Strength and conditioning professionals should consider mental skills training when creating a training program to maximize performance. Developing mental skills is a very long and challenging process; however, the benefits are worth it. Utilizing these skills will put the athlete in a position to succeed in sport, as well as life.

Some of the major misconceptions concerning Olympic-style weightlifting for sport are addressed in this article, providing evidence-based recommendations to better implement the snatch, clean and jerk, and their derivatives in the training of high school and collegiate athletes.

While analyzing the speed requirements of different sports may, at first, seem to be a massive challenge, asking a few key questions can make the task much simpler.

This article features the recharge skate—an in-season hockey conditioning drill, designed by the authors, to maintain hockey-specific energy system fitness throughout the competitive season.

The purpose of this article is to outline the three general formats in which sports science programs are implemented within intercollegiate athletic departments and to provide pros and cons of each situation.

Triathlons are unique compared to other sports as athletes are required to master three distinct disciplines: swimming, cycling, and running. This article lays out a training program that focuses on a balance between strength training and sport training to avoid overtraining and overuse injuries and to maximize performance in a multi-sport athlete.

Lanier Coleman coaches from a simple truth: intent drives intensity. Now in his role as Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach for the National Football League (NFL) Jacksonville Jaguars, Coleman brings the same determination he embodied as a collegiate defensive lineman. He shares how early adversity shaped his standards, teaching him to lead with discipline, cultivate deeper relationships, and “build a fire” in every athlete he coaches. During his coaching tenure at Florida State University, mental and emotional endurance became cornerstones of team development — these are lessons he now carries into professional football. Coleman describes the shift from building collegiate foundations to coaching with precision at the NFL level, where he fine-tunes elite qualities to manage injury risk. He also stresses the importance of unified performance staffs to support athletes through this fast-paced and demanding sport. Gain inspiration to strengthen daily purpose, be a spark in your facility, and support athlete readiness across high-performance environments. Reach out to Lanier via Instagram: @l_coleman98 | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs and LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs Join the NSCA Football Special Interest Group (SIG) and explore 24 other specialized communities designed to support your development on the Special Interest Groups page.

There are five ways that a strength and conditioning position is typically structured in a high school. Each position structure has its own pros and cons that should be evaluated for your specific situation.

In this NSCA 2018 Coaches Conference video, Chris Bellon discusses integrating periodization for speed, power, and strength development for collegiate athletes.

This excerpt from NSCA’s Essentials of Sport Science describes strength as a velocity-dependent concept.