Maura Bergan, Associate Professor of Exercise Science and Sports Studies at Springfield College, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about social media in the exercise science field, key career decisions, and qualities and values that help you as a coach.

How do you build a sustainable high-performance culture despite yearly assistant coach rotations and demanding schedules? Alice Read, Assistant Athletic Director for Sport Performance at Vassar College, shares expertise from managing 29 teams and 600 student-athletes while continuously "riding the rollercoaster" of Division III scheduling. Read explores strategies for maintaining program continuity, including matching assistant coaches to sports based on strengths and growth areas. She emphasizes advocating for daily staff lifts to test and refine programs firsthand. In a full-circle moment, Read, once an NSCA Foundation Assistantship Recipient, now serves on the committee awarding these opportunities, demonstrating the value of early professional involvement. She also discusses collaborative problem solving within the Liberty League Strength and Conditioning Committee and explains how the College Coaches Professional Development Group (PDG) provided boots-on-the-ground guidance for the 2024 NSCA Strategic Plan. Tune in for actionable insights on mentorship, collaboration, and longevity in collegiate strength and conditioning. Connect with Alice via email at aread@vassar.edu and on Instagram: @ajpr3 and @vassar_strong | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs and LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs

This article demonstrates how strength and conditioning coaches can coach power through non-traditional weightlifting exercises that can be taught quickly, to large groups, with less extensive technique correction.

With each experience of training a new client comes an opportunity to research, consult, and learn something new. The career-driven personal trainer will learn from their mistakes, build on their successes, and utilize their knowledge base with each new client they encounter.

One of the most important skills for tactical facilitators to have is the ability to influence others. One way tactical facilitators can improve their influence is through education, observation, and participation.

This column will explore specific investigations that evaluate the impact of PA and fitness on mental and physical health outcomes among firefighters and law enforcement officers.

This is an excerpt from NSCA's Essentials of Sport Science by NSCA -National Strength & Conditioning Association, Duncan N. French & Lorena Torres-Ronda.

NSCA President Greg Haff shares the key takeaways from recent strategic plan meetings and outlines the organization’s commitment to advancing the strength and conditioning profession.

This article from Developing Agility briefly discusses the importance of age-appropriate speed and agility drills.

Strength and conditioning coaches should strive to teach athletes in a way they can understand: by hearing, seeing, and practicing. This article describes some techniques that a coach can use to accomplish this.