Despite best efforts, musculoskeletal injuries among active duty service members continue to be pervasive and on the rise. Tactical facilitators can each do their part as a member of one team to avoid the injuries that are preventable and to rehabilitate, recondition, and optimize performance in the ones that do occur and are treatable.

Steve Hess, Chief Performance Officer at Panorama Orthopedics and Spine Center, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about creating buy-in with sport coaches and athletes, becoming one of the first National Basketball Association (NBA) strength and conditioning coaches, and staying current in an ever-changing field.

In this episode, we catch up with 2014 NSCA Assistant College Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year, Caitlin Quinn, about her current position at Toyota Racing. Quinn shares her path from working for over a decade in collegiate athletics at Florida State University to taking a leap into unfamiliar territory in National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon. Learn about her needs analysis for working with youth developmental drivers, as well as physiological, behavioral, and nutritional factors that impact racing performance. This episode shares an alternative view on strength and conditioning culture and the expectations that we place on ourselves as coaches. Quinn opens up about creating harmony between professional and personal lives, as well as seeking out the best environment to continue development as strength and conditioning professionals. You can connect with Caitlin on Instagram: @thequinn.44 | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs

Tactical facilitators need to understand the movement patterns that first responders encounter because they can have a profound effect on underlying biomechanics and may contribute to excessive tissue loads.

Understanding attentional styles can improve coaching effectiveness by allowing the coach to provide appropriate cues or methods for each athlete.

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.

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

Liane Blyn, Director of Olympic Sports at Appalachian State University and world record holding powerlifter, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about what she tries to impart to interns to prepare them for the field, how being a Certified Athletic Trainer (ATC) has benefitted her as a strength coach, and advice for up-and-coming strength and conditioning coaches.

This article will explore the concept of “pink taxing,” whereby females must expend more metabolic energy compared to their male counterparts to achieve the same scores in standard military fitness tests.

In this hands-on session from the 2018 Tactical Annual Training, Joel Raether, owner of Authentic Performance, discusses strategies and exercises he utilizes to improve trunk performance and resiliency, while subsequently demonstrating his progressions and regressions for these exercises.