Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinics of North America
Strength Training Recommendations for the Young Athlete
Section snippets
Age
The first consideration involving age is whether strength training is safe for the prepubescent athlete. Much of this concern is related to the open physis. Because cartilage is weaker than bone, many have considered the physis to be the “weak link” in the skeleton. Their concern has been that placing the physis under superphysiologic and repetitive loads would potentially damage the physis, causing it to prematurely fuse, resulting in limb deformity and cessation of limb growth [9], [10].
Training frequency
The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that children strength train two to three times per week on nonconsecutive days [10]. Too much exercise may lead to overuse injuries by not allowing adequate time for musculoskeletal tissues to recover between training episodes [7]. Too little strength training may lead to loss of the strength gained during a period of training [2], [21]. To avoid overuse injury, Micheli recommended allowing adequate recovery time between training sessions and
Repetitions
A few studies have examined the influence of exercise volume on strength gains in children. In 1999 Faigenbaum and colleagues [4] performed a study comparing a group of 15 children, strength training using a heavy load and performing one set of six to eight repetitions (low repetition-heavy load), to a group of children training with a moderate load and performing one set of 13 to 15 repetitions (high repetition-moderate load). Participants were assigned to strength train twice per week for a
Single versus multiple sets
Whether a single set is as efficient in making strength gains as performing multiple sets of the same exercise has been the subject of several studies and meta-analysis [28], [29], [30] in the adult population; however, no studies have been performed specific to the preadolescent athlete. Recent studies in adult populations support greater strength gains when using multiple sets rather than single sets, especially after progression occurs and higher gains are desired [29].
In a study by Rhea and
Rate of progression
Progression during a strength training program can lead to improved strength gains and make it more fun, as an athlete sees himself or herself set and reach goals. Work-out cards or journals can be very useful in helping children keep track of the exercises they are performing, the amount of weight they last used, and the number of sets and repetitions that they performed during the last work-out session. An additional benefit of using workout cards is that it helps children avoid competition
Maintaining training induced gains and detraining
Because the amount of time an athlete spends strength training may fluctuate throughout the year, it is important to know how often an athlete needs to strength train to maintain the strength he or she has made. Some of the reasons for decreased participation may include time restrictions while they are participating in their sports season, scheduling conflicts, decreased motivation, or injury rehabilitation.
Sewall and Micheli [2] demonstrated the effect detraining has on strength gains in
Summary
Developing a strength training program for a preadolescent athlete that is both safe and effective involves the consideration of many variables. Some of these include: the age a child should begin strength training, the number of sets and repetitions an athlete should perform, how long to rest between sets, and how many times an athlete should exercise per week. While some of these variables have yet to be studied in the preadolescent athlete, knowledge of the current literature will help a
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