Laboratory Manual for Strength and Conditioning

The Laboratory Manual for Strength and Conditioning is a comprehensive text that provides students with meaningful lab experiences in the area of strength and conditioning and applied sport science. While each lab may be conducted in a sophisticated laboratory, there are opportunities to conduct the labs in a gym or field environment without costly equipment. It is a useful resource as students prepare for a career as a strength and conditioning coach, athletic trainer, physical therapist, or personal trainer.

The Laboratory Manual for Strength and Conditioning is designed to be a practical guide for training students and professionals in the skills to be applied to strength and conditioning. The labs cover seven major aspects of strength and conditioning including speed, power, flexibility, agility, and fitness. The labs are practical and easy to follow with sample calculations, data tables, and worksheets to complete. Each includes suggested tasks/activities to apply the theory to real-world applications.

Students will explore assessments of strength, aerobic capacity, power output, speed, change of direction, and muscular endurance, and gain understanding in the following areas:

Definitions of commonly used terms within the area of exploration, as well as commonly misused terms
Assessing performance (i.e., power, strength, speed, etc.)
Understanding laboratory- and field-based techniques for specific athlete populations
Describing optimal methods for testing in all aspects of physical performance
Evaluation of test results based upon sport and/or athlete normative data

The lab manual is a valuable resource for strength coaches, personal trainers, kinesiology students, and educators at the undergraduate and beginning graduate-level programs and can be used in a graduate strength and conditioning course.

Author Biography

Joshua Miller, DHSc, CSCS, ACSM-EP, is a Clinical Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition at the University of Illinois Chicago.

Paul Comfort, PhD, ASCC, CSCS*D, is a Professor of Strength and Conditioning and programme leader for the MSc Strength and Conditioning at the University of Salford, UK and an adjunct professor at Edith Cowan University, Western Australia.

John McMahon, CSCS*D, ASCC, is a Reader (Associate Professor) in Sport and Exercise Biomechanics at the University of Salford, UK.