purpose of this article is to show athletes and coaches how plantar fasciitis is diagnosed, treated, and transitioned back to athletic training for the athlete.
CoachesExercise ScienceProgram designTesting and Evaluation
The purpose of this article is to help disseminate information on the thermal environment during track meets, risk management, and thermal reducing approaches coaches, athletes, and sports medicine personnel can employ for improved athletic performance in a hot environment.
This article from Personal Training Quarterly reviews tart cherry supplementation and its role in strength training. Visit NSCA online to read more on athletic performance and sport nutrition.
Personal trainersExercise ScienceNutritionProgram designTesting and EvaluationClient Consultation|AssessmentBasic Pathophysiology and Science of Health Status or Condition, Disorder, or DiseaseProfessional Development
Veteran Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA), Bill Foran, joins the NSCA Coaching Podcast and reflects on a more than four-decade coaching career. Foran discusses his early beginnings teaching elementary school physical education, with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager Eric McMahon, and what led him towards pursuing collegiate and professional sports strength and conditioning. Foran shares stories of resourcefulness from the early days, before the strength and conditioning field was formally defined, up to more recent years using sport science technology and foundational core principles to inform training practices for elite NBA players, such as Lebron James and Shaquille O’Neal. This episode is informative for strength and conditioning coaches at any level, emphasizing the importance of building lasting relationships with athletes and head coaches, as well as taking advantage of all that the NSCA has to offer.
Reach out to Coach Foran at by email at bforan@heat.com | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs
Learn more about NBA strength and conditioning with the National Basketball Strength and Conditioning Association (NBSCA), an Official Sport Partner of the NSCA.