Built on scientific principles and evidence-based research, the NSCA’s Tactical Strength and Conditioning (TSAC) Practitioners Course is a foundational strength and conditioning program designed to provide tactical facilitators with the tools to decrease injury risk and increase longevity and effectiveness of tactical professionals.

This article is part of a continuing series of tactical strength and conditioning (TSAC) research reviews. It is designed to bring awareness to new research findings of relevance to tactical strength and conditioning communities.

This article provides methods used by tactical facilitators, related research articles, and professional interviews to demonstrate how physical conditioning facilitates the transition from practice to duty for service members, including law enforcement and fire and rescue personnel.

The tactical strength and conditioning field is evolving each year. Because of the experience of those in the field, as well as the growing body of research, we are gaining a better understanding of what it actually means to work within the tactical field.

Learn the basics of conducting a needs analysis for tactical athletes based on the athlete’s goals and desired outcomes, assessments, limitations on workout frequency and duration, equipment availability, health and injury status, and occupational physiological demands.

Just as any athletic team can benefit from sport-specific training, tactical professionals can benefit from occupational task-specific training as well. Combining pushing, pulling, pressing, and total body movements into complexes may help mimic the demands and movements of job tasks that tactical personnel may encounter.

The Tactical Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year Award is awarded to the coach whose influence within his or her assigned tactical (military, law enforcement, fire and rescue) setting exceeds that of peers. Achieving this influence can be the result of one or multiple coaching related accomplishments such as but not limited to measurable performance improvements or injury reduction, program creation, advancement through innovation, and other initiatives that enhance wellness, health, and performance at the local level.

The path to actual integration of mental and physical training for the tactical athlete is paved with growing empiricism. The current challenge is to sustain creative development of functional approaches and demonstrate that integration can deliver potential benefits.

From a strength and conditioning perspective, how should a tactical athlete be reintegrated when they return to a kinetically operational workplace after time away?