This excerpt from NSCA’s Essentials of Sport Science briefly explains workload and injury risk factors.

This is an excerpt from NSCA's Essentials of Sport Science by NSCA -National Strength & Conditioning Association, Duncan N. French & Lorena Torres-Ronda.

High chronic workloads have been shown to be associated with a reduced risk of non-contact, soft tissue injuries, while large spikes in acute training loads have been associated with an increased risk of these types of injury. Analyzing the acute:chronic workload ratio allows a coach to optimize training for the athlete and to continue in advancing fitness goals without overtraining.

Managing workload and optimizing athlete performance while promoting injury-free participation is simplified using the eight tips in this article.

When integrating resistance training, endurance athletes must ensure that the sessions or workouts are sequenced in the context of the overall workload. Giving careful thought to these factors when designing the training plan will increase the chances of success.

This study examined the effects of visual kinematic feedback during the back squat exercise.

The VO2max test is the most effective measurement of the body’s ability to deliver and use oxygen for producing energy that can be used by the muscles. VO2max (i.e., maximum aerobic power) simply stands for the maximal volume of oxygen that can be used.

Monitoring training load is essential for determining if athletes are adapting positively or negatively to their training program. This article goes over the various measurement metrics and includes recommendations to monitor training load for football athletes.

Although fatigue is commonly experienced in many highly demanding occupations (e.g., military, first responders, etc.), it is poorly defined. Fatigue can strongly affect occupational performance by negatively influencing the ability to interact with the world by altering the capacity to think, move, feel, see, and speak. The first step in fatigue risk management strategies is to establish a context. The context of this narrative review is to specifically describe and discuss the 6 overarching types of occupational fatigue: cognitive, physical, burnout, emotional, visual, and vocal fatigue, and how each affects varying occupations. Furthermore, fatigue type can be influenced by several intrinsic factors, such as sleep deprivation, circadian alignment, ultradian process, sleep homeostasis, and health factors. Similarly, extrinsic factors influence fatigue, such as workload, shift work, and environmental issues. Understanding the types and contributors to occupational fatigue may help clarify the context of occupational fatigue and serve to guide future occupational fatigue management.

The NSCA is offering a new book that contains a holistic overview of the knowledge and skills required to support athlete and team performance as a modern-day sport scientist. Learn more here about this new resource.