The daily energy requirements of tactical personnel are highly variable, depending on gender, body composition, activities performed, age, and environmental conditions.

In this session from the 2015 NSCA National Conference, Nelson Ayotte—the Strength and Conditioning Coach for the St. Louis Blues National Hockey League (NHL) team—explains how to design and implement a specific energy systems program at the elite level. Ayotte demonstrates the characteristics of each of the three energy systems and their trainability, and explores how to understand the energy demands of a sport by analysis of its characteristics, competition intensity, and duration of efforts and recovery periods.

This excerpt briefly describes the different energy systems used by structural and wildland firefighters.

This article is intended to provide an understanding of the demands of football from a bioenergetic perspective and provides a framework in which strength and conditioning professionals can design conditioning plans that focus on preparing athletes for competition.

In order to effectively prepare an ice hockey player for the season, it is necessary to have a thorough understanding of the specific demands of the sport.

The extent to which a special operator’s training schedule can be planned in advance is often limited due to their unpredictable operational demands. However, there may be opportunities to plan for specific training during certain periods.

This article explains the connections between the upper and lower body and their influence on performance and recovery strategies in sprinting.

All sports nutrition professionals should be able to answer basic nutrition questions. However, athletes with complex nutrition issues should be referred to the appropriate resource as explained in this book excerpt.

No two days are the same for Will Gilmore as part of a team that oversees over 800 athletes across 200 sports at the Red Bull Athlete Performance Center. From surfers to skydivers, the facility provides an elite high-performance ecosystem for traditionally individual sport athletes. Gilmore highlights the need for remote programming and monitoring to support a constantly shifting roster. Together as a team, they navigate uncharted territory in action sports conditioning, guided by physiological demands and underlying energy systems. Gilmore and NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager Eric McMahon discuss the shift in sport science from ample to actionable data to find, change, and measure what matters most. Gilmore reflects on his “career periodization” and having free time for friends and family while working corporate hours — a stark contrast with his background in Major League Baseball (MLB). The pair also emphasize proactive networking and education for future career opportunities. Connect with Will on Instagram: @will_gilmore_ or LinkedIn: @will-gilmore | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs Want to get involved with the NSCA? Find peers who share your passion for a specific sport or topic in Special Interest Groups (SIGs), or apply now for Volunteer Leadership Opportunities!

Knowledge of metabolic rate can help athletes as well as health-conscious people improve their exercise performance or obtain the fat-to-lean-mass ratio optimal for their personal situations. Two examples of how this works follow.