Flexibility training is important because of the role that flexibility plays in improving movement performance and reducing the opportunity for injury. Learn more about the role of flexibility training in this exclusive excerpt from the book NSCA's Essentials of Personal Training, Second Edition, published by Human Kinetics.

This excerpt from NSCA’s Guide to Sport and Exercise Nutrition discusses the research surrounding the timing of hydration and its impact on sport performance for those participating in aerobic endurance exercise.

This excerpt explains the importance of optimal nutritional strategies in conjunction with good sleep hygiene and how that can help mitigate damaging effects of deployment and shift work on performance.

The purpose of this article is to identify and discuss some barriers and benefits of training initiatives among professional firefighters.

Brian Buck, Director of Sports at Sparta Science, talks to the NSCA Coaching Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about the new roles that data and technology are playing in the weight room. Topics under discussion include what young coaches should know getting into the field of strength and conditioning and the importance of building relationships and developing people. Find Brian on Twitter: @brianbuck6 | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs

This article breaks down periodization into sequencing and integrating training factors to optimize training outcomes.

This brief excerpt from NSCA’s Essentials of Sport Science discusses skill-based key performance indicators (KPIs).

Eric McMahon, Assistant MLB Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Texas Rangers Major League Baseball (MLB) team, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about his path to becoming an assistant strength and conditioning coach in MLB. Topics under discussion include utilizing the NSCA in helping his career development, velocity-based training, and managing a wide range of player profiles in the MLB. Find Eric McMahon on Twitter: @EricMcMahonCSCS or @rangerstrength and on Instagram: @rangerstrength | Find Scott on Instagram: @coachcaulfield

One challenge is to critically examine your own successes and failures to find a way to attribute the outcomes to something you can control and can change for the future. This could be as small as how you deal with a single person, or it could be a more in-depth examination of how you provide feedback to athletes and how you work with your own staff.

This article articulates important independent personal trainer and employee personal trainer differences, research and planning guidelines moving forward, important marketing considerations, financial literacy, and the importance of moral support.