In order to effectively prepare an ice hockey player for the season, it is necessary to have a thorough understanding of the specific demands of the sport.

While acute inflammation is a normal response to high-intensity training, chronic inflammation results in depressed immunity and impaired muscle response. Learn about nutritional strategies to help balance exercise-induced inflammation to optimize performance outcomes.

Integrating unbalanced load training into a strength or hypertrophy phase, or any workout program, can add a tremendous amount of demand on the lateral aspects of the core to help the athlete develop a strong core. Using unbalanced load training may help produce increases in athleticism, balance, and motor coordination without sacrificing strength or explosiveness.

Monitoring training load is essential for determining if athletes are adapting positively or negatively to their training program. This article goes over the various measurement metrics and includes recommendations to monitor training load for football athletes.

Make the most of your membership by engaging with others through one or more Special Interest Groups (SIGs).

Brice Long, Director of Human Performance Experience at O2X, talks to the NSCA Coaching Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about O2X’s holistic approach for fire, police, military, and federal agencies. Topics under discussion include the value of training as a firefighter, physical tests and assessments in the National Guard, and being diverse in your skill sets as a coach. Find Brice on Instagram: @o2xhumanperformance or Twitter: @o2xhp | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs

Biofeedback is a tool that not everyone knows about, yet many coaches and athletes could benefit from using it. This article will describe the psychophysiological principle, introduce biofeedback, and provide descriptions of two biofeedback modalities that may be useful for strength and conditioning professionals to improve performance.

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.

This article is a personal perspective that focuses on methods that can be used to establish confidence in the performance program in non-traditional environments.

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.