Table of Contents

1. The Strength and Conditioning Scientist

[Perry Stewart, Paul Comfort and Anthony Turner]

Section 1: Developing your Athlete

2. Developing Strength and Power

[Tim Suchomel, Paul Comfort and Michael Stone]

3. Stretch-Shortening Cycle and Muscle Tendon Stiffness

[John McMahon]

4. Endocrinology and Resistance Training

[Anthony Turner and Christian Cook]

5. Training Aerobic Fitness

[Alex Bliss and Rob Harley]

6. Repeat Sprint Ability and the Role of High Intensity Interval Training

[Anthony Turner and David Bishop]

7. Concurrent Training

[Richard Clarke, Roigo Aspe and Jonathan Hughes]

Section 2: Programming and Monitoring for your Athlete

8. Periodisation

[Anthony Turner and Paul Comfort]

9. Monitoring Training Load, Fatigue and Recovery

[Tim Gabbett]

10. Strategies for Pre-training and Competition Priming

[Mark Russell, Natalie Williams and Liam Kilduff]

11. Strategies to Enhance Athlete Recovery

[Emma Cockburn and Phil Bell]

12. Fitness Testing and Data Analysis

[John McMahon, Paul Comfort and Anthony Turner]

Section 3: Coaching your Athlete

13. Movement Analysis and Corrective Exercise

[Chris Bishop]

14. Technical Demands of Strength Training

[Tim Suchomel, John McMahon and Paul Comfort]

15. Weightlifting for Sports Performance

[Tim Suchomel and Paul Comfort]

16. Demands of Plyometric Training

[Chris Sole]

17. Training Change of Direction and Agility

[Sophia Nimphius]

18. Speed and Acceleration Training

[Pedro Jiménez-Reyes, Bret Contreras and Jean-Benoît Morin]

19. Applied Coaching Science

[Nick Winkelman]

About the Author

Anthony Turner is the Director of postgraduate programmes at the London Sport Institute, Middlesex University London, UK, where he is also the programme leader for the MSc in strength and conditioning. Anthony consults with the British Military, Queens Park Rangers Football Club, Saracens Rugby Club and various Olympic and Paralympic athletes. He was also the head of physical preparation for British Fencing between the London and Rio Olympics. Anthony is accredited (with distinction) with the National Strength and Conditioning Association and the UK Strength and Conditioning Association (UKSCA), and was awarded the 2015 UKSCA coach of the year for education and research. Anthony has published over 60 peer-reviewed journal articles, is an associate editor for the Strength and Conditioning Journal, and completed his PhD examining physical preparation in Olympic fencing.


Paul Comfort is Programme Leader for the MSc in strength and conditioning at the University of Salford, UK. He has applied experience across a variety of team sports and is currently consulting with numerous professional sports teams within the Greater Manchester area. Paul is a founding member of the UKSCA, where he is also an editorial board member for the Professional Strength and Conditioning Journal and joint editor of its Professional Insights column. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles along with numerous book chapters, and is a senior associate editor for the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.