This article compares an equipment-heavy Army Combat Fitness Test to a minimal-equipment training program and test.

This article is an overview of several studies that look into the effects of intensity and volume in the training of combat soldiers and its relation to injury.

This article is the ninth in 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.

While a basic fitness assessment will always be a part of a comprehensive client assessment, there is an array of more sophisticated tests and measures that are available to the personal trainer today.

This article in NSCA Coach explores the role of agility training in college baseball. Learn more on sports performance and exercise science online at NSCA.com

Megan Evans, Assistant Director of Strength and Conditioning for Olympic Sports at Virginia Tech, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about the journey from student-athlete to assistant director.

Elite sport often gets more attention, but youth training gives strength and conditioning coaches an earlier chance to build athletes’ competence and confidence. Kelli Brightwell specializes in youth development and brings more than a decade of sports training experience, including four years at Michael Johnson Performance. Brightwell defines peak height velocity as the period during which height increases fastest. She then explains why its timing can differ among teammates of the same age. So what should strength coaches test, and what do the results mean? The answer changes with each athlete’s maturity and training experience. Brightwell addresses the growth-spurt “awkward phase,” when familiar movement patterns can break down as an athlete adjusts to a changing body. She also considers how sport sampling can expand children’s range of physical skills and help them discover what they enjoy. Learn how maturation can affect movement, testing, and programming — and why young athletes need foundations before specialization.

By adhering to the basic principles of training, including progressive overload, periodization, and a safe lifting environment, the bilateral deficit can be improved by the amalgamation of unilateral force production, maximal effort, and repeated effort training.

Learn overtraining syndrome (OTS) risks, symptoms, and outcomes for tactical athletes from NSCA’s Essentials of Tactical Strength and Conditioning, 2nd Edition.

The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) is proud to announce the recipients of the organization’s 2025 Tactical Awards.