Mentorship isn’t flawless — and that’s where its power lies. Erik Hernandez, Associate Director for Sports Performance – Olympic Sports at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, has built his career on turning imperfect scenarios into lasting lessons for athletes and young coaches alike. For over 14 years at UNC, he has guided lacrosse, volleyball, and golf, adapting his voice to each culture while holding firm to shared standards of accountability and growth. Hernandez streamlines training into a three-phase model — explosive, strength, and remedial — yet emphasizes that delivery and communication matter more than complexity. He reminds athletes, “modifications are part of progress,” linking health, recovery, and seasonal demands to long-term development. For interns and early-career coaches, his advice is clear: earn mentors by serving others, and learn from every scenario, even the imperfect ones. Hear how mentorship, adaptability, and athlete health point the way forward for stronger teams and longer careers. Reach out to Coach Hernandez on Instagram: @hernandezstrength or by email: ehhernan@email.unc.edu | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs and LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs Answer Bryan Mann’s “call to arms!” Many volunteer applications are open now through December 15. Step up and give back to your strength and conditioning community at NSCA.com/Volunteer.

Joe Kenn, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Carolina Panthers, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about… well… a little bit of everything.

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.

Tactical professionals are often met with jobs that require long periods of sedentary time. This article provides practical strategies for how to minimize the negative impact of chronic sitting for the tactical professional.

Learn how to perform a power skip as part of a dynamic warm-up. This video demonstrates proper technique for performing a power skip.

Learn how to perform a C skip as part of a dynamic warm-up routine. This video demonstrates proper technique for performing a C skip.

In this hands-on session from the NSCA’s 2018 Personal Trainers Conference, Bobby Smith, Owner and Director of Sports Performance at Reach Your Potential Training, explains and demonstrates his multi-phase dynamic warm-up system.

This is my story of how a strength and conditioning coach influenced not only one of Pakistan’s up and coming cricket team’s approach to fitness and lifestyle, but also that of the wider community.

For emerging athletes to move properly and develop athletic skills, they must first develop proficiency in fundamental motor skills. The ABCs of athleticism, therefore, must reflect the development of fundamental motor skills first, and specific athletic skills second.

Nick Savage, Director of Football Strength and Conditioning at the University of Florida, demonstrates warm-up complexes and Olympic-style lifting progressions to improve force development.