Why should your 10-19 year old be strength training? Do they need speed or to jump high for their sport? Do they need to fast or flexible? Or maybe they just want to be fit?
There is a common misconception that strength training means lifting heavy weights and that the reason to do it is to bulk up. Did you know that strength training will help basketball players jump higher, hockey players skate faster, increase a football players power and that specific types of strength training will improve neuromuscular control? These are just a few benefits. What this means is that a 10 to 13 year old who doesn’t have enough testosterone to build large muscle can get stronger with the proper training!
There are lots of reasons that adolescents strength train. Here are a few:
1. Improve sport performance
2. Prevent Injuries
3. Get stronger
4. Get fit and healthy
We design our strength programs for adolescents for using 4 stages. We take into account the age, whether you play a sport/what sports and your pre-existing fitness level.
Stage 1:
Bodyweight movements where athlete must demonstrate proper neuromuscular control and technique for the basic movements.( Squat, Push-up, Lunge, Plank)
Stage 2:
Sport Specific bodyweight movements to improve coordination and efficiency with respect to sport specific movements(cutting, running, throwing, utilization of bands/medicine balls)
Stage 3:
Loaded Basic movements: After becoming proficient basic bodyweight movements young athletes can be progressed to loaded movements with submaximal loads.
Stage 4:
Single Maximal Lifts: Begin to learn technique and perform lifts only after athlete reaches skeletal maturity.
A strength training myth is that kids as young as ten shouldn’t be lifting weights. The truth is that strength training if done properly is not just sitting in a gym bench pressing weight. How a ten and a nineteen year old strength train look very different. A professional will use body weight, movement patterns, speed and resistance to design the right program. Email us if you have specific questions about strength training for this age group.