Guidelines and Tips for Youth Strength Training

Can children do strength-training exercise? YES!
Should children do strength-training exercise? YES!

The physical benefits for children who do strength training include more muscle strength, more connective tissue strength, more bone strength and reduced injury risk.

Youth strength training guidelines:

· Exercises: 4-12 per session
· Sets: 1-3 per exercise (12 total sets/session)
· Repetitions: 10-15 per set
· Progression: add 1-3 pounds once able to complete 15 reps
  with proper form
· Frequency: 2 nonconsecutive days per week (athletes one
  session/week in-season)
· Speed: 4-5 seconds per repetition
· Range: full range repetitions
· Warm-up and cool-down: warm-up aerobic activities
  and physical skills, cool-down static stretching

Exercises may successfully be performed using bodyweight, bands/tubing, dumbbells, medicine balls, and weight stack equipment. Many professionals recommend bodyweight exercise for youth. However, for most youth, bodyweight is too high and muscle strength is too low to successfully perform standard strength exercises like chin-ups, bar dips, push-ups, and sit-ups.

Give special attention to any rotary exercises that you have children perform using weight stack equipment. For exercises like the leg extension, leg curl, tricep extension and bicep curl, make sure the equipment is not too big and the joint (in these examples the knee and elbow) can be properly lined up with the axis of rotation when performing the exercise. If not, then choose an alternative exercise such as squats or lunges for the legs or curls and extensions for the arms, using dumbbells or bands for resistance. For most push/pull exercises such as the chest press and leg press, the size of the equipment is less of a concern. Adult size equipment will work for many youth, especially those over the age of 10.

Select basic exercises to include all major muscles. Strive for 12 total sets per exercise session. Using this guideline, if you choose four multiple-muscle exercises you need to complete three sets of each exercise, for six exercises you would complete two sets for each, and for twelve single-muscle exercises complete one set for each.

Studies have shown that high repetition sets (13-15) are significantly better for building strength in kids under the age of 10. After the age of 10, lower repetitions and higher repetitions provided similar strength gains. So, it is recommended to use higher repetitions for all ages because there is lower risk of injury with no decrease in strength benefit.

While we recognize the value of traditional stretch-and-hold exercises, we incorporate static stretching exercises into the cool-down of our physical education classes and youth sport programs rather than during the warm-up portion. Although warm-up protocols that include static stretching have become standard practice, over the past few years long-held beliefs about the potential benefits of warm-up static stretching have been questioned. Furthermore, there has been a growing interest in warm-up procedures that involve the performance of dynamic hops, skips, jumps, and lunges that elevate body temperature, enhance the excitability of muscle fibers, improve kinesthetic awareness, and maximize active ranges of motion. Since muscles are actually turned on during dynamic warm-up activities, they will be better prepared for strength-training activities

In addition to the specific guidelines above, here are a few more considerations to insure youth strength training is a pleasurable and valuable experience for all involved:

First, make certain participants have the emotional maturity to accept and follow instruction. As a guideline, most children age seven and older are mature enough to begin strength training programs. But, some may be ready to begin at a younger age and some must be older. This age guideline is not based on physical maturity, but instead on the child’s emotional maturity.

Second, there must be adequate supervision by a trainer who is knowledgeable about strength training and who genuinely appreciates the uniqueness of childhood and adolescence. Successful training is not achieved by children as if they are little adults.

Lastly, strength training should be part of a comprehensive program to increase both health and skill-related fitness. It is not a stand-alone program. Instead it should be the cornerstone of a multifaceted program that teaches children success in other areas such as cardiovascular health and diet.

If this is an area of training that sounds interesting, you should consider continuing your education with advanced training to safely and effectively work with the youth of all ages and fitness levels. An excellent home-study CEC course that is recognized by all major certification organizations in the US and Canada is:

JrFit: Youth Fitness Specialty Certification

This in depth program (worth 19-24 CECs) will teach already certified and experienced personal trainers, lifestyle coaches, and athletic trainers to safely and effectively train youth ages 7-17.

American Academy of Health and Fitness: Fitness Specialty Certifications and Continuing Education Home Study Courses for Health and Fitness Professionals