Over the years I have also done a lot of personal training with professional young athletes.

Unfortunatly they are very eager to start lifting weights to optimise there performance. But this can be dangerous for children under the age of 17 – 18 the platlets in the longer bones and joints have not yet fused causing a weakness in the bone, and if unsupervised weight training is undertaken by a minor skeletal abnormalise that can occur.

These are also called the Growth plate.

The growth plate is the area at the end of long bones (for example femur, tibia radius and more which allows longitudinal growth to occur.

The main shafts of the bones are hard, but the growth plates have not yet fused at the site of growth. The growth platlet consists of cartilage (giving flexability to the bone so thats why when a minor fractures a bone the site of injury heals faster than an adult.) but is eventually replaced by bone.

In my clinic I give group classes or with a parent present or treat class on the pro’s and cons of weight training for minors. I am for weight – training for young athletics as long as they dont abuse the weight, keep their concentration and listen to the teqniques I show them.

I have worked with under 17’s olympic skiers and javelin, shotput, and basketball players and more. Each of them were as dedicated to their training as they were to their sport.

Sometimes flexability and joint mobilization can be more effective than weight lifting for certain sports. And remember muscular strength and endurance is an important componment of physical fitness for both boys and girls.

So make sure they have an exellent personal trainer because poor physical conditioning of young athletes
may be the leading cause of injury in youth sports.

Muscular strength and endurance are vital to our health and well being and not only develops the body but the mind aswell, and to our ability to perform in athletics and at work.

Young Athletes

  • Under no circumstances should young athletes be allowed to perform plyometric exercise without direct supervision by a knowledgeable personal trainer or coach.
  • Plyometric training is a technique used to develop explosive strength and power a plyometric exercise consists of a quick eccentric stretch followed by a powerful concentric contraction.
  • (Eccentric contration is when the overall length of a muscle increases during a contraction). Concentric contraction is when the muscle shortens and pulls on another structure such as a bone, to produce movement and reduce the angle at a joint eg. picking up a book involves a concentric contraction of the biceps brachii muscle in the arm.
  • Power lifting (onereptition maximum weight.) and competitive lifting should be discouraged for young children.

Information available at this site should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease. Always see your practitioner if suffering an illness or injury, with regard to your treatment options.

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Personal Training - Getting Motivated - Misconception – Young Athlete Training - Nutrition