This consensus statement provides specific conditioning recommendations with the intent of ending conditioning-related morbidity and deaths of secondary school athletes. Most deaths in sports are preventable; our charge is to meet this expectation.

A qualified strength and conditioning professional in the high school environment can benefit both the school and the students in a number of ways, including injury reduction, improved performance, and risk management.

Strength and conditioning professionals who incorporate a properly designed and supervised training program can help their young athletes train, compete, and reduce the likelihood of injury.

This article will briefly discuss physiological and psychological adaptations, as well as review general guidelines for beginning aerobic and resistance training exercise during pregnancy.

The loading intensity a person chooses depends on his or her goals and training status (i.e., whether the person is a trained athlete or a sedentary individual). Ultimately, the number of repetitions you can perform at a given intensity or load determines the effects of training on strength develop.

When isolating aerobic capacity as a determinant of performance, traditional interventions have focused on increasing an individual’s VO2max. Based on the large acute improvements from a single positive psychology research study, investigations into the application of integrated psychophysiological strategies to optimize performance should be explored.

Mark Verstegen

This article in NSCA Coach explores how developmental psychology enhances coaching in high school strength settings. Visit us online to learn more on high school strength training and exercise science.

Dr. Allison Randall, Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Vanderbilt University Women’s Basketball Program, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about how her path to the 2012 London Olympic Games as an athlete led her to pursue the strength and conditioning profession. Topics include the use of appropriate cueing strategies to optimize work with young athletes, differences with team versus individual sports, and the importance of education for coaches. Find Dr. Randall on Twitter: @AllisonVRandall or Instagram: @allisonvrandall | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs

In this career series article, developing personal training skills to train special populations is discussed; it includes starting out as a novice through the expert level.