Should personal trainers include the crunch exercise in an exercise program? The answer should always be, “it depends;” however, arriving at the best answer requires a process.

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.

This article will explore the wide-ranging benefits of photobiomodulation therapy (PBM), specifically in the context of NCAA athletes, and how it has the potential to become a vital tool.

Veteran Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA), Bill Foran, joins the NSCA Coaching Podcast and reflects on a more than four-decade coaching career. Foran discusses his early beginnings teaching elementary school physical education, with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager Eric McMahon, and what led him towards pursuing collegiate and professional sports strength and conditioning. Foran shares stories of resourcefulness from the early days, before the strength and conditioning field was formally defined, up to more recent years using sport science technology and foundational core principles to inform training practices for elite NBA players, such as Lebron James and Shaquille O’Neal. This episode is informative for strength and conditioning coaches at any level, emphasizing the importance of building lasting relationships with athletes and head coaches, as well as taking advantage of all that the NSCA has to offer. Reach out to Coach Foran at by email at bforan@heat.com | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs Learn more about NBA strength and conditioning with the National Basketball Strength and Conditioning Association (NBSCA), an Official Sport Partner of the NSCA.

This article takes a closer look at training strength and stiffness in connective tissues.

This article highlights four non-traditional calf exercises that can immediately be used in strength programs for improving calf strength while also increasing ankle dorsiflexion mobility.

A client asks you about melatonin, are you prepared to answer? This article explores the efficacy and safety of supplemental melatonin as a sleep aid in adults.

This article will explore aspects of the struggle of parents to maintain personal wellness with pre-school age children and offer strategies that may help personal trainers or their clients increase quality of life

Matt Wenning a renowned power lifter and strength and conditioning coach who has over 12,000 hours of experience as a Division I college strength coach in a variety of sports, including football, track and field, swimming, baseball, as well as United States Army Rangers, firefighters, triathletes, and general populations. Matt talks to the NSCA’s Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield. Matt’s discusses the obstacles he had to go through both academically (undergrad and grad school) and physically (powerlifting) to get where he is today.

In the second of this two part series, this article will discuss program design with an emphasis on integrating lower limb plyometric training into soccer training to enhance power actions, as well as, consider high school athletes’ biological characteristics and long-term athletic development (LTAD).