The purpose of this article is to help provide recommendations of overall recovery modalities for tactical athletes.

This excerpt explains the role that lactate plays in exercise metabolism and how that information is useful for athletes to predict things like pacing, fitness, and efficacy of training programs.

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.

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.

In the first of a two part series, this article will briefly highlight the main components of a needs analysis and apply it to the context of soccer.

Growth and maturation are two important processes that occur throughout an individual’s childhood and adolescent years. The purpose of this article is to review the dimensions, proportions, stature, body mass, and maturational events of all female pediatric athletes in general. It also serves to identify how early sport specialization and different modes of training of the female pediatric athlete affects her growth and maturation.

This article discusses the importance of upper body power training for protective security personnel and its potential for an occupational performance marker.

Recent research has developed new ways of approaching macronutrient ratios that challenge the conventional way of thinking. This article takes a look at what is usually recommended for athletes, as well as different lower carbohydrate variations.

Knowledge of metabolic rate can help athletes as well as health-conscious people improve their exercise performance or obtain the fat-to-lean-mass ratio optimal for their personal situations. Two examples of how this works follow.

This article outlines some programming considerations for the recreational surfer.