Often times parents of young athletes come to us asking if their young athlete is too young to begin resistance training or participate in a sports performance training program at Skill of Strength. Who can blame them?
Everyone’s heard the old rumor that weight lifting stunts kid’s growth, right? Obviously, parents don’t want to mess with that!
Now, let’s address this myth about young athletes and get into why we love training athletes from a young age at SOS!
Myth: Exercise can stunt a child’s growth.
Many parents tell their young athlete to do push-ups, but believe that 10lb dumbbell presses just might cause his arms to stop growing.
Fact: Playing on the monkey bars or jumping off the bed will place more stress on a child’s joints than a well-designed strength and conditioning program.
It is never too young for an athlete or child to work on developing major movement patterns (push, pull, squat, hinge, and carry) with a qualified strength and conditioning coach.
It is important to keep in mind that children are not simply mini-adults. Young athletes are going to have a more difficult time than adults when learning the major movement patterns because their bodies are growing so rapidly. The main objective of any sports performance training program for youth athletes should be developing the major movement patterns by teaching their brains to communicate with their muscles.
Once proper movement patterns are developed, it’s perfectly safe to apply small amounts of resistance, as long as the load doesn’t have a negative effect on the movement pattern.
A few benefits of strength and conditioning training for youth athletes:
- Youth athletes have a hormonal cocktail that is favorable for strength development.
- It’s valuable for young athletes to gain the skills to move properly early in life as they will reap the benefits of proper movement for years to come!
- Middle school and high school are a time of growth, both physically and mentally. Major growth spurts are common and coordination can suffer as a result. Consistently training and using the body’s motor patterns helps prevent a lack of coordination during times of growth and may even prevent some injuries.
When young athletes strength train, their brain communicates with the muscles responsible for the movement of the growing limbs. Fast, smooth communication improves with strength training and promotes coordination and fluid movements for athletics!
Takeaway
Kids will always want to jump, run and learn new things. Do not hold back your child from learning basic proper mechanics or they could end up missing out on important skills.
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