This article discusses using the principle of specificity as an important component in tactical training programs to enhance performance, decrease injuries, and improve functional longevity of a tactical athlete.

It is important for strength and conditioning coaches, sport coaches, athletic trainers, and administrators to recognize and address the evidence of stress within student-athletes in order to avoid chronic stress-related anxiety and injury.

Older adults who desire to remain physically active at work, recreation, or sport can improve muscular strength, physical performance, and injury prevention if engaged in a properly designed resistance exercise program. The programming considerations presented herein may serve as a useful reference for strength and conditioning professionals working closely with active older adults.

This excerpt from NSCA’s Essentials of Sport Science highlights the importance of quantifying training load for both programming and monitoring an athlete’s progression or regression over time.

This article examines how training the core and performance are connected. This article seeks to help propose how to best use the literature to maximize understanding and use of the current concepts.

What does a typical day look like for a sports performance coach? Nicole Shattuck shares her experience working with women’s lacrosse at Duke University, where ample resources fuel athlete outcomes. Start by examining her comprehensive approach to readiness that raises awareness for both athletes and coaches. Guided by data, Nicole uses insights to adapt workouts, manage physical and mental stress, and deepen the athlete-coach relationship. New to lacrosse? Nicole breaks down a detailed needs analysis, outlining workload management for different position groups. Plus, as the Chair of the NSCA Lacrosse Special Interest Group, Nicole provides opportunities for lacrosse professionals to connect. Follow her unique path from a background in business and the private sector to finding her calling in collegiate coaching. Driven by a desire to build a Duke University sport science department, Nicole also recently earned her Certified Performance and Sport Scientist® (CPSS®) credential and reveals how it empowers her relationships with allied health professionals. Connect with Nicole on Instagram at: @nicole_lilia or by email at: nicole.shattuck@duke.edu | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs Join the NSCA Lacrosse Special Interest Group (SIG) online on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram! Plus, get together in person at the Lacrosse SIG Meeting at the 2024 NSCA National Conference in Baltimore, MD. REGISTER NOW at NSCA.com/NSCACon

In recent years, performance and prevention strategies have grown to include monitoring training load (TL) to understand fatigue and the potential effects of fatigue on training adaptation and performance.

This article aims to bring awareness to the importance of sleep and recovery for first responders, as well as providing strategies to optimize sleep specific to their occupational demands.

This article seeks to provide some insight to optimal biomechanics in running technique and why normal gravitational techniques may not suit tactical athletes while load-bearing.

This article aims to discuss concurrent activation potentiation (CAP) and the proposed mechanisms underlying it, summarize the available research examining the phenomenon, and provide strategies for its implementation.