This excerpt explains the importance of optimal nutritional strategies in conjunction with good sleep hygiene and how that can help mitigate damaging effects of deployment and shift work on performance.

While acute inflammation is a normal response to high-intensity training, chronic inflammation results in depressed immunity and impaired muscle response. Learn about nutritional strategies to help balance exercise-induced inflammation to optimize performance outcomes.

This article aims to offer guidance on the effects of certain medications, as well as help personal trainers and their clients in the consultation process with qualified physicians and pharmacists.

This excerpt will briefly discuss the importance of exercise, dosage of the supplement, efficacy, body mass changes, and adverse effects of creatine.

This excerpt from NSCA’s Guide to Sport and Exercise Nutrition briefly analyzes some of the research behind creatine and its application to sport performance.

Omega-3 fatty acids not only have positive impacts on the eyes, heart, brain, and joints, but also on muscle tissue. Omega-3 is a very important nutrient that can help an individual achieve optimal health and performance.

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.

This episode of the NSCA Coaching Podcast presents drug testing and anti-doping initiatives in elite sport. Team USA 2008 Olympian, Carissa Gump, discusses how her journey as an international level weightlifter led to her becoming an ambassador for fair competition. Gump shares lessons from overcoming a career-threatening injury prior to the 2008 Olympics, with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, and how a passion for supporting athletes has fueled her career as a sport business executive. Learn about opportunities that the NSCA Foundation has for aspiring strength and conditioning professionals, and how the NSCA Foundation serves to promote the philanthropy of the coaching profession. Learn more about clean sport and anti-doping by taking the USADA Coach’s Advantage Course for 0.2 NSCA CEUs. Check out NSCA Foundation resources to discover grants and scholarships available for strength and conditioning professionals. More episode links: USADA – U.S. Anti-Doping Agency TrueSport – Education for Coaches, Athletes, and Parents NSF for Sport – NSF Certified Nutritional Products Listing Global DRO – Drug Reference Online Drug Free Sport – Anti-Doping Services and Education Email Carissa at carissa.gump@nsca.com| Connect with Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs

Although it may be possible to increase skeletal muscle levels of carnitine by combining it with relatively large amounts of carbohydrates repeatedly throughout the day, or by taking it with choline, there is limited data that shows that carnitine is a fat-burner that results in significant reductions in fat mass.