Strength & Conditioning Journal

Fundamental movement competency is essential for participation in physical activity and for mitigating the risk of injury, which are both key elements of health throughout life. The squat movement pattern is arguably one of the most primal and critical fundamental movements necessary to improve sport performance, to reduce injury risk and to support lifelong physical activity. Based on current evidence, this first (1 of 2) report deconstructs the technical performance of the back squat as a foundation training exercise and presents a novel dynamic screening tool that incorporates identification techniques for functional deficits that limit squat performance and injury resilience. The follow-up report will outline targeted corrective methodology for each of the functional deficits presented in the assessment tool.

The incidence of cancer development has reached a plateau while cancer survival rates have been increasing. Therefore, more cancer survivors are living with the negative effects of cancer and cancer treatments. Exercise can play a significant role in combating the negative effects of cancer and cancer treatments and improving quality of life during and following clinical treatment for cancer. However, exercise interventions must be individualized to optimally meet the needs of cancer survivors. This article provides valuable information for certified personal trainers regarding the modification of exercise interventions to meet the specific needs of the ever increasing population of cancer survivors.

First, the biomechanical differences between the acceleration phase and the maximum velocity phase of sprinting are considered. Second, research on the various resisted sprinting techniques is examined, linking these techniques to the biomechanics of the acceleration phase. Some suggestions are made regarding the application of these findings to the training of athletes.

The article examines the effectiveness of actual movement velocity and intention to move explosively as determinants of velocity-specific responses to resistance training. The training of specificity is an essential consideration when developing resistance training programs. It is known that various resistance training programs elicit different neuromuscular adaptations. The concept of the intention to move explosively being more significant than the actual movement velocity became popular among sports professionals and scientists.

One of the more common deficits identified by rehabilitation specialists and strength and conditioning practitioners is weakness of the glutei muscles, particularly the gluteus medius (GM). Gluteal weakness can reduce athletic performance and precipitate a number of lower extremity injuries. In this article, we discuss the anatomy and function of the GM musculature, present a review of the current literature pertaining to GM conditioning, and recommend an exercise model based on current strengthening guidelines.

There is an emerging trend within the strength and conditioning profession to identify and correct the faulty movement patterns of athletes before any substantial strengthening of muscle is undertaken. Strength and conditioning professionals in some cases fail to recognize the relationship between static posture and dynamic movement ability. This review will inform the reader of the prognostic value of screening static posture before assessing an athlete's movement ability. The characteristics of optimal standing posture are reviewed with supporting biomechanical rationale. Sport-specific populations are reviewed, and the benefits and consequences of "sport-specific postures" are discussed.

Eccentric strength is an important component of functional daily activity and athletic performance; therefore, assessing this capability is important. Typically, isokinetic dynamometers are used to assess eccentric force capability. However, because of the limitations associated with the contraction mode (i.e., constant velocity), limited information can be obtained concerning functional muscle performance from this form of assessment. Consequently, the isoinertial assessment of eccentric force may provide more useful information for strength and conditioning practitioners. This article reviews what little research there is in this area, discussing the methodologies and limitations of the assessments used to quantify eccentric force capability.

An examination of the roles and responsibilities of coaches clearly demonstrated that coaches are in leadership positions (3). The coach, as leader, is one “who is able to influence others and who possesses managerial authority” (10, p. 569). How might a coach use effective leadership to get the best performance from his or her athletes? And what, in fact, determines an effective leader? 3.Case, R.W. Leadership in sport: The situational leadership theory. J. Phys. Ed. Rec. Dance. 55(January):15–16. 1984. 10. Robbins, S., R. Bergman, and I. Stagg. Management. Sydney: Prentice-Hall Australia, 1997.

This review examines the influence of concurrent strength and endurance training on performance and physiological variables, including maximal oxygen uptake, the lactate threshold, economy of motion, changes in fiber type, and muscle stiffness. Practical recommendations for the strength and conditioning practitioner based on this information are also presented.

summary Weightlifting exercises can be ef- fective for enhancing athletic per- formance. This article provides a biomechanical and physiological discussion as to why weightlifting exercises are useful to improve ath- letic performance and how they may be integrated into a training program.

Many sports involve contact that can result in significant injury to participants. In addition, by their very nature, the vast majority of sports have inherent injury risks that can result from the most fundamental of movements, e.g., running, sprinting, accelerating, stepping and changing direction, landing, throwing, etc. However, there is evidence within the literature that it may be possible to reduce the incidence of the most common injuries by the systematic targeting of vulnerable areas of the body. This article outlines a prehabilitation model developed as part of the strength and conditioning program in an English professional rugby union club.

The training and match demands in the competition phase in team sport can vary dramatically depending on the quality of opposition, the number of days between games, and match location. The simple model described in this article can be used to predict the match difficulty and guide the prescription of future training loads during the in-season training phase in team sports.

Most team sports spend a considerable amount of time devoted to the physical and skill development of players. Fundamental to this process is the involvement of the visual system, and yet rarely do we hear of this quality being catered for within the strength and conditioning program. This article outlines some of the concepts associated with visual training as applied in the sports conditioning program at Gloucester Rugby Football Club in England.

summary This article outlines different cycle- length variants used in periodized strength/power training.

PROVIDING CYCLISTS WITH A reliable measure of exercise intensity presents unique challenges. Environmental factors such as wind speed, road grade and surface texture, and air density interactively influence the resistance encountered during cycling and thus alter the speed a cyclist can maintain while riding at any specific intensity. For example, a cyclist might be capable of averaging 40 km/h in a tailwind with very little effort, but might be unable to maintain 20 km/h when climbing a hill at maximal effort. Journal Article

Power training recommendations have typically involved Olympic Weightlifting and plyometric exercise prescriptions, paying scant attention to upper body maximal-power demands. This article attempts to redress this situation by focusing upon strategies and specific techniques that can be implemented to enhance the effectiveness of upper body maximal-power training.

Mechanical power contributes to success of movements ranging from activities of daily living to sport tasks. Researchers have attempted to determine the load that maximizes mechanical power. However, does training at this load maximize power adaptations?

Hamstring injuries can be devastating for athletes and sports teams. Recent advances in technology have greatly enhanced our understanding of how and why hamstring injuries occur. Based on this information, professional sports teams have implemented various training interventions in an attempt to reduce the rate of hamstring injuries with varying success. Reviewing the recent literature on hamstring injuries and the studies that have reported decreases in injury rates could give further insight into how hamstring injures can be prevented and thus is the focus of this article.

summary: A strength base is considered critical to speed development and, consequently, a great deal of effort is spent improving the force capability of muscle. Using a correlational approach is one method used to quantify the relationship between strength and speed. However, better insight may be found investigating longitudinal studies that have quantified both strength and speed changes. Such an approach was used in this review to determine the magnitude of strength development necessary for improved running speed. (C) 2007 National Strength and Conditioning Association

THIS RESEARCH BRIEF COVERS CONCURRENT STRENGTH AND ENDURANCE TRAINING IN ELITE SOCCER PLAYERS, THE EFFECT OF HYPERTROPHY TRAINING PROTOCOLS WITH MAXIMAL LOADING ON NEURAL DRIVE, THE EFFECT OF CLUSTER SETS ON POWER IN JUMP SQUATS, AND THE EFFECT OF AGE ON REPEATED-SPRINT ABILITY IN YOUTH SOCCER PLAYERS.

summary: The body of knowledge is the sum total of our human understanding of the world around us. Studies in the area of strength and conditioning make up one of the many fields of knowledge, and strength and conditioning professionals must understand how our understanding is created to successfully use it to optimize their professional practices, approaches, and exercise prescriptions.

To meet national accreditation standards set by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies, the National Strength and Conditioning Assocation (NSCA) Certification Commission publishes statistics regarding the number of exam registrations, testing sites, exam question reliability, and pass/fail rates for the Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and the NSCA-Certified Personal Trainer examinations.

IN AUGUST 2012, A NEW NATIONAL COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION LIMIT ON THE NUMBER OF STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING (SC) COACHES WHO MAY WORK WITH FOOTBALL BOWL SUBDIVISION TEAMS WENT INTO EFFECT. THIS RULE AFFECTED SOME OF THE LARGER PROGRAMS AND SEEMS TO HAVE NOT ALTERED ALREADY UNDERSTAFFED PROGRAMS. THIS NEW RULE DOES RAISE SOME QUESTIONS REGARDING ATHLETE SUPERVISION AND SAFETY AND NEW SC COACH DEVELOPMENT. SIXTEEN SC COACHES PROVIDED THEIR OPINIONS. A DESCRIPTION OF THE SHORT-TERM AND POTENTIAL LONG-TERM IMPACTS OF THIS RULE IS DISCUSSED.

The 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has caused governments to institute measures to curb the spread of the virus. Among these were restrictions that affect the daily operations of public gymnasiums, personal training centers, therapy clinics, strength and conditioning facilities, and the like. As the world has seen widespread public health crises with 3 beta-coronaviruses, as well as highly contagious strains of type A influenza (H5N1 and H1N1), in the past 2 decades, operators of fitness facilities are challenged to consider how daily operations will be affected in the wake of COVID-19. This article examines strategies to mitigate the transmission of the virus in fitness facilities, including temperature scanning, physical distancing, masks, hand hygiene, and the disinfection of large spaces and common touch surfaces. Fitness facilities and therapy centers face complex challenges in minimizing the risk of viral transmission due to space limitations and the use of common equipment and spaces by clients. Despite these challenges, the developing science resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic has led to insights that should drive policies to help ensure fitness facilities successfully adapt to the risks presented by these infectious agents.

The world is currently facing a serious coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). This novel coronavirus is a new virus for which effective drugs and vaccines have not yet been developed. Amateur and professional athletic events around the world have been stopped, and teams and athletes have had to adopt social withdrawal measures, interrupting their training and preparation routines for competitions. Given this alarming scenario, this article aims to alert athletes to the importance of maintaining a conditioning routine during this confinement period.

Aerobic fitness tests are common in testing protocols for law enforcement candidates, recruits, and officers because of the importance of aerobic fitness for academy survivability and job task performance. Two popular tests are the 2.4-km run and 20-m multistage fitness test (20MSFT). The differences, strengths, and limitations for both tests are discussed in this article, with a focus on the pacing required in each test. The 2.4-km run typically uses an internal pacing strategy, while the 20MSFT features an external pacing strategy because of the audible beeps that increase the running speed in the test. For the 2.4-km run, self-motivation is required to complete the event, whereas for the 20MSFT, the external pacing requirement is more typical of a police foot pursuit where the offender dictates the pace. This may have greater application to job tasks, where pacing is often determined by external sources (e.g., pursuing and apprehending an offender). In addition, for the 20MSFT, the limited space required and ability to test indoors may make it more applicable for testing law enforcement personnel. Where possible, staff should explore the use of the most appropriate aerobic fitness test for use in their personnel, be it the 20MSFT or the 2.4-km run.

The abdominal vacuum technique is a breath-holding maneuver used in bodybuilding to contrast a noticeable reduction of the waistline to an increase in thoracic circumference. This article provides a description of the abdominal vacuum exercise as well as a technique-driven progression and teaching cues for performing this maneuver.

THE ABDOMINAL CRUNCH IS A WELL-KNOWN EXERCISE PERFORMED BY GENERAL AND ATHLETIC POPULATIONS FOR THE PURPORTED BENEFITS OF IMPROVING FITNESS ATTRIBUTES, SPORT PERFORMANCE, AND CORE MUSCLE FUNCTION. DESPITE THE BENEFITS, PARTICIPATION MAY INCREASE ONE'S RISK FOR LOW BACK PAIN. WHILE A CLEAR VERDICT ON THE RISK-TO-BENEFIT RATIO REMAINS ELUSIVE, A DISCUSSION OF THE AVAILABLE SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE (OR LACK THEREOF) SHOULD GIVE PRACTITIONERS THE ABILITY TO DETERMINE THE UTILITY OF THIS EXERCISE FOR THEIR CIRCUMSTANCE. WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU. VISIT NSCA-SCJ.COM TO WEIGH IN ON THE POINT/COUNTERPOINT QUICK POLL.