Last week’s blog was the most popular post so far so I know I’m under pressure to deliver another post with some killer info! This week we’re jumping into the topic on physical preparation training in youths. A question I get asked a lot is “How young can my son/daughter/child join a gym/start lifting weights?” unfortunately there is absolutely no definite answer for this question because there are so many factors that come into play. In this blog we’re going to discuss some of the key aspects for youth’s engaging in physical preparation training, things you can do with them and things to look out for. Let’s jump in.
I actually want to begin this with a really quick debunk. ‘Weights stunt a child’s growth’ Actually, research does not support that theory. If your child is in sport, then they really should do some sort of athletic development work. If they’re lucky and talented enough to be in a high performance academy set up I guarantee you they will be exposed to some of the things we will discuss below. If you want to have them at a disadvantage as they grow, then by all means hold them back from physical preparation training.
Areas to focus on with youths
When it comes to youths there are 3 things to try and develop. 1) excellent movement patterns, 2) ability to control their own body (really important for a teenager going through puberty, more on that later) and 3) developing strength with their own body.
Own Your Movement
I guess point 1 and 2 are related so I’m going to discuss them both in this first section. Having good movement and being able to control your own body weight is the key for anyone, not just youths, before they begin weight based resistance training. They should show excellent movement in the squat, lunge and hinge patterns. Any good coach will be able to identify if a pattern is good or not. Children, like adults, should be supervised and coached by a qualified and competent coach. If they do not own the positions and movements mentioned above there are a number of things they can still do to develop and start progressing themselves up the physical ladder.
Kids and teenagers should be doing exercises that allow them to explore their body’s movement and gain control of that movement. My favourite way to do that is to make use of different animal crawling patterns, the bear crawl being my personal go to crawl. Crawling brings our body back to when we first began to move as babies. It develops excellent core control, body awareness and great stability for the shoulder. It also has a tonne of neurological benefits. The cross patterns of moving an arm and opposite leg can help the brain develop stronger neural pathways to the limbs. In my experience, crawling has the ability to hit all 3 points I mentioned above that are important for youth training, and most importantly, it can be pretty fun.
Strength training does NOT mean external loading
Gaining strength with your own body is massively important for EVERYBODY, not just youths. If a kid comes to me wanting to get stronger, dumbbells and barbells are not the way I’m going to want to achieve that strength. I want to see them being able to do perfect chin ups, press ups, single leg squats, single leg RDLs and lunges. If I add those things in with some movement based training like crawls and Turkish get ups, then we have a great training programme.
There is absolutely no defined age someone can start training at. However, they must respect the progression and earn the right to move up the ladder, I don’t care if you’re 14 or 40, you need to earn the barbell. You earn it by showing me you can move and control your body. You possess the strength to hold yourself up before adding any external weight. If you can’t do a press up with your own body, why not master that first before wanting to bench press a bar weighing 20KG?
Above I mentioned puberty very briefly and how it can impact a developing athlete. Let’s think about what happens in a relatively quick time frame, you grow. Your height shoots up, your torso lengthens and your arms and legs shoot out. This can seriously mess up how a child moves. They need to learn from scratch how they move, how to control this brand new body that’s long and lanky. This often presents itself as clumsiness, awkward running styles and decreased proprioception. So full circle back to crawling and movement training! If a baby naturally learns to crawl as a way of developing themselves then why wouldn’t it be good enough for teenagers and adults alike?
Another major aspect of youth development is nutrition but I think that’s a different topic for another day, it deserves it’s own full blog.
In summary, “Rory, when can my kid start training in the gym?” whenever they want, as long as they are under excellent guidance of someone who understands long term development and when to progress a kid. I wouldn’t advise parents to let their kid join a big commercial gym because there just isn’t enough dedicated service for anyone, let alone a child who needs it most. If you’re a parent who is serious about developing their child’s athletic ability or just trying to help them get strong (Always a good idea, ALWAYS) then find a gym who specialises in small group training or 1-1 training. Question the coach about how they can benefit your child and do your own research to make sure they’re not leading you up a tree.
As always guys, I hugely appreciate you for taking the time to read what I have to say. Hopefully you found something good in this week’s post and if you did it would be great if you sent it to someone else who you thing could benefit from the information shared in this blog, better yet, why not share it on your social media feed for all your friends to see? Every little share helps spread the good word. Don’t forget you can subscribe by hitting the button at the bottom of this page, this will send new posts directly to your e-mail. If you have any questions regarding this post or any other post either comment below or reach out. I’ll always get back to you as fast as I can.
Thanks,
Rory.