For years, fitness experts did not recommend weight training for young athletes because their skeletal immaturity raised concern over increased injury risk. Recent studies however, have not shown higher injury rates in young athletes who weight train with proper technique and supervision. Moreover, weight training may help prevent injury and improve sports performance.

Not Small Adults
Research specific to young athletes has helped sports medicine organizations such as the American College of Sports Medicine to establish weight training and exercise guidelines, and calls attention to the differences between young and adult athletes.

Most important, young athletes are not smaller versions of adults. Youth respond differently to physical demands in many ways, including expending more energy during endurance activities, and demonstrating a decreased ability to use the body's energy stores effectively. Young athletes have a higher threshold for sweating and sweat less during activity because their bodies aren't yet able to regulate internal cooling systems. Finally, their skeletal systems have areas of active growth, putting them at greater injury risk.

In adults, gains from strength training result from soft tissue changes, such as enlarged muscle tissue, and from increased nerve stimulation to muscle, improving motor skill and coordination. In young athletes, experts suspect strength gains follow from increased nerve stimulation. Children generally don't develop muscle bulk, largely due to hormonal differences between youth and adults.

Strength Training Guidelines
The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that young athletes participate in a strength training program twice a week, emphasizing lower weight and higher repetition. A knowledgeable adult or coach should supervise athletes to minimize injuries and training errors. Power or competitive lifting is not recommended.

Hand-held or free weights, weight machines and rubberized tubing are popular strength training options. Trainers suggest young athletes start slowly, adding weight or resistance after they can perform 10 to 16 repetitions with control. Rest breaks and different types of exercises within a single session can help avoid injury. Weight machines in particular help to control movement, but are not sized for smaller bodies.

Common Weight Training Injuries in Youth Athletes
Even with supervision, injuries can occur. An injury unique to pediatric athletes involves the growth plate. Because a child's skeletal system is not mature and contains more cartilage, the ends – or epiphysis – of the long arm and leg bones are vulnerable to a host of repetitive traumas, including fracture. As the weakest link in a growing skeleton, the epiphysis will separate from the long part of the bone before a tendon, ligament or muscle becomes injured, as it would in an adult. Gymnasts and athletes who perform forceful, overhead exercises such as throwing a ball, are at risk for growth plate injuries.

Low back pain is another common complaint, the causes of which vary significantly in youth compared to adults. Youth have a higher rate of back pain than adults because of spondylolisthesis, or dislocation of a vertebral joint. This condition causes vertebrae in the low back to move out of alignment, resulting in pain often misdiagnosed as muscle strain. Low back pain can also result from posture changes that occur during growth spurts, leading to soft tissue strain. It's important for those supervising a strength program to take low back pain seriously in young athletes and ensure proper diagnosis and management.

Strength training in young athletes can be a positive and beneficial addition to sports-related activities. Parents must ensure that qualified adults supervise young athletes during strength training.

For more information about strength training-related injuries in young athletes, call Fairview Sports and Orthopedic Care at 952-460-4900.