Brett Bartholomew talks about the risks posed to athletes who are partaking in randomized and unstructured training practices often supervised by non-certified professionals. This session from the NSCA’s 2017 Coaches Conference will help you identify ways in which a “skills not drills” approach towards movement training design can not only lead to enhanced transfer of training to the competitive environment, but also better retention on behalf of the athlete as they progress through future training.

Confused about which diet is best? Alan Aragon examines the evidence behind the claims made by each of the main diet perspectives in this session from the 2015 NSCA Personal Trainers Conference. The questions answered include: “which diet is best for weight loss?” and “which diet is best for promoting health and preventing cardiovascular disease?” Individual goals and circumstances will be discussed as well as practical applications.

Learn the basics of conducting a needs analysis for tactical athletes based on the athlete’s goals and desired outcomes, assessments, limitations on workout frequency and duration, equipment availability, health and injury status, and occupational physiological demands.

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.

Given the high prevalence of injuries that occur during rucking, implementing an injury prevention program is paramount. Disseminating information on proper injury prevention training methods and reducing the risk of ruck-related back injuries can improve overall mission readiness with minimal lost training time.

Personal training clients may need to make both exercise and nutrition changes to achieve their goals. Combining the nutritional knowledge of registered dietitians and training aspects of personal trainers may be of benefit to clients.

A constant long-term mindset of system improvement, although often time consuming at first, will pay big dividends in the long run. All of this is done with the intent of spending more time on what truly matters: making money by helping people and changing lives.

Herbs, spices, and other whole foods contain bioactive substances that can purportedly improve health and performance in a variety of ways from increased metabolism, antioxidant activity, gastrointestinal health, greater neurotransmitter production, and more. In this session from the NSCA 2015 Personal Trainers Conference, Dr. Carwyn Sharp describes and defines nutraceuticals and functional foods, issues of potency and standardization, their potential uses for health and performance, future directions, and current trending products.

Jeff Connors, who retired after a staggering 31-year collegiate coaching career, talks to the former NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about being a servant to athletes and contributing to their lives. Topics under discussion include “surviving” head coaching changes, learning from others in the field, and using his coaching experiences to write books.

This article examines potential reasons why the “specialist” personal trainer may be able to thrive over the “one-stop shop” personal trainer.