In this session from the 2015 NSCA National Conference, Nelson Ayotte—the Strength and Conditioning Coach for the St. Louis Blues National Hockey League (NHL) team—explains how to design and implement a specific energy systems program at the elite level. Ayotte demonstrates the characteristics of each of the three energy systems and their trainability, and explores how to understand the energy demands of a sport by analysis of its characteristics, competition intensity, and duration of efforts and recovery periods.

Social Media and High School Athletes

A sound year-round aerobic endurance training program should be divided into sport seasons with specific goals and objectives designed to improve performance gradually and progressively.

One area that can have great impact on the success of a high school athletic department is the strength and conditioning program. This session from the 2015 NSCA National Conference provides insights from Coach Kevin Vanderbush’s personal experience as the strength and conditioning coach at Ben Davis High School for 31 years. This session covers the most important components of strength and conditioning at the high school level and provides both the rationale behind certain practices as well as practical tips.

Regarded as a sport science advocate in Major League Soccer (MLS), follow David Tenney’s journey from sport coach to High Performance Director at Austin Football Club (FC). Tenney and NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager Eric McMahon begin by discussing increases in MLS staff and embracing the overlap between coaching and performance science staff. Tenney reflects on how experienced coaches often evolve toward mentorship, finding balance between “leader” and “practitioner.” The pair examine the new MLS-mandated performance scientist position, which requires the Certified Performance and Sport Scientist® (CPSS®) credential. Created to standardize the role and responsibilities, MLS performance scientists leverage data from GPS and force plates into effective and ethical takeaways. As President of the emerging Professional Soccer Performance Association (PSPA), Tenney shares his goals to create a network, gain representation, and increase credibility. Tenney and McMahon also explore the robust MLS developmental pipeline, interviewing strategy, and early career advice. Connect with David on Twitter/X: @davetenney or LinkedIn: @david-tenney | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs For a deeper look into sport science, explore career trends and how to leverage the CPSS certification into new career opportunities. Discover your next job or internship on the NSCA Job Board. This episode discusses David Tenney’s PhD dissertation, An Exploration of the Leadership Competencies Required for High-Performance Directors in North American Professional Sports Organizations, which includes interviews with NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and MLS leaders.

In this career series article, Coach McHenry provides a path for education, certification, knowledge, and networking essential to excelling as a successful high school strength and conditioning coach

Oxygen uptake (or consumption) is a measure of a person’s ability to take in oxygen and deliver it to the working tissues, and the ability of working tissues to use oxygen. During low-intensity exercise with a constant power output, oxygen uptake increases for the first few minutes until a steady state of uptake is reached.

Potentiation Warmups for Lifting at the High School Level and Beyond

PT 2021

This infographic summarizes how varying sled-loads increase different characteristics of sprint performance in male high school athletes.