Strength Training With SST

'Is weight training safe for my child?' is the most often asked question SST hears from parents. The biggest misconception or fear of every parent is the thought of their child getting injured or growth being stunted because of strength training. Too many people discourage their kids from strength training because they believe strength training will make their child look like a bodybuilder found on the front cover of fitness magazines. This is an example of a specific sport that utilizes strength training. Genetically there are only handfuls of people who can even look like this. Strength training actually enhances performance in a sport compared to just performing the skill of this sport. Strength training improves performance in sports such as hockey, figure skating, football, soccer, basketball and many more. People are now realizing if you need to run faster, jump higher or perform better in your sport strength training must be an integral part of a young athletes training cycle.

Sports such as hockey involve ballistic movements, which place stress on the muscles and bones of young athletes. In many cases the young athletes’ bodies are unable to cope with this stress due to a lack of strength.
Young athletes were being injured in youth sport activities, and it was obvious that their bodies were not able to meet the physical demands of the sports they were playing (Micheli, 1986). A supervised weight training program will strengthen the body to meet the physical demands placed upon them by their sport.
Growth plate injuries occur most often in contact sports such as football and hockey. Young athletes are more susceptible to this type of injury because their ligaments are much stronger than their growth plates. Extreme muscle overload caused by a young athlete trying to lift too heavy of a weight can also stunt growth. Most bone injuries caused by strength training have been as result of lifting maximal weights with improper exercise technique and instruction. Young athletes should not be performing lifts that exceed 70-80% of their 1 repetition max during their prepubescent and puberty years.

Benefits of strength training include:

• Increased muscular strength
• Increased muscular endurance (the ability of a muscle to perform multiple repetitions against a given resistance)
• Decreases and prevention of injuries – athletes who do not experience any strength training have a three to one injury rate compared to those who do
• Strengthening of the connective tissue such as ligaments and tendons
• Provides an athlete a strong foundation for future sports
• Improved performance in their individual sport
• Preventing osteoporosis later in life as a result of increases in bone mineral content
• Increase self-esteem and confidence
• Increase of lean muscle mass therefore increasing daily metabolism

How old should my child be before starting a strength-training program?
There is much controversy surrounding this topic as well. SST has had parents wonder if their child has to be 13, 14 or 15 years old before they can weight train. Do people believe there is an imaginary line between these ages? Before answering one must understand the difference between chronological and physiological age. Chronological age refers to the actual age of an individual. Physiological age refers to the development and functional capabilities of the athlete. Therefore at SST we consider the physiological age of an athlete to be more of an importance. Parents should decide if their child is ready to start a strength-training program by the maturation of their child.

Several areas to consider are:
Physical Stature - examples include height and weight
Emotional and Mental Maturity - dependent upon your child’s motivation, interest, dedication and attitude
Bone Maturity - development of their bone structure
Reproductive Maturity - development of hormones such as testosterone in males and estrogen and growth hormones in females

Prepubescent children strength increases are a result of improving the functional ability of the nervous system rather than the increase of muscle mass. Large increases in muscle mass do not occur in younger children, therefore they should not strength train for the sole purpose of getting big. Hopefully a child will want to strength train to better themselves or enhance performance in their sport.

How to Start
Before starting a strength training program, SST recommends every child see their family physician for a thorough physical examination. After this evaluation SST performs a Physical and Muscle Assessment of the athlete. The assessment comprises of exercises that test for speed, power, agility, strength, body composition, muscle testing and flexibility. After this assessment EACH athlete is devised a PERSONALIZED PROGRAM for their own individual needs by one of our certified strength and conditioning coaches. Why a personalized program? SST does not believe everyone is the same therefore neither should their workouts. Each athlete then trains under one of our coaches who stress proper exercise technique during every session.

Having trained hundreds of young athletes for the past four years (no ligament injuries or muscle pulls, knock on wood) our record proves that strength training can be very useful for any athlete in sport if proper instruction and supervision is provided from a professional.

(The Committee for the Development of Sport of the Council of Europe in 1982 stated women are more prone to osteoporosis, therefore strength training should be part of the physical education and training program of young girls.)

Larry Jusdanis, SST Director