Athletes in field and court sports require reactive agility—they must accelerate, decelerate, and change direction in a constantly changing environment. These requirements result in technical differences between sprinting in a field or court sport and sprinting the 100-m.

This article highlights four non-traditional calf exercises that can immediately be used in strength programs for improving calf strength while also increasing ankle dorsiflexion mobility.

The purpose of this article is to inform readers of a training tool which is both safe and effective in allowing swimmers to develop strength and power through a unique training protocol.

The purpose of this article is to provide the strength and conditioning coach with a template on how to integrate the clean and power clean into athletic training programs.

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

This article aims to explain why integrating multiple tests such as Anaerobic Speed Reserve (ASR), Intermittent Fitness Test (IFT), and Maximum Aerobic Speed (MAS) can provide a comprehensive evaluation of soccer players’ fitness levels and help to design effective training programs tailored to their individual needs.

Both unilateral and bilateral training should be used to optimally develop basketball players. This article compares single-leg and double-leg training options and provides considerations and potential implications for training basketball athletes.

The use of exercise interventions to maximize athletes’ performance is a common practice in competitions. This systematic review aimed to compile research that explored the effectiveness of priming strategies to maximize physical performance in track and field. The literature search was conducted from PubMed and Scopus. One hundred eighty-two studies were assessed against the inclusion criteria: (a) minimum 1-year participation/competition experience; (b) randomized controlled trials with pre-post intervention outcomes; and (c) studies involving exercise interventions applied #6 hours before outcome measures were collected. Fifteen studies satisfied the criteria and were categorized according to the exercise interventions used (i.e., resistance training, plyometric/ ballistic training, resisted sprints, and modified warm-ups). Heavy-loaded resistance training (i.e., .85% 1 repetition maximum) and resisted sprints increased subsequent sprint performance. Plyometrics/ballistic training also positively impacted subsequent jumping (i.e., long jump) and throwing performance (i.e., shot put). Modified warm-ups (i.e., high-intensity sprints and heavier throwing implements) also improved subsequent running and throwing performance. Overall, exercise interventions performed at high intensity and low volume augment subsequent physical performance as close to 4 minutes before the event. However, a sufficient recovery interval must be considered for a positive performance response.

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.

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