This excerpt from NSCA’s Essential of Tactical Strength and Conditioning explores the neural and muscular adaptations to training over time.

This infographic briefly reviews the application and training adaptations of eccentric quasi-isometric resistance training.

There is evidence that alcohol should not be ingested after resistance exercise by men as this ingestion could potentially hamper the desired muscular adaptations to resistance exercise by reducing anabolic signaling.

The manipulation of resistance training (RT) variables is widely considered an essential strategy to maximize muscular adaptations. One variable that has received substantial attention in this regard is RT volume. This infographic provides evidence-based guidelines as to volume when creating RT programs designed to maximize muscle hypertrophy.

Various aspects of resistance training, such as specific exercises chosen, workout structure, resistance used, volume (repetitions and sets), rest intervals between sets, and training frequency, can be manipulated to mold the strength training program to best meet an endurance athlete’s goals.

Various aspects of resistance training, such as specific exercises chosen, workout structure, resistance used, volume (repetitions and sets), rest intervals between sets, and training frequency, can be manipulated to mold the strength training program to best meet an endurance athlete’s goals.

Bone tissue is “alive” and is a dynamic tissue that can respond to resistance training. In addition to the obvious effects of resistance training on muscle mass and strength, resistance training may lead to decreased risk for osteoporosis, fractures, and falls in later life.

Research shows that the appropriate integration of resistance training into the endurance athlete’s training can result in significantly better performance when compared to classic endurance training plans that focus only on aerobic endurance.

Eccentric resistance training has been shown to elicit beneficial effects on performance and injury prevention in sports because of its specific muscular and neural adaptations. Within the different methods used to generate eccentric overload, flywheel eccentric training has gained interest in recent years because of its advantages over other methods such as its portability, the ample exercise variety it allows and its accommodated resistance. Only a limited number of studies that use flywheel devices provide enough evidence to support the presence of eccentric overload. There is limited guidance on the practical implementation of flywheel eccentric training in the current literature. In this article, we provide literature to support the use of flywheel eccentric training and present practical guidelines to develop exercises that allow eccentric overload.

Through a well-designed resistance training program, firefighter recruits can gain the movement skills, confidence to exercise, and foundational strength/physiological adaptations that they need for a long and healthy career.