3 THOUGHTS ON TRAINING YOUTH ATHLETES

1)Extreme jumps and gains in a short time probably has more to do with puberty and growth spurts.

I would love to say that our training programs turn anyone into a machine within a month, but that is rare. We have seen athletes that come in 3-5x/week achieve some great gains in a month, but that is because the training frequency is really high. For the most part, our athletes come in 2x/week. We have seen some really impressive jumps in a month, but athletes also had a growth spurt and grew in height and added 5-10lbs prior to that.

Our program probably helped facilitate more muscle and better fuel efficiency, but to say that it was the driving force behind the success is overstated.

Take away- don’t expect your athlete to reach the next level of performance in a month unless the training stimulus is very high. Don’t confuse puberty with fast results from a superior training program.

2)Kids mask injuries really well. They heal very quickly compared to adults and their cardiovascular systems are much more developed from being highly active.

I hear at least once a week “I hurt my knee at (practice, game, gym, playing with siblings) and it hurts to walk on”. When I see them 2 days later and ask, “how is the knee?”, they respond with “oh yeah it’s fine!”.  I get so jealous at how quickly they heal. If that happened to me now, I would be out for a week and then have to gradually add exercise back in for the next 2 weeks. This is awesome for young athletes, but can make it really tough for parents and coaches. It can make it seem like they are invulnerable or that the stimulus that caused the issue isn’t really that big of a deal. But what we tend to see is that the prolonged, repeated exposure and lack of recovery turns into tendinopathies and eventually postural changes. Ribs and pelvises become stuck in extension causing chronic low back or knee pain. Shoulders impinge and lose range of motion.

Take away-Being smart about limiting activity sometimes can save a ton of time rehabbing and when combined with the 3rd lesson we may see a drastic reduction in youth having prolonged non- contact injuries.

3)Nutrition gets overlooked because activity level is so high.

When I hear an athlete describe what they eat, the majority of the time it sounds like something every adult would agree could be correlated to some kind of metabolic disease. Yet they look extremely fit and perform pretty well. What gives?  Because their activity level is so high, we have a different standard for kids. It’s okay if food quality, access and choices are often poor because the athlete still looks the part. In team sports, we don’t see the performance drops as easily because the team can still win even if one player isn’t performing at his/her best.

Take away- poor nutrition has been correlated to poor cognitive performance and poor tissue healing or growth. Sometimes simply having a better fuel source allows you to get way more out of your engine.

Recap-

–     We need athletes to train for at least 2-3 months to really see some lasting gains in performance

–     It can be hard to identify causes of injury and also get athletes to slow down to heal fully. For the athlete, having a smart training coach who can assess and tweak your program will allow you to stay active without exacerbating the current injury.

–     We give them a pass on less than optimal nutrition which may lead to unhealthy eating after their athletic career. Better fuel leads to better outcomes now and in the future.