Velocity-based training (VBT) is an increasingly popular programming strategy used by strength and conditioning professionals to develop their athlete’s ability to express force rapidly. To implement the varying forms of VBT effectively within their training regimes, strength and conditioning professionals need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of strategies, such as predicting 1 repetition maximum using the load-velocity profile, modulating training loads using the load-velocity profile, and controlling training volume using the magnitude of velocity-loss. The aim of this review was to highlight these strengths and weaknesses and then provide practical examples of when each programming strategy may be most effectively implemented.

This article serves as a guide for current and future strength and conditioning professionals who oversee program design for fire academy recruits. This includes a summarized needs analysis and a sample training program that considers the unique challenges of the fire academy.

Hayley Legg, the NSCA Provincial Director for Saskatoon and senior lecturer at St. Mary’s University in London, presents on training the older adult. This includes considerations during the aging process, training implications across the spectrum, and the role of the strength and conditioning practitioner.

Military and law enforcement needs analyses are not specifically matched to firefighting, but those training styles are better than basic fitness regimens or no regimen at all. For firefighters who are attracted to other styles of training not specific to firefighting, there are ways to train for all the demands of firefighting without making the firefighter use training modalities that they dislike or are not comfortable using.

In this session from the NSCA’s 2017 TSAC Annual Training, Matt Devine demonstrates the use of physical therapy exercises to enhance restorative and strength accessory work appropriate for various injury histories. Also discussed is a mindfulness practice to enhance recovery from injury and self-regulation.

This article shares various options for integrating mental skills training into existing strength and conditioning programs. Such simultaneous, dual-training approaches may better prepare officers for the realities of occupational performance.

Read the NSCA’s commitment to safer youth sports as we endorse Project Play’s ACL Pledge, advancing evidence-based education and training to reduce injury risk.

The top concern of strength coaches should always be athlete safety. For this reason, the NSCA has compiled a list of resources to raise the standard of care when working as a strength coach at any level. By reading and sharing these examples of standards and guidelines, policies and procedures, position statements on vital topics, mental health best practices, and more, strength coaches can push to increase the safety of athletes around the world.

This article will examine the physical demands of soccer players and discuss why repeated sprint ability (RSA) is considered highly important in the performance of these athletes.