Athletes are highly vulnerable to pervasive supplement marketing and are largely unaware of how real, whole–food solutions stack up to some of the most popular supplements on the market. In this session from the NSCA’s 2016 Coaches Conference, sports dietitian Lara Gray presents a variety of nutrient profile comparisons between top–selling sports supplements and whole–food options that can alternatively provide sustainable, cost–effective solutions to common training goals.

This article discusses the effects of instability on force and velocity throughout the body.

Integrating unbalanced load training into a strength or hypertrophy phase, or any workout program, can add a tremendous amount of demand on the lateral aspects of the core to help the athlete develop a strong core. Using unbalanced load training may help produce increases in athleticism, balance, and motor coordination without sacrificing strength or explosiveness.

This article seeks to help simplify the exercise selection process by providing clarity on how different exercises can aid in enhancing performance and potentially reduce injury risk.

This infographic reviews a simple averaging system for athlete profiling, known as the total score of athleticism.

Monitoring training load is essential for determining if athletes are adapting positively or negatively to their training program. This article goes over the various measurement metrics and includes recommendations to monitor training load for football athletes.

This excerpt from Strength Training briefly discusses glycemic index and glycemic load.

Learn practical programming ideas to implement in youth speed training programs. In this session from the NSCA’s 2017 National Conference, Lance Walker explains how to leverage the differences between starting, acceleration, and maximum velocity dynamics (movement preparation) and plyometrics. Learn about the most common errors made by young athletes when training linear speed with practical tools, teachings, and contextual cues.

Due to the principle of specificity, training should be tailored to the goal of the lifter in terms of the prioritization of strength, hypertrophy, health, and functional outcomes. If the goal is muscular hypertrophy, it may be beneficial to vary the repetition range, and to utilize a variety of loads and loading strategies in the pursuit of maximizing hypertrophy.

This excerpt from Developing Power explains how to use bands for variable resistance training.