World renowned powerlifter, Matt Wenning, addresses the topic of warm-ups during the 2019 Coaches Conference. Wenning discusses a unique warm-up strategy that coaches can utilize to address athletes’ weak points and reduce the risk of injury through potentiation, pre-fatiguing muscles, and variety in exercise selection.

This excerpt from NSCA's Essentials of Tactical Strength and Conditioning aims to educate on some fundamentals of energy systems training in tactical personnel.

The Truth and Technique of Glute Training

The Truth and Technique of Glute Training

The purpose of this article is to strongly suggest and offer a pragmatic and stepwise approach that takes into account the ideas and concepts of shared decision making that allows for the “best practices,” pre-participation screenings, evaluations, and stratification flow charts for safe and effective return to play for athletes.

The path to the top is not always linear. For Jill Costanza, it included returning to school and stops in collegiate and military performance before becoming Director of Sport Science and Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach with the National Football League (NFL) Detroit Lions. Costanza describes today’s sport science landscape as a “Wild West,” where definitions differ by perspective. Her focus centers on assessing the athlete and program effectiveness against the demands of the game to identify holistic interventions. She outlines how intentional systems, a clear communication funnel, and data visualizations help athletes and stakeholders understand the “why,” build buy-in, and tap into competitiveness. Addressing common misconceptions, Costanza clarifies that elite athletes can still have foundational qualities that need rewiring. She emphasizes movement quality, proprioception, and breathing while adapting for individual needs and neurological fatigue. Learn how to build sport science systems, turn insights into action, and keep progressing on your professional path. Reach out to Jill by email at: jill.costanza@lions.nfl.net | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs and LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs Join the NSCA Football Special Interest Group (SIG) and explore 24 other specialized communities designed to support your development on the Special Interest Groups page.

Before implementing an agility training program, baseline measures of change of direction ability should be assessed. This article presents norms for three tests that can be used to assess change of direction ability.

The purpose of this article is to present and discuss the phases of the pull that precede the power position, as well as present some suggestions for how to coach these positions.

High knee drills help develop coordinated front-side mechanics and are often used as part of a warm-up. This article details several high knee drills that you can use with your athletes.

This book excerpt from Developing Agility and Quickness describes the windows of opportunity in youth athletes to time progressions in speed and agility training with their biological and chronological development.