Strength Training in Active Teenagers
There are many health benefits associated with regular cardiovascular and resistance training in teenagers. When given appropriate guidance and programming, strength training can positively influence sports performance, physical health, and mental health. Several measurable health factors that show an improvement with exercise are:
Body Composition
Cardiovascular Risk
Helps with weight control
Improves self confidence
Strengthens bones
Enhances psychological wellbeing
A strength training programme also seems to be particularly beneficial for sedentary youth who are often unwilling and unable to perform prolonged periods of aerobic exercise, such as overweight or obese children and adolescents. Participation in a formalised training programme that is inclusive of resistance training can provide an opportunity to improve their muscle strength, enhance motor coordination and gain confidence in their perceived abilities to be physically active.
Moreover, participation in youth programmes that enhance muscular strength and fundamental movement skill performance early in life appear to build the foundation for an active lifestyle later in life. Since muscular strength is an essential component of motor skill performance, developing competence and confidence to perform resistance exercise during the growing years may have important long-term implications for health, fitness, and well-being.
Bone Development
Resistance training seems to be an effective strategy for increasing bone health during the growing years. As well as optimising skeletal health during childhood, this is also important for reducing the likelihood of fractures later in life.
Traditional fears and misinformed concerns that resistance training would injure the growth plates of youths are not supported by robust scientific reports or clinical observations. Instead, the mechanical stress placed on the developing growth plates from resistance exercise appears to be very beneficial for bone formation and growth. Furthermore, these benefits in bone mass in children are maintained into adulthood.
Cardiovascular Development
There is evidence to indicate that the precursors of cardiovascular diseases have their origin in childhood and adolescence. Risk factors such as total and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLc), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLc), triglycerides, insulin resistance, inflammatory proteins, blood pressure and body fat during childhood have been shown to track into adulthood.
Given this, the potential influence of resistance training on body composition has become an important topic of investigation, especially considering that the prevalence of obesity among children and adolescents continues to increase worldwide. Furthermore, it seems that a higher level of muscular strength is associated with a healthier cardiovascular profile in children and adolescents.
Neuromuscular Development
Prepubescent athletes tend to have neuromuscular control deficits (e.g. valgus hip and knee alignment during jump-landing tasks), which in turn, is associated with increased injury risk. The neuromuscular control capacities that allow the dissipation of impact forces whilst maintaining proper lower-limb alignment have been identified as key factors in reducing youth athletes’ relative risk of injury. In the early period of life, the aim of a neuromuscular training programme should be to improve the movement efficiency and muscular coordination of children.
Therefore, it is proposed that resistance training should begin early in life, where the focus should be on enhancing the learning of this new activity and stimulating an ongoing interest in this type of training. Owing to neural plasticity during the growing years, there is an unparalleled opportunity to target strength development at this period in order to set the stage for enhanced athletic skill and health later in life.
When should children begin strength training?
Although there is no minimum age requirement for participation in a youth resistance-training programme, all participants should have the fundamental competence too:
Accept and follow instructions
Understand basic safety considerations
Possess competent levels of balance and postural control
Another way to view this question is, if children are ready to engage in organised sports, it would also mean they are ready to participate in appropriate progressive strength and conditioning as part of a long-term approach to developing athleticism. It is vital to understand that introductory strength and conditioning does not start with heavy back squats, but instead with bodyweight exercises, the use of elastic-resistance bands and any other low-level strength exercises/modalities.
If you have any questions on whether physio is the best option for you, or you have any questions about MVMNT in general, feel free to contact via email.
- Jay Towolawi, Specialist Sports Physiotherapist and MVMNT Founder.