When you look at it in this perspective, I'm not talking about putting a child on a 7 day a week, 2 hour a day hypertrophy weight training session, I'm talking about regular fitness to improve the child's quality of life. According to recent studies from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), they now "support children's participation in appropriately designed and competently supervised strength training programs." These experts have found that strength training can be safe and an effective means to improve a child's qualtiy of life. In addition, it may also help prevent certain sports-related injuries among young athletes. Recent findings suggest that strength training during childhood and adolescence may make bones stronger, a benefit which can last a lifetime.
The same methods for adults usually apply to children in terms of showing them proper form and technique. Children also learn best by doing not by watching so supervision is key to make sure they perform the exercises the right way. In addition, proper diet is also important, such as appropriate amounts of carbs, fats and proteins to keep them energized and allow them to build muscle.
The best time to start a child on a strength training program is if the child is involved in athletics or some type of physical activity where strength training can benefit them. So if the child is starting athletics around the age of 7 or 8, implementing a strengthening program would be a good idea.
Warming up and stretching should be performed before every session. Since children are more prone to heat illness than adults, they should be encouraged to drink plenty of water throughout the workout. For a beginning program, start with one set of 10-15 repetitions of 6-8 exercises that focus on the major muscle groups of the upper and lower body. Start with light weight and high reps and increase the load and decrease the reps as strength improves (ACSM).
What's important to understand from this is advocating exercise, physical activity, strength training and proper diet at an early age will only have positive effects on the child's lifestyle choices as they grow into their adult years.
I think that introducing children to stregth training at a young age is an excellent idea. It will not only help them athletically, but also build the foundation for a healthy lifestyle in the future. If children are exposed to healthy habits at a young age they are much more likely to stick with them in the future. With the childhood obesity epidemic happening now, we should take advantage of all fittness opportunities for children.
ReplyDeleteI agree Mike it would be nice to see younger kids in the gym to help them with their own health and wellbeing for when they are older. This is hard though because a lot of gyms don’t allow kids to train without the supervision of an adult. I see more and more places around for kids to train at but they don’t allow them to workout on their own. Although they need adult supervision to workout in a lot of places, kids should still be getting in the gym because their parents should be going to keep themselves healthy. Great post Mike!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! The only problem I could imagine with encouraging strength training at such young ages is that they might lose interest in it later. I know that I lost interest in every single sport I participated in before age 12. Also, many other countries do not encourage kids to do vigorous training or participate in organized sports until they are older. I cannot say that those people are better athletes, but they certainly are healthier than us.
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