strength & conditioning
NSCA Announces 2021 Awards & Honorees
The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) is proud to announce this year’s recipients for the organization’s 2021 annual awards. These distinctive awards honor professionals around the world for outstanding achievement in their field. Each... more »
Texas Strength Coach Torre Becton Focusing on Details
A culture shift is occurring within the University of Texas football program, and it begins in the weight room. Head coach Steve Sarkisian's vision for that culture shift centers on attention to detail: whether that's... more »
The Power of Proper Breathing
You might not think of it initially, but breathing plays a vital role in how you think, feel, rest, and recover. Heck, it can even have an impact on your posture and movement. A recent... more »
Different Box Jumps to Improve Your Strength & Conditioning
Box Jumps workouts are great to train cardio, speed, and power output. Additionally, these workouts can strengthen your lower body and core, improve your balance, and encourage better posture and mechanics. Specifically, they help train... more »
A Guide to the Close Grip Dumbbell Press
Everyone loves the barbell bench press. But, like anything in life, repetition can bring stagnancy, and stagnancy stymies growth. A recent article on FitnessVolt.com offered a variation on the barbell bench press with the close... more »
Is Burnout Having a Negative Impact on Your Workouts?
Burnout. We've all felt it before to one degree or another in varying circumstances. Whether in the workplace or in the weight room, the burnout factor is real and can have real ramifications, like depression,... more »
Sparta Science Keeps Players Playing, Coaches Coaching
Nearly half a million student-athletes compete in one of the 24 sanctioned sports by the NCAA — more than ever before. With that ever-growing number comes the bigger need of keeping them in the game.... more »
Developing Effective Training Routines In Tennis Players
It was the summer of 2015 in Cincinnati, Ohio when I saw Roger Federer training a day before his opening match. He had three sparring partners on the court. They rotated against him in increments... more »
Basketball Strength Training: Make Your Next Season the Best Season
Any coach who has experienced any type of success will tell you how crucial the offseason is for a team’s improvement and a player’s development. The offseason is a time that makes average players good... more »
What the Science Says about Grounding & Its Benefits
Grounding, also referred to as earthing — what is it exactly, and how can it be beneficial in the recovery process? It is a therapeutic technique that involves doing activities that “ground” or electrically reconnect... more »
Study: Physical Activity Offers ‘Strong Protection’ from Worst COVID Outcomes
A recent study released this week shows that regular physical activity provides protection from the worst side effects of COVID-19 — hospitalization, intensive care admission, and, even, death. The study, conducted by Kaiser Permanente and... more »
The Top Fitness Trackers to Consider
In the digital era, data is king. That thought doesn't only apply to advertisers and marketing agencies. As it pertains to athletes, getting biometrics data can be the difference between performing your best and suffering... more »
3 Dumbbell Workouts to Build Strength
Thinking about making a change from barbell training to dumbbell training? Training with free weights, or dumbbells, is often thought of as the most effective way to build strength and muscle. Incorporating free weights into... more »
Virginia Tech Unveils Upgrades to Football Strength Facility
Virginia Tech Athletics officially unveiled its latest improvements to its football facilities on Tuesday. The Virginia Tech Football strength and conditioning center has been transformed into a dynamic training area to meet the current and future needs... more »
Blazing the Trail: Highlighting 3 Sports Industry Pioneers
By the late 1600s, the term ‘pioneer’ had evolved from referring to French foot soldiers who dug trenches — literally blazing trails — to take on a more metaphorical reference to trailblazers of industry. From... more »
LSU Beach Volleyball Balancing Mental & Physical Health
Being a collegiate student-athlete, particularly at the NCAA Division I level, life is all about balance. They need balance in their diet, balance in their training, and a balance between life between the lines and... more »
Squats: The Key Movement in Exercise & Sports
The health benefits of squats include strengthening the lower body and core muscles, burning calories and helping you lose weight, and reducing your injury risk. But squats only have the above-mentioned benefits if they are... more »
3 Kettlebell Exercises to Build Strength
Kettlebell workouts have skyrocketed in popularity in recent years, perhaps due to the rise of CrossFit. A cast-iron cannonball shape with handles, a kettlebell comes in various weights and can be incorporated with lunges, lifts,... more »
Training the Lower Body for Power
Building explosive lower body power is essential for high performance in sports such as football, basketball, and hockey. Your core and lower body, where your center of gravity resides, are the foundation of your strength... more »
The Best Dumbbells Arm Workouts
Working out with dumbbells can be the ideal external resistance when doing isolation exercises for specific muscle groups — like the biceps in your arms, and they're just as useful for multi-planar movements — such... more »
The Benefits of Resistance Training
Resistance training encompasses any type of exercise in which your muscles have to overcome some sort of oppositional force. That may include utilizing equipment like dumbbells, kettlebells, and resistance bands or using your own bodyweight... more »
The Benefits of Athletes Practicing Yoga
If you are looking for a creative way to get strength and resistance training while improving your range of motion and balance, yoga may be a good addition to your workouts. It may be the... more »
Improving Your Recovery Phase
The whole purpose of recovery in exercise is to allow your muscles to repair themselves and to engage muscles that are sore from your workout. There are also different things that you can do during... more »
Breaking Down Effective Creatine Use
Creatine is an amino acid located mostly in your body's muscles, as well as in the brain. Though it can be made synthetically, most people get creatine through seafood and red meat, according to the... more »
Benefits of Strength & Conditioning Programs for Young Women
In a recent article on Healio.com, Mary K. Mulcahey, MD, FAAOS, FAOA, outlined the importance of strength and conditioning programs for adolescent women athletes. She noted the spike in participation in high school and collegiate... more »
A Guide to Box Jumps
Plyometric or jump training is one of the best ways to develop muscle power. Muscle power is your ability to generate force quickly. Examples of muscle power include jumping, sprinting, kicking, punching, and throwing. Most... more »
4 Ways The AD/ATC Relationship Helps Bolster the Health of Student-Athletes
The role of certified athletic trainers (ATC) in high schools has steadily evolved. An awareness of legal liabilities for schools, the inherent risks of sport-participation, and a growing body of knowledge on student-athlete safety has... more »
Wading Through Dryland Workouts for College Swimmers
Swimmers, whether at the collegiate or high school level, simply cannot train 100 percent of the time in the pool. Out-of-pool training, or dryland workouts, is an essential part of the strength and conditioning program... more »
U.S. Marine Shares 5 Tips to Improve Your Pull-ups
A US Marine and two-time competitor on American Ninja Warrior, Michael Eckert is familiar with pull-ups. In fact, Eckert previously broke world records when he ripped off 50 pull-ups in a minute. [caption id="" align="alignright"... more »
How Strength Coaches Lift Teams to Championship Goals
“Teams are only as strong as its weakest link.” It is one of the most overused cliches in sports despite its accuracy. But what about a team’s strongest link – meaning, their fittest? As the... more »
