This column from the TSAC Report explores the impact of physical fitness and cardiovascular disease risk factors among firefighters and law enforcement officers. Visit NSCA online to learn more about tactical fitness.

Most people suffer from some degree of injury, illness, or disease at some point. As a result, there is a need for strength and conditioning professionals who can develop effective exercise programs for people with disabilities.

This article focuses on the requirements that must be met for sailors to pass a Physical Fitness Assessment (PFA), and resources the Command Fitness Leader (CFL) and tactical facilitator have at their disposal to assist sailors. In addition, an example program is provided to help support sailors struggling to meet PFA requirements.

Rob Orr, co-lead of Bond University’s Tactical Research Unit, explains the differences in load carriage requirements and contexts between different tactical forces, and how to prepare tactical personnel for load-carriage tasks. This session from the NSCA’s 2018 Tactical Annual Training also looks at how to employ fitness assessments to determine future load carriage requirements.

This article explains how having the right systems in place (such as accounting, training, and marketing) can help a personal trainer take his or her business to the next level.

In this article, three outstanding fitness professionals share their thoughts and experiences on the importance of communication in the personal training field.

Occupational police tests described in the literature can serve as indicators of the occupational performance of their employees. In addition, practitioners in charge of police training should develop and employ obstacle courses composed of critical work tasks, as they may be strongly related to tests of aerobic endurance, strength, muscular endurance, and agility.

HRV is thought to provide objective insight into understanding fatigue, “trainability,” and “readiness” to perform in athletic populations. Evolving access to HRV data may enhance the understanding of individualized fitness and training responses in tactical athletes.

Kurt Hester, Head of Sports Performance at Louisiana Tech University, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about his journey from weight lifting at 12 years old to training collegiate football athletes today. Topics under discussion include starting a business, pioneering strength and conditioning, and the interview process. Find Kurt on Twitter: @thekurthester or on Instagram: @hesterkurt | Find Scott on Instagram: @coachcaulfield

In the push for personal training sales, many gyms will use assessment protocols as a way to prove to clients that they can indeed benefit from personal training. This article examines the merits behind this concept.