The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently recognized the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) as one of the first organizations to join the National Youth Sports Strategy (NYSS) Champion℠ program. HHS released the NYSS in September 2019 in response to Presidential Executive Order 13824, which called for a national strategy to increase youth sports participation. The NYSS is the first Federal roadmap with actionable strategies to increase participation in youth sports, increase awareness of the benefits of youth sports participation, monitor and evaluate youth sports participation, and recruit and engage volunteers in youth sports programming.

Strength and conditioning professionals should consider mental skills training when creating a training program to maximize performance. Developing mental skills is a very long and challenging process; however, the benefits are worth it. Utilizing these skills will put the athlete in a position to succeed in sport, as well as life.

This article looks to explain why law enforcement recruits have higher incidences of lower extremity bone stress responses and stress fractures. It also explores injury mitigation pathways to increase the graduation rates among law enforcement academies.

The purpose of this article is to help both personal trainers and clients with seven main concepts within exercise physiology that will improve training effectiveness and assist in explaining the body’s response to exercise.

As the second of a three part series, this article will focus on the Practitioner Pillars of LTAD, including relevant monitoring and assessment tools, as well as systematical progressions and individualized training programs for successful long-term physical development.

This article describes the long-term athletic development programming pillars and suggests practical applications for strength and conditioning practitioners.

Part 2 of this series on allostatic load theory will focus on how monitoring personnel holistically can contribute to a well-rounded health and performance model supporting the tactical athletes.

The purpose of this article is to discuss the health and occupational implications of firefighters not currently meeting the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) aerobic capacity recommendations.

This article defines and reviews the allostatic load theory in tactical personnel.

Law enforcement officers can experience psychological and physical stress in most of every part of their day, even starting from the first day of the academy. This article looks at Heart Rate Response in relation to stress, and interventions to manage stress through the academy.