Special Interest Groups
NSCA Special Interest Groups (SIG) provide members who share a common interest, the opportunity to network, share ideas, and address issues relating to their area of expertise and/or interest. If you currently work in these areas, or simply have an interest, contact the appropriate SIG Chair.
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SIG Guidelines
Click here to view the Guidelines for the NSCA Special Interest Groups.
Special Interest Groups
There are currently fourteen NSCA Special Interest Groups. Select an Interest Group to view information, news, and current Executive Council members.
Baseball Special Interest Group
Purpose Statement: To advance the field of strength and conditioning for baseball through shared knowledge, empirical evidence, and applied research.
Baseball Articles of Interest
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Injury Prevention for Throwing Athletes Part I: Baseball Bat Training to Enhance Medial Elbow Dynamic Stability
Injury Prevention for Throwing Athletes Part II: Critical Instant Training
Baseball Athletic Test: A Baseball-Specific Test Battery
NSCA's Performance Training Journal - May 2011 - Baseball
Baseball News
March 2013
Call for Leadership
The Baseball SIG is currently seeking to fill a minimum of three (3) Executive Council positions. SIG Executive Council members will serve a three-year term.
The SIG Executive Council is responsible for:
- Maintaining regular communication between the SIG and the NSCA Staff Liaison.
- Filling out an annual report for the NSCA Board of Directors.
- Hosting at least one (1) SIG meeting at an NSCA national-level event per year.
- Following, and adhering to the specific SIG Purpose Statement, SIG Guidelines, and Volunteer Handbook and Reference Manual.
- Working on, and developing SIG goals and objectives.
Qualified candidates must be current NSCA Members and be involved with the sport of baseball. Chair and Vice Chair/Secretary positions will be voted on by selected Executive Council candidates.
The three positions and direct responsibilities are:
Chair
- Provide SIG direction, coordination, and leadership
- Primary contact between SIG and NSCA Staff Liaison
- Host of annual meeting at National Conference
Vice Chair/Secretary
- Generates and compiles Bulletin and e-newsletter copy
- Assists with member communications
- Assists in annual meetings and submits meeting minutes
Member-at-Large
- Assists Chair and Vice Chair in fulfilling duties
- Baseball web forum moderator
If you are interested in serving as an Executive Council member, please email the following information to Christina.Klingensmith@nsca.com
- Full name, address, contact number, email address, and customer/member ID #
- Resume
- Brief bio – 2 or 3 short paragraphs (include how/why you see yourself qualified for an Executive Council position, previous volunteer experience, publications, and presentations)
- Goals and objectives for the SIG
Nominations will be accepted until positions are filled.
College Strength and Conditioning Coaches Special Interest Group
Purpose Statement: To monitor the status of the collegiate strength and conditioning profession, to represent the collective voice of its members, and to create and disseminate information related to enhancing the profession and the careers of collegiate strength and conditioning professionals.
College Strength and Conditioning Coaches News
There is no current news at this time.
Exercise/Sport Psychology (ESP) Special Interest Group
Purpose Statement: As the NSCA represents the worldwide authority on strength and conditioning research, the Exercise/Sport Psychology SIG (ESP) will support and disseminate research based knowledge and its practical application to improve athlete performance and fitness specifically related to concepts associated with sport and exercise psychology. The SIG will also discuss leadership development in coaches and personal trainers, sharpening the relationships between coaches, strength coaches, athletic directors, interns, graduate students. Other increased benefits will enable our membership to better train and lead student-athletes, special populations, military personnel, firemen/women, police and general population. Some of the areas of concentration of study by this SIG will include motivation, socialization, mental imagery, goal setting, leadership, focus, stress management and arousal, depression, anxiety, concentration, visualization, adherence to exercise, rehabilitation, and theories that support these constructs.
ESP Articles of Interest
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Empowering Athletes To Self-regulate: A Guide For Enhancing Athletes' Learning
Maximizing Strength Training Performance Using Mental Imagery
Outcomes of Confidence in Sport Training Settings
ESP News
There is no current news at this time.
ESP Past Minutes
2013 Coaches Conference Meeting Minutes
Figure Skating Special Interest Group
Purpose Statement: To provide information on strength training as it pertains to the sport of figure skating and to create a liaison between NSCA and USFSA.
Figure Skating SIG News
There is no current news.
Figure Skating Meeting Minutes
2012 National Conference Meeting Minutes
High School Strength and Conditioning Coaches Special Interest Group
Purpose Statement: Allow SIG members to discuss their professional concerns, interests and ideas, and to share solutions to common problems. The group consists of professionals who teach and coach in the high school setting.
High School Coaches News
There is no current news at this time.
Ice Hockey Special Interest Group
Purpose Statement:
To promote safe and affective strength and conditioning in the growing sport of ice hockey.
To provide a representative voice for hockey conditioning coaches.
To form a cohesive group that will constantly evolve its ideas for the purpose of organized growth in ice hockey.
To address the educational needs of both hockey players and coaches.
To serve as a liaison between hockey conditioning coaches, creating a network through which information and ideas can be shared, and to promote this field and facilitate job creation.
Ice Hockey News
March 2013
To think it took almost the twelfth hour for professional hockey to start up here in North America, it was great to see how many youngsters still have a love for the game!
With that, many of us can be found glued to a big screen, or listening to highlights from the daily NHL scoreboard. I can proudly say that I can support my Winnipeg Jets and have my home team back!
Back in July, we never would have thought a lockout would have occurred, but because of it, especially since the previous lockout of 2004, and the number of veteran players that looked to play overseas or with their respective farm programs, performance, and off-ice training protocols are continually scrutinized.
One discussion that was prevalent amongst the NSCA Members attending in Providence back in July was the overall approach to off-ice training and all sports for hockey players, not just hockey. Hockey is a different sport for many reasons, mainly because of the surface it is played on, but that does not mean that other sports help coordinate a player’s ability and prowess to be prepared on the ice. Giving players the opportunity to enjoy other sports or just focusing their careers on one sport and one sport only, the conclusion was to discover and assess certain activities, not necessarily linked to hockey, but may help benefit both the player and the team. This of course, can be broken down many ways, and for any type of coach, athletic director, or parent, the approach is reviewing the activity’s response from outcomes of both the player and team. Present the player/team with an activity that may not be completely hockey related, and see what responses we get from the players both positive and negative. We see more and more players using multidirectional balls, soccer balls, juggling with fellow teammates, and off-ice conditioning programs that are diverse.
The other discussion can be of timing and what is most time effective when it comes to these activities. Some of them look like they may be a waste of time, but are they? We see more bonding/team activities occurring or maybe they are just gaining more attention. We can all agree that training has been modified and become more scrutinized than before. More individual skills are being honed and perfected in the off-season and team activities when the team is assembled. Off-season and in-season training times are now regulated at many levels but many of us work with athletes who are still in the amateur level. The question of how much is enough, burnout stages, and if anyone can really get control of how much of one sport’s training can deter the attitude and performance of a player. When to suggest these activities, off-season training protocols, and in-season assessments all play vital roles in on-ice performance.
The meetings in July were mostly attended by NSCA Members from the East Coast, and that was a wonderful experience to connect with them. This July will be a chance for the West Coast NSCA Members to provide their input and connect with the NSCA’s Ice Hockey SIG effort to create a stronger contingence continent wide. The efforts of the Ice Hockey SIG are also to help promote the growth of the sport through innovative research and communications allowing its members to provide the best information to their clients, fellow members, and networks we serve.
Moving forward, I would like to mention that any questions or comments with regards to the Ice Hockey SIG are always welcome. I also welcome all members who have any interest in the game and all Members of the NSCA to enjoy Las Vegas this upcoming July. I would really like to see those members that were unable to attend last year’s annual conference to attend this year so we can continue the strong showings from the past years. I would also invite any members should they have anything to add, comment on, or something that they would like to see addressed, to let me know. I am always interested in other’s thoughts and their approaches to help make athletes of all ages stronger physically and mentally.
Theodore Tutkaluk,
Ice Hockey Chair
Nutrition, Metabolism, and Body Composition (NMBC) Special Interest Group
Purpose Statement: NMBC’s purpose is to help fellow NSCA members apply research based information within the fields of nutrition, metabolism and body composition as it relates to improving athletic performance and fitness.
As a constructive member of the NSCA SIG community, NMBC will aid fellow NSCA members in their efforts to provide well-informed advice to their clients.
NMBC will also work to help fellow NSCA members identify educational and certification opportunities that will allow them to further their scope of practice in these very popular areas that are rapidly approaching reimburse-ability.
While NMBC has no desire to monitor fellow NSCA Member qualifications for scope of practice, NMBC will help fellow NSCA members recognizing the state-by-state liabilities associated with Medical Nutritional Therapy Licensure that legally limits scope of practice with diseased populations.
NMBC Articles of Interest
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The Impact of High-Intensity Interval Training on Metabolic Syndrome
Exercise as a Management Strategy for the Overweight and Obese: Where Does Resistance Exercise Fit in?
Protein Requirements for Strength Training
NSCA's Performance Training Journal - December 2012 - Nutrition
NMBC Related Videos
The Vitamin D and Testosterone Connection
NMBC News
Nutrition, Metabolism, and Body Composition (NMBC) SIG NMBC Annual Meeting
2012 NSCA National Conference, Providence, RI
Friday, July 13, 10:00 am – 11:30 am
Attendance: 23
Executive Council in attendance:
Bill Campbell - Chair
Dawn Anderson -Vice Chair and Secretary
Theo Tutkaluk - Member at Large
Andrew Shao - Member at Large
Executive Council not in attendance: Ashley Walter
NSCA Education Department Liaison in attendance: David Barr
1. Call to order by Chair, Bill Campbell, at 10:00 am
2. Introduction of the Executive Council members to the attendees – Bill Campbell
3. Overview of the meeting agenda – Bill Campbell
• NMBC SIG Forum is up and functional
• The Executive Council set a goal to create two newsletters over the next year
• The NMBC SIG will be getting our own web page over the next few months
• We can post some items on the NMBC web page once it is created, but other modes of information dissemination are the responsibility of the Research & Education Committee
4. What can we as a SIG do during the next year? Suggestions from the group included:
• Information gap between the therapist/medical doctor and coaches/kids
• Overtraining and nutrition information with high school athletes
• Student/client misinformation: How to separate the truth from fiction
• Some use training videos for exercises and wonder if the nutrition information could be presented in that manner also
• Technology-based method to provide information (cheapest suggested: method would be voice over with PowerPoint presentation)
• Stated goal to build awareness of the SIG to NSCA Members and get them involved
5. Introduction of the speaker (Andrew Shao) – Bill Campbell
6. Presentation “Current State of Dietary Supplement Regulation in the US: Impact on Coaches and Athletes” by Andrew Shao
7. Held a random drawing for a copy of the new textbook, “Nutrition for Health, Fitness & Sport” by Williams, Anderson, & Rawson. The winner was Justin Kompf.
8. Nominations for two new Executive Council members. Five attendees were nominated for two positions. The five individuals nominated were:
o Brett Flynn
o Pat Koch
o Paul Luebbers
o Krissy Kendall
o Paul La Bounty
After the attendees voted, it was determined that Paul Luebbers and Krissy Kendall were elected to the Executive Council.
Meeting adjourned at 11:25 am
Minutes submitted by Dawn Anderson
Personal Trainers Special Interest Group
Purpose Statement: Serves as the collective voice of NSCA members engaged in the profession of personal training; and supports the education, careers, professional networking, and involvement with the NSCA of its members.
Personal Trainers News
NSCA Personal Trainers Special Interest Group (SIG) Newsletter Spring 2013
Dear NSCA PT-SIG Members,
We would like to welcome you to our first quarterly PT-SIG newsletter. The NSCA’s PT-SIG was developed to build a network and connection between NSCA-CPT Members nation wide. The PT-SIG is a large collection of professionals across the country that all share the common interest of improving both themselves and the profession itself. We would like to invite you and any of your NSCA colleagues to join the PT-SIG, if you are not already, and to contribute to the newsletter, as we would like to make this an educational tool in which we can all learn and share information.
The NSCA PT-SIG currently meets twice a year at the NSCA Personal Trainers Conference and at the NSCA National Conference. We would like to invite you to the National Conference and the SIG meeting to share in a conversation regarding the direction of the NSCA-CPT certification and how the NSCA can better serve its Members. These meetings are open to any NSCA Member to attend (you do not have to be NSCA-CPT certified).
Below you will find a brief overview of the minutes from the Personal Trainers Conference meeting from early March as well as a review of the conference itself from our very own Brad Schoenfeld (2011 NSCA Personal Trainer of the Year). Brad was one of many great presenters at this year’s Personal Trainers Conference, which was full of fantastic presentations from Len Kravitz, Alwyn and Rachel Cosgrove, Todd Durkin, Martin Rooney, JC Santana, Phil Kaplon, Mark Nutting, Bret Contreras and many more. It was, by far, the best Personal Trainers Conference the NSCA has put on!
Personal Trainers SIG Meeting Minutes - March 8, 2013
Personal Trainers Conference Review by Brad Schoenfeld
Thank you for being a part of this great organization and for your involvement with the NSCA PT-SIG. We hope to see you in Las Vegas for the National Conference and for our biannual meeting.
Thank you again!
Robert Linkul, MS, CSCS,*D, NSCA-CPT,*D
2012 NSCA Personal Trainer of the Year
NSCA South-West Regional Coordinator
NSCA-CPT SIG Secretary
Soccer/Rugby Special Interest Group
Purpose Statement: To help develop practitioners to be more effective with the players and coaches they work with.
To begin to build a body of evidence based work in soccer and rugby that can be shared among members of the NSCA and other national governing bodies that can benefit from the opportunity of working with strength and conditioning professionals.
To provide effective continuing education offerings for NSCA members that enhances their knowledge, skills and abilities.
Soccer/Rugby Articles of Interest
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Female Soccer: Part 1-A Needs Analysis
Female Soccer: Part 2-Training Considerations and Recommendations
Soccer/Rugby News
NSCA Soccer and Rugby SIG Meeting Minutes
January 4, 2013
NSCA Coaches Conference, Nashville, TN
Meeting leader: Howard Gray, Member-at-Large
Meeting call to order
Introductions and interest areas of meeting attendees
Topics of interest:
- Need for a NSCA presence at the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) national convention each year
- Buy-in and relationships between private, youth, and collegiate strength and conditioning coaches
- Strength and conditioning coach alongside soccer coach could be a way to “break the ice” and move from there
- Presentation further down the road: on-field and cost effective strength and conditioning in youth soccer
- Overall challenges facing the organization and finances of rugby in the US
- Previous SIG meetings dominated by soccer discussions
Meeting closed
Sports Medicine/Rehabilitation Special Interest Group
Purpose Statement: To promote this specialty area to NSCA members who are involved in Sports Medicine/Rehabilitation or individuals interested in related issues. Membership may include, but not limited to, physical therapists, athletic trainers, students of related fields, and other health related professionals (e.g., sports trained physicians and chiropractors). The Sports Medicine/Rehabilitation SIG will serve its members and members of the NSCA, as well as the public and consumers by working within the mission of the NSCA to bridge the gap not only between research and practice, but between traditional rehabilitation concepts and strategies that take advantage of strength and conditioning principles.
Sports Medicine/Rehabilitation News
There is no current news at this time.
Sports Medicine/Rehabilitation Meeting Minutes
2012 National Conference SIG Meeting Minutes
Tactical Strength and Conditioning (TSAC) Special Interest Group
Purpose Statement: The Tactical Strength and Conditioning (TSAC) Special Interest Group’s primary purpose is to organize NSCA members who work with or have interest in working with Military, Law Enforcement, or Fire/Rescue personnel. The TSAC SIG will focus on the exchange of ideas, methods and implementation of Tactical Strength and Conditioning as it relates to Operational Fitness and Performance. TSAC SIG will promote and share scientific training concepts and methodologies throughout the NSCA membership as it relates to training the Tactical Athlete.
TSAC Articles of Interest
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Hot Topic: Physical Training to Optimize Load Carriage in the Tactical Operator
Check out the latest issue of the TSAC Report.
TSAC Related Videos
History of TSAC
Olympic-Style Lifting for Firefighters
TSAC News
March 2013
Dear TSAC SIG Members,
In an attempt to better serve you and enhance engagement on the forum, we have scheduled TSAC content experts to serve as moderators on the forum over the next five (5) months. One expert will present and moderate a topic during each month. The topics are those that members have requested. The moderator for a given month will post a description of the topic by the first of the month and respond to any comments or questions at least once per week for the duration of that month. The schedule of topics and moderators is listed below. We hope you find this helpful. Please note that you may still post any unrelated comments or questions on the forum during this time.
March: Paul Henning, PhD, CSCS; Load Carriage for Tactical Operators
April: Danny McMillian, DSc-PT, CSCS, TSAC-F; Injury Prevention for Tactical Operators
May: Thomas Palmer, PhD, ATC, CSCS; Using the FMS for Tactical Operators
June: Nancy Graber, PhD; Psychology for the Tactical Operator
July: Guy Leahy, MEd, HFS, CSCS,*D; Fad Exercise Programs
With kind regards,
Mark Abel, PhD, CSCS,*D, TSAC-F
Chair-TSAC SIG
TSAC Meeting Minutes
2012 National Conference SIG Meeting Minutes
Weightlifting Special Interest Group
Purpose Statement: The purpose of the WL-SIG is to bring together NSCA members interested in promoting weightlifting in strength and conditioning. The WL-SIG provides a forum for interested individuals to learn and share their experiences and knowledge in the study and practice of weightlifting in strength and conditioning.
Weightlifting News
There is no current news at this time.