As performance staffs grow and develop, professional athletes today have a broad array of services and expertise available to them in the locker room and around competition. This episode features the Vice President of Health and Performance for the National Basketball Association (NBA) Phoenix Suns, Brady Howe. Howe tells Eric McMahon, the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, how humble beginnings as an NBA Developmental League athletic trainer contributed to his current performance-first mindset for leading a multifaceted health and performance department. Topics include often misunderstood developmental factors for training elite athletes and advice for how to serve your athletes at the highest level.
Connect with Brady on Instagram: @bhowe6 or Twitter: @brady_howe | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs
You can learn more about NBA strength and conditioning from the National Basketball Strength and Conditioning Association (NBSCA), an Official Sport Partner of the NSCA.
Respected strength coaches Mike Stone and Meg Stone spoke about periodization and programming for strength power sports at the 2012 NSCA Coaches Conference.
CoachesProgram designProgrammingStrength and ConditioningPeriodizationStrength and Power Athlete2012-Coaches-Conference
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.
This episode of the NSCA Coaching Podcast presents drug testing and anti-doping initiatives in elite sport. Team USA 2008 Olympian, Carissa Gump, discusses how her journey as an international level weightlifter led to her becoming an ambassador for fair competition. Gump shares lessons from overcoming a career-threatening injury prior to the 2008 Olympics, with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, and how a passion for supporting athletes has fueled her career as a sport business executive. Learn about opportunities that the NSCA Foundation has for aspiring strength and conditioning professionals, and how the NSCA Foundation serves to promote the philanthropy of the coaching profession.
Learn more about clean sport and anti-doping by taking the USADA Coach’s Advantage Course for 0.2 NSCA CEUs.
Check out NSCA Foundation resources to discover grants and scholarships available for strength and conditioning professionals.
More episode links:
USADA – U.S. Anti-Doping Agency
TrueSport – Education for Coaches, Athletes, and Parents
NSF for Sport – NSF Certified Nutritional Products Listing
Global DRO – Drug Reference Online
Drug Free Sport – Anti-Doping Services and Education
Email Carissa at carissa.gump@nsca.com| Connect with 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.
CoachesExercise ScienceExercise TechniqueProgram designstrength and conditioningstrength trainingbiofeedback
Richard Howell, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Indianapolis Colts National Football League (NFL) team, talks to the NSCA Coaching Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about his impressive 21 years with the organization. Topics under discussion include going from pre-medical to strength coach, building relationships with athletes and staff members, and how technology provides hard numbers for sport coaches to understand stress management.
Connect with Richard through email: Richard.howell@colts.nfl.net | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs
The purpose of this article is to describe the content and format of a collegiate introductory strength and conditioning course to induce behavioral changes in college students for lifelong physical activity and fitness.