Adults often fear that strength training is unsafe for kids - find out in three simple steps how your child can benefit.
As a parent, it’s easy to understand these natural reservations, but it's important we set the record straight. The truth is, strength training is safe and good for kids - when it's done the right way.
Strength training provides many benefits for children and adolescents in a physical and physiological capacity however it may also have a profound effect on their health later on in life as well, and here’s why:
Regular physical activity is essential for normal growth and development and kids should be encouraged to engage in 60 minutes of vigorous activity every day. However, most parents shy away from allowing their child to participate in strength training activities. This is normally down to a belief that performing this type of work can be dangerous for their growth and development or simply a lack of a safe appropriate venue and instructors for them to go.
Research over the last decade has repeatedly suggested that strength training can have a unique benefit for kids when appropriately supervised.
Similar to adults, a structured strength training program can have favourable effects on a child’s musculoskeletal strength, body composition, cardio vascular risk factors and psycho-social well being.
When is the right age to introduce them to strength training?
Between the ages of 11 to 16 is an ideal time to develop musculoskeletal strength, this will have a positive effect on a child’s ability to perform life’s everyday activities with greater energy and will increase a young athlete’s resistance to sports related injury. There is a growing trend in sports related injuries amongst young athletes this can be caused by muscular imbalances, poor conditioning and overtraining (doing to much too soon).
Mentoring and learning from highly experienced strength & conditioning coaches is crucial to your child’s development.
Causes of injury
A common cause of injury amongst young athletes is early specialization. This is where a child performs a high amount of training in one particular sport which often leads to overuse injuries due to the repetitive stress on the body. Young athletes should be encouraged to take part in a variety of sports along side an appropriate strength training program in order to combat repetitive strain and overuse injuries.
It’s not just the physical you need to look into…
It is important to stress here that strength training isn’t only important for kids that participate in sport.
One of the most overlooked benefits is on a child’s physiological well being. Research has suggested the health and body image benefits that come with strength training have improved the self confidence and physiological health with young boys and girls alongside the social skills that are developed when training in a group setting. Research has also found that physical activity habits that are established in early life tend to carry over in to adulthood.
An important part of this is developing what we call fundamental movement skills (FMS) such as jumping, hopping, squatting, pressing, balance etc. Research has also shown that children who develop these skills at a young age are less likely to be sedentary during adulthood.
UFIT Clinic provides one of the best Performance Psychologists in Singapore - Dr Jay Lee. She works with parents and children to develop their mental focus and get the best out of their performance. Furthermore, children who do not develop these skills will find it hard to learn these requisite movements which allows them to participate in physical activity and sport later in life, thus effecting their confidence and vigour when it comes to working out.
So what kind of exercises are we talking about?
Joe Williams, Personal Trainer from UFIT one-north and UFIT Youth Academy and UFIT Kids Holiday Camps coach shares his top five exercises right here:
Box Jump
An important exercise to teach proper landing mechanics for youth athletes. The box takes away some of the landing force, allowing for a better landing. Important to land in a good position, with hips above knees - so don't make the box too high!
