Strength training for youth athletes has traditionally been a contentious topic wrought with misunderstandings of the negative effects it may have on the the individual. For example, many people still believe that strength training will cause significant injury, stunt the growth of the youth athlete, and make them slow and immobile. Fortunately, we have contemporary empirical evidence that these statements are generally false and that strength training can actually help to decrease the rate of sports related injuries via strengthening muscles, increasing bone density, and diversifying foundations of athleticism.
It has been shown that youth athletes who play a sport year round and become early specialists in their sports have higher rates of injuries than those who experience a multitude of movements and activities during their formative years.
Bank et al. states: "single sport athletes who specialized in sports before 14 years of age were more likely to have a history of injuries (86.9% vs. 71.4%), multiple injuries (64.6% vs. 48.8%), multiple college injuries (17.2% vs. 6.0%), greater total injuries (2.0 vs. 1.0) and require over twice as long away from play from an injury (15.2 vs. 6.5 weeks)."
Additionally, Lauersen et al. in 2014 found that strength training (when compared to stretching) can decrease sports injuries by 33% and overuse injuries by almost 50%. Although this meta-analysis primarily looked at adults, we shouldn't overlook the benefits of strength training across all individuals and encourage youth athletes to explore and establish good training habits surrounding weights and strength training so that they have more longevity in their chosen sport(s).
Bank et al. outlines a basic but useful template to help youth athletes get started with strength training:
"the most effective RT [resistance training] program that enhances muscle strength consists of training sessions of >23 weeks, including 6-8 repetition of each set, and 5 sets per exercise, and a training intensity level of 80-89% with 3-4 mins of relaxation time between the sets is optimal for improving muscle strength"
However, because each individual athlete has different needs and requirements, this does not replace having a good strength and conditioning coach to help deliver the exercises in the proper format.
If you are looking for quality training for your youth athlete, please reach out to Rise Above Training here in Belmont, CA or if you are looking for strength based rehabilitation, please reach out to see if my services are a good fit.
Citations:
Bank, N., Hecht, C., Karimi, A., El-Abtah, M., Huang, L., & Mistovich, R. J. (2022). Raising the young athlete: Training and injury prevention strategies. Journal of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America, 4(2), 462. https://doi.org/10.55275/jposna-2022-0037
Lauersen JB, Bertelsen DM, Andersen LB. The effectiveness of exercise interventions to prevent sports injuries: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. British Journal of Sports Medicine 2014;48:871-877.
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