A Hard Stance on Youth Strength Training

At Legacy, our patient health and safety is priority number one.

Although we are always excited to have our patients perform their best, run PB's, win medals and accolades, at the end of the day we are your musculoskeletal doctors and your long term health matters more to us than your win. 

With the recent media acknowledgement of our children's lack of movement, predisposition to obesity and poor health, many parents have been turning to sport and physical activity to help improve their children's lives. We think this is wonderful! But, we have also seen adults push kids too far too fast. High performance, results-driven programs are causing injuries in children that we should not be seeing. In my own practice these injuries range from overuse tendonopathies, joint and movement dysfunctions, structural muscular imbalances, to aberrant movement patterns. After months of research, and years of clinical experiences treating youth athletes, I am finally publishing my hard stance on youth strength and conditioning.

After months of research, and years of clinical experiences, I am finally publishing my hard stance on youth strength and conditioning

Strength Training Does Not Equate "Pumping Iron"

• All youths will benefit from strength, conditioning, speed and agility work
  • This does NOT mean primarily "lifting weights" 
  • As with adults, all programs should be designed to improve agility, balance, coordination, sport-specific movement, and functional strength. 
  • From a sport perspective, solely "pumping iron" encourages children to work muscles in small joint ranges, avoid difficult movement patterns, and actually decreases functional strength
  • From a health perspective, lifting weights can cause premature closing of the growth plates, effectively stunting growth.  Growth plates close at different times throughout childhood and adolescence, all the way up to your 20's. Being mindful of these incredibly important milestones is paramount to overall musculoskeletal health. 
  • In many cases, during a growth spurt, the bones lengthen prior to the soft tissues. This can predispose to injury as the athletes muscles are truly "shortened" not just tight. Forcing a movement during these phases could spell trouble. 
  • Over-training your athlete can lead to burn-out, and from a performance perspective, peaking too early. In most sports, athletes should begin to peak at the university level, and some even older than that.  The teenage years are when we lay the foundation of proper movement patterns, training principles and skill development. 

Strength Training is Critical for Development - If Performed and Programmed Correctly

• The youth athlete must master body-weight stability before starting ANY weight lifting program.
  • For example, they must be able to perform basic movements without any compensatory muscle actions. The Functional Movement Screen and other biomechanical assessments can determine these patterns quickly and efficiently. 
  • Never weight train into a bad movement pattern. The bad patterns of today are the chronic injuries that have to be fixed tomorrow. 
• The program should include REST, FUN, and a VARIETY of movement patterns. 
  • A runner or rower should practice lateral, rotational movements.
  • A throwing athlete should practice lower body movement.
  • Using "Animal Flow" has been a fun and challenging way to encourage our youth patients to move in a variety of functional patterns.
• IF the athlete has mastered these movement patterns, supervised, technique-focussed weight lifting can be performed.
  • If it sounds difficult, find a chiropractor, athletic therapist or physiotherapist who specializes in youth athletes and get their opinion.
  • Weight lifting should be limited to HIGH REPETITION, LOW LOAD. This means 13-15 reps for 1 set.  Your trainer or coach should be able to help you determine an appropriate starting weight.
  • A youth athlete should NEVER be lifting maximal or sub maximal loads.

Fun, Safe and Effective Ways to Get Your Kids Active in the Gym

Once your child athlete has mastered basic movement patterns without "cheating" or using poor muscle control, there are a variety of ways they can start strength and conditioning training.

• Enroll in a speed/agility program - exercises should focus on footwork drills, body weight movements such as squats and push ups, rough and tumble body-weight exercises are encouraged! Weights should NEVER be included in these classes.
• Find a trainer that focusses on youth, and stresses the importance of MOVEMENT QUALITY over QUANTITY. These highly trained practitioners often take courses such as Functional Range Conditioning (FRC), Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization (DNS), Prague School to Athletic Development (PS2AD), or Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) which indicates a higher level of training at the university level.  (The trainers at Legacy have a combination of these certifications, and I trust all of us with your kids!)
• 30 minutes of conditioning 2-3 days per week will have an incredible benefit on your athlete, even without "lifting weights".  
• Although there are exceptions, I do not recommend weight-lifting for athletes under 16 years of age. 
• If you want your athlete lifting weights prior to 16, they must get screened for movement ability, show ability to perform basic lifting technique movements such as squat, lunge, and hip hinge with body weight.
  • They must also have constant supervision to enforce perfect technique, and only progress programs under a qualified professional. Teenagers should never be lifting without a qualified trainer. 
• Children as young as 7 years old can benefit from agility and coordination training, as long as it is simple, fun and supervised! Ladder drills, reaction ball training, and balance work are some of the fun ways to get kids safely working harder.

If you have questions, we are only an email away. Together, we can build our youth athletes into the happy, healthy, superstars of tomorrow!