Is strength training safe for youth athletes?

According to the UKSCA (United Kingdom Strength and Conditioning Association), ASCA (Australian Strength and Conditioning Association), NSCA (National Strength and Conditioning Association) and BASES (British Association of Sports and Exercise Sciences) consensus statements, strength training is safe and effective for youth athletes if prescribed and supervised by a qualified professional that ensures that the exercises are being conducted with the correct techniques, age appropriate loading and that the correct progressions are followed.

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(www.rlcm.com.au)

Strength training also helps ensure that youth athletes bodies are physically prepared for the forces they may experience during their actual sports that they are involved with, hence decreasing the risk of injuries.

What are your thoughts on this?

Wayne

 

 

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by Sam O’ Connor

Sam O’ Connor is an Honours student at the University of Cape Town, researching concussion injury mechanism and it’s relationship to contact technique.

References

Marshall SW, Loomis DP, Waller AE, et al. Evaluation of protective equipment for prevention of injuries in rugby union. Int J Epidemiol 2005;34:113–18.

Hollis SJ, Stevenson MR, McIntosh AS, et al. Incidence, risk, and protective factors of mild traumatic brain injury in a cohort of Australian nonprofessional male rugby players. Am J Sports Med 2009;37:2328–33.

Kemp SPT, Hudson Z, Brooks JHM, et al. The epidemiology of head injuries in English professional rugby union. Clin J Sport Med 2008;18:227–34.

McIntosh AS, McCrory P, Finch CF, et al. Does padded headgear prevent head injury in rugby union football? Med Sci Sports Exerc 2009;41:306–13.

Abrahams S, McFie S, Patricios J, et al. Br J Sports Med 2014;48:91–97

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Is there a need for a paradigm shift in school sports programming?

Free Kick

The current mindset of school sports is designed for short term competitive performance, but is there associated long term benefits from this?

While this mindset may facilitate performance in the early years it may be detrimental to the optimal development of the young athlete and compromise future performance. Moreover, it is likely to lead to burnout and possibly increase their relative risk of sustaining overuse injuries in their young careers. (Jefferys, I. 2008; SCJ)

“It is evident that many / most 1st  year high school’ers lack much basic fitness and athleticism, thus starting out on a very low base level of physical fitness and possibly technical skill. Even though to some degree general sports skill may be fairly well developed, the same is often not true for fundamental movement patterns. Therefore, the need for effective programming to redress these issues is paramount and possibly requires a new model of development to be devised which builds these elements into long term model rather than a short term “fix”.” (Jefferys, I. 2008; SCJ)

What are your thoughts?

Wayne Lombard