Strength and conditioning professionals should consider mental skills training when creating a training program to maximize performance. Developing mental skills is a very long and challenging process; however, the benefits are worth it. Utilizing these skills will put the athlete in a position to succeed in sport, as well as life.
The catecholamines—primarily epinephrine, but also norepinephrine and dopamine—are secreted by the adrenal medulla and are important for the acute expression of strength and power because the hormones act as central motor stimulators and peripheral vascular dilators to enhance enzyme systems and calcium release in muscle.
Passion, while imperative to training, must be paired with energy, enthusiasm, intention, and knowledge to truly make a difference and create your “sonic boom.” Being an effective strength and conditioning coach is a lifestyle, not a job, and with continued passion, you can affect many lives positively.
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Youth practitioners need to be aware of the competing demands on young athletes’ lives in order to help them effectively balance these demands. Wellness provides a reference point that can be used to better understand the competing demands placed on youngsters by identifying the six dimensions of wellness.
Squatting may be commonplace in the weight room, but proper execution of this great exercise is difficult. Strength and conditioning coaches will need to properly select exercises and cue their athletes in a way that not only allows for a proper stabilizing strategy to occur, but promotes it.
This article provides an overview of the scientific evidence comparing specific motor control exercise intervention to using a more general exercise approach, and concludes by discussing the practical implications for strength and conditioning professionals from an exercise programming perspective.
Jim Davis, Director of the Good Athlete Project, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about developments in high school coaching, options for how to structure and fund a high school position, coaching for kindness, and the application of cognitive neuroscience to fitness and exercise.