On 1/17/2026 at 12:22 AM, SkinInTheGame said: It's crazy bad in the Army. Soldiers who are otherwise nutrition focused and work out a ton just don't get enough sleep; they think 4-5 hours a night is the Army way. And it's just not about the body, it's about the mind. Personally, I don't do my best thinking without a good night's rest. I am wondering if anyone has worked with populations that work night shifts and are still required to perform at a high level. Specifically, in the tactical population, some members are required to work through the night for months at a time. I’m curious if the group has any specific strategies for helping athletes or tactical personnel manage sleep and recovery with this type of schedule. What I try to reiterate to the Airmen who work these schedules is the importance of maintaining as much consistency as possible with their sleep schedule. On their work days, I encourage them to maintain a consistent sleep/wake schedule, and on their days off, I try to have them avoid completely flipping their schedule back to a traditional daytime schedule. The goal is to minimize how much their sleep rhythm is disrupted. I also recommend being mindful of caffeine timing, particularly later in the shift, so it doesn’t interfere with their ability to fall asleep once they get home. Creating a consistent routine and protecting their sleep window seems to be especially important when they have to maintain this schedule for an extended period of time. For those who have worked with night-shift populations, what strategies have you found most effective for balancing sleep, recovery, and performance when someone is working nights for months at a time?

Hey John, I really connected with this, especially the idea that experience requires us to be willing to be uncomfortable and make mistakes. In collegiate athletics, I think we sometimes put so much emphasis on having the right credentials, protocols, and answers that we forget how much professional growth comes from simply being in the situations where there isn't an obvious answer. I've found that my own mistakes have been some of my best teachers. The important part is what happens afterward—taking the time to honestly evaluate the situation without turning that reflection into self-criticism. What did I miss? What could I have communicated better? Was there something I could have anticipated? And, probably most importantly, what am I going to do differently the next time? I also agree with your point about creating an environment where younger clinicians feel comfortable making mistakes. As experienced clinicians, we have to model that ourselves. If we're constantly presenting ourselves as having all the answers, it becomes difficult for someone underneath us to admit when they don't know something or when they made a mistake. For me, some of the best learning environments have been the ones where someone could say, "I don't know," "I missed that," or "I could have handled that better" without feeling like their competence was being questioned. That doesn't mean lowering standards or accepting poor performance. It means creating enough psychological safety that people can acknowledge mistakes, learn from them, and ultimately become better clinicians. I also really like your point about setbacks in rehab. A setback shouldn't automatically be viewed as failure. Sometimes it's valuable information that tells us our progression, communication, workload, or decision-making needs to be reassessed. The ability to step back, be objective, and learn from that information is something that comes with experience. Ultimately, I think the best clinicians I've worked with aren't the ones who never make mistakes. They're the ones who recognize them, own them, learn from them, and make sure the same mistake doesn't happen twice. That mindset becomes even more important as we take on greater responsibility and begin developing the clinicians who will eventually take our place.

This is something I see all the time in the collegiate setting. Creatine is probably one of the supplements my athletes ask me about the most, and honestly, it is one of the easier conversations to have because the evidence behind creatine monohydrate is so strong. With our basketball players, we tend to frame it around the demands of the sport. They are repeatedly sprinting, jumping, changing direction, and producing high levels of force throughout practices and games. Creatine isn't going to magically make someone a better basketball player, but it can help support the physiological demands that come with those activities and the strength and power adaptations we're trying to develop. What I also find interesting is the conversation around creatine and cognitive function. Collegiate athletes aren't just dealing with the physical demands of their sport. They're balancing practices, games, travel, classes, study hall, early mornings, late nights, and an incredibly long competitive schedule. For basketball in particular, the combination of travel and limited sleep can be significant. That's actually become one of the more effective ways I've found to talk about creatine adherence. Instead of simply telling an athlete, "Take this because it will help you get stronger," we can have a bigger conversation about supporting performance and recovery across the entire demands of being a college athlete. I also think it's important that we don't oversell the cognitive research. The performance benefits of creatine are well established; the brain and sleep-deprivation research is still developing. But I think it's an exciting area, especially when we're looking at the collegiate athlete as a whole person and not simply as an athlete in the weight room. From the athletic training side, I like that creatine is a relatively straightforward conversation: educate the athlete, make sure they're using a quality product, coordinate with sports nutrition and strength & conditioning, and make sure supplementation is part of a much bigger approach to nutrition, hydration, sleep, and recovery. Sometimes the biggest challenge isn't getting athletes to take something. It's getting them to understand why consistency matters.

On 9/4/2026 at 6:34 PM, C2kvam said: Did all the things even contacted Gatorade. Still have no option to claim anything. ???? @C2kvam Just sent you a message!

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Hi @KeeganRoss Strategies or Systems in Place I think another way to get everyone on the same page is to establish a set meeting cadence for all disciplines involved. This helps get everyone out of their silos and creates a common time to discuss anything that needs to be addressed. Especially in-season, when schedules can get chaotic, having something pre-scheduled allows everyone to be proactive and stay on the same page. On a day-to-day basis, communication may have to happen through technology, whether that is email, phone calls, or another communication platform. I can understand how this can be particularly challenging in the private sector. In my experience, the athlete was seeing me for performance while seeing outside providers for PT/ATC services. As an S&C coach involved in the return-to-play process, we need to understand what is going on medically so we can appropriately program around it. I think sharing the program with the other professionals involved and discussing the return-to-play plan, whether through email or phone calls, is extremely important. At the same time, not everyone is going to have the same philosophy. For example, you may have a medical professional who says an athlete is completely out for lower-body training, but there may still be opportunities to train the upper body or work around the injury. They may not know what is appropriate from a performance standpoint without having a conversation with the S&C coach. Having that open line of communication allows everyone to understand what each discipline is trying to accomplish while keeping the athlete moving forward. Transition from Rehab to High-Level Performance I think this is nuanced, and there are a lot of variables involved in the decision-making process. However, I do think having established standards and metrics that the athlete needs to achieve before returning to sport is important. Those standards should be determined and agreed upon by the disciplines involved and communicated to the athlete and coaching staff. Of course, return to play is not linear, and there will be highs and lows throughout the process. But having established criteria helps provide everyone with a common roadmap. For example, if an athlete is returning to sport following an ACL injury, the medical and performance sides should have a shared understanding of the metrics needed to progress. That could include strength levels back within an appropriate range of pre-injury levels, acceptable right-to-left asymmetries, movement quality, sport-specific demands, and ultimately the athlete's ability to tolerate increasing training loads. Communicating and Coordinating Multiple Professionals In my experience, I have found this to be extremely beneficial but also challenging at times. It is always great to get high-level professionals in a room together. Everyone can learn from each other and challenge each other's philosophies. At the same time, people come from different backgrounds and may have learned different approaches. This is where sharing your expertise, understanding the role of each discipline, and establishing a shared common goal becomes important. From an S&C perspective, if I notice positive or negative trends in any of the metrics I am tracking, I relay that information to the performance team and work with the group to determine if something else may be contributing to the change. Nine times out of ten, a negative trend in one area can lead to questions about what may be happening in another area. What Has Worked Well @KatieRdATC hit the nail on the head — there must be trust with the people you work with, and sometimes that takes time. Being open to different philosophies, building relationships, communicating consistently, and showing your results and the rationale behind your plan can all help when balancing different philosophies and overlapping responsibilities. Ultimately, I think everyone needs to understand that we are working toward the same goal: getting the athlete healthy, performing at a high level, and ultimately giving them the best opportunity to return to their sport or duty safely and confidently.

These are both fantastic answers and I really appreciate you guys sharing your thoughts and experiences about leadership. @rcampbellat Awesome point about "leading by example". Recently I have been giving this a ton of thought as it is a pretty common answer amongst professionals when talking about their leadership style. Couldn't agree more with your points. Leading by example is the baseline. There is so much more to it than that passive action. Your points outline that extremely well. Leading by example is safe. Only leading by example, in my opinion, can limit the culture of your organization. Push past that safety! @achristy I love the point about leading from the middle. There is a great book called "Leading Without Authority" by Keith Ferrazzi that outlines this theory well. Leadership is contagious and I think when you bring a positive attitude and effort in each day it permeates through your organization. This is a great conversation and happy you guys jumped in. I think a good question to always ask yourself is "how are my actions influencing the culture of the organization?" It's easy to fall into selfish thoughts, especially during the dog days or when you are going through a hard time in the year / season. When you can expand your thoughts and actions to THE TEAM, it makes it easier to be selfless in your decision making which can help in your overall leadership within the organization no matter what your title is.

To claim your Newly Certified Kit: Open the email you received and click “Claim Your Newly Certified Kit” You’ll be directed to the Gatorade Fieldhouse page to request your kit. Enter your information and click Submit to complete your request. If you run into any issues, feel free to send me a direct message!

To claim your Newly Certified Kit: Open the email you received and click “Claim Your Newly Certified Kit” You’ll be directed to the Gatorade Fieldhouse page to request your kit. Enter your information and click Submit to complete your request. If you run into any issues, feel free to send me a direct message!

Hi Richard! There is a lot of crossover between the collegiate and tactical settings in terms of working with interdisciplinary teams. Like the college setting, when managing readiness, return-to-play, and long-term performance, in the tactical setting we work together as team to provide the tactical member with proper return to their duty operations. Communicating with athletic training, nutrition, and physical therapist helps collectively work together to get the tactical member back to their operational duty. The difference between an athlete and the tactical athlete is that the tactical athlete is always ‘in-season’ and must be ready whenever duty is called upon. Getting them ready diligently and meticulously is important to prepare them for duty so we do work hand in hand to make sure the duty members are prepared and ready to go. There is a lot of crossover between the collegiate and tactical settings when it comes to working with interdisciplinary teams. Like the college setting, when managing readiness, return-to-play, and long-term performance, the tactical setting requires us to work together as a team to properly return the tactical member to full operational duty. Communication between athletic training, nutrition, physical therapy, strength and conditioning, and the individual’s leadership allows us to collectively develop a plan to get that tactical member back to their operational duties. One of the biggest differences between a traditional athlete and a tactical athlete is that the tactical athlete is essentially always “in-season.” They must be prepared to perform whenever they are called upon, which makes managing readiness and recovery especially important. We must be diligent and meticulous in how we prepare them for their occupational demands, while also making sure we are not creating unnecessary fatigue that could negatively impact their ability to perform. Because of that, we work hand in hand across disciplines to make sure our service members are healthy, prepared, and ready to perform when duty calls.