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
From the 2021 NSCA’s Coaches Conference, Adam Feit, Coordinator of Physical and Mental Performance at Springfield College, discusses the benefits of satisfying athletes’ and coaches’ basic psychological needs. He also explains how behaviors can help or hinder performance and how to create an autonomy-supportive training and coaching environment.
CoachesProfessional DevelopmentBehaviorsMotivationSupportFeedbackAutonomy-Supportive Training
This article provides guidance for women on the steps involved in an academic career, including earning graduate and terminal degrees and obtaining tenure and promotions at universities.
CoachesOrganization and AdministrationProfessional DevelopmentWomen in Strength and ConditioningCSCSAcademicsCareers in Strength and Conditioning
This Personal Training Quarterly article shares hospitalitydriven approaches to help personal trainers build connections with clients. Visit NSCA online to read more on fitness, hospitality and health news.
Personal trainersProgram designOrganization and AdministrationTesting and EvaluationClient Consultation|AssessmentProfessional DevelopmentEncouragementEmpathyPositive MindsetContextual AssociationsClient SuccessMotivationGroup Fitness TrainingHospitality
When considering applying advanced methods to affect and augment maximal power output, this excerpt from Developing Power explains three key points to consider.
Personal trainersTSAC FacilitatorsCoachesExercise TechniqueProgram designRate of Force DevelopmentMaximal Power OutputForce-Velocity RelationshipMuscular Power
When integrating resistance training, endurance athletes must ensure that the sessions or workouts are sequenced in the context of the overall workload. Giving careful thought to these factors when designing the training plan will increase the chances of success.
CoachesExercise ScienceProgram designendurance trainingstrength trainingweight training
This is an excerpt from NSCA's Essentials of Sport Science by NSCA -National Strength & Conditioning Association, Duncan N. French & Lorena Torres-Ronda.
The NSCA is proud to name 17 strength and conditioning coaches who have obtained the prestigious Registered Strength and Conditioning Coach Emeritus (RSCC*E) designation in 2021. They join an elite and prestigious group of professionals who have proven themselves as experts of the industry.
After 27 years as Editor in Chief of the Strength and Conditioning Journal (SCJ), Dr. Jeff Chandler, EdD, FNSCA, will step away from his role in April 2025.