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.

This article defines and reviews the allostatic load theory in tactical personnel.

The purpose of this article is to identify and discuss the difficulties that can arise when performing physiological-based research with firefighters.

This article will discuss specific measures of stress that can be monitored, as well as coping skills to mitigate the negative effects of stress.

The purpose of this article is to discuss caffeine use in tactical populations and provide recommendations for responsible consumption.

This article in NSCA Coach explores the potential cognitive benefits of creatine supplementation across diverse populations and conditions. Visit us online to learn more about nutrition and exercise science.

The goal of this article is to promote professional dialogue and broaden the knowledge of ways to use nutrition and recovery techniques to work with the physiological changes that come throughout the menstrual cycle.

The purpose of this article is to review the physiological determinants of police work, provide the strength and conditioning professional with an overview of comm on constraints associated with training police officers, discuss the role of autoregulated training, and provide programming recommendations for training police officers around their patrol shifts.

This article is part of a continuing series that examines pertinent and recent tactical strength and conditioning research reviews.

This article explains the potential benefits of microdosing training with tactical athletes.