Whats up Goliath family, Jaco here for the first official volume of #WisdomWednesday.
This weeks question is “How is training beneficial for youth?”
A predominant percentage of our athletes are youth so this is a great question for us to dig into. So let’s go!
The Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP), is the organization that I am a Certified Personal Trainer through. They are considered to be the Gold Standard in fitness and is highly accredited in the world of health and wellness.
In 2008 CSEP issued a position stand confirming that there is no minimum age for resistance training. They advised that resistance training (RT) instruction should be appropriate to the individuals age and include proper warm up and cool down, an appropriate selection of exercises and appropriately sized equipment.
They recommend low to moderate intensity exercise 2-3 times/week non consecutively. Reps should range from 8-15 for about 8-12 exercises per session. The focus of the training session should be proper technique and safe protocols about the amount of resistance or load lifted.
So in a nutshell, Resistance Training is perfectly safe for children and youth when done properly and with the right protocols. This is where we step in! We ensure that our athletes are able to train in a safe environment, with age appropriate exercises executed with good form and technique that we teach them! So now that we’ve confirmed that exercise is safe for your child, let’s look at some of the many benefits they will reap!
Cerebral Development
Research has shown that physical movement can affect the brains’ physiology by increasing capillary growth,efficient blood flow, oxygenation, development of nerve connections, increased brain tissue volume and growth of nerve cells in the hippocampus (center of learning and memory) to name a few.
These physiological changes may be associated with:
- Improved attention
- Improved Information processing
- Enhanced coping skills
- Reduced sensations of cravings and pain. (CDC,2010)
Musculoskeletal Development
When following a well planned out training program, youth may reap many physical benefits.
It is our duty as trainers to properly scope out these details such as number of reps, number of sets, appropriate load, safe equipment etc. After all of this has been considered your child can yield benefits such as:
- Increased muscle strength, endurance, power and balance
- Decreased risk of joint or muscle injury
- Improved Motor skills
- Stronger Bones
- Healthy blood pressure and cholesterol levels (CSEP,2008)
Mental and Social Benefits.
Not only is your child training towards physical goals to get better at their sport, they are also vastly increasing their psycho-social interaction. Some of these mental and social benefits of exercise for youth include:
- Enhanced Mental Health
- Improved Mood
- Greater Self Esteem
- Greater chance to continue healthy habits into adulthood
- Group sessions allow for peer to peer interaction/community
INJURY PREVENTION.
This guy is a major factor. Over the last few years we’ve seen an aggressive spike in the amount of sports our children participate in. This is great until they start to “burn-out” and overuse their body which can result in injury.
Resistance training for youth has been shown to dramatically reduce overuse injuries, ESPECIALLY if their trainer has specifically formulated that into their workout plan.You know, like we do here at Goliath High Performance Training! We prevent injury through training in the following ways:
- Strengthening muscles,ligaments,tendons and bones
- Correcting Muscle Imbalances
- Proprioception and Coordination training
- Ensuring proper technique and execution of exercises
- Ensuring our programming is specific to our athlete and their sport.
In closing, personal training for youth is perfectly safe when executed properly. At Goliath High Performance Training we have more than enough experience and education in safely training your youth.
Exercise for youth reaps MANY benefits, a lot more than covered in this post, and a lot more than just the physical adaptations.
It improves brain function and physiology, increases mental health and self esteem, and when it turns into sport specific training, we focus on reducing in season injuries and work in rehabilitation them if they come up.
Do you know a parent that might benefit from this information? Share this post with them and get them on board the Goliath Family!
As always, if you have any questions for us, comment them below, or send them my way at jaco@goliathhighperformance.com