One of Southland’s many noted coaches (Lance Smith) did a gather up of coaches’ thoughts on strength training for young athletes. As he says below this is an interesting debate. Strength Training ­ An Interesting Debate A coach recently asked about strength training – what ages it should be introduced, what would a programme look like and what would you do for, say, a 10 year old. The question was put to some prominent New Zealand coaches. Their responses.... I would say I am suspicious of anyone who has a 10 year old in any form of "training" programme. At that age playing is more important than training, and in terms of athletics, skill training is the window that is open at that age. Yes they can come to practice and learn the event, much the same as learning to swing a cricket bat of play soccer properly. Teaching them how to run properly at that age is the most important thing you can teach them. That is the main thing I am working on with NZ's best high jumpers. As far as weight training, no. Sure you can push them into it and they will get a bit stronger but why? Teach the techniques. I start my year nines 13ish) on simple clean and jerk exercises with a 7kg bar and by the end of the year they might be up to 15kg. In year 10 we teach squats with the bar and snatches. Total body exercises. We also teach step­ups on to a bench with 5­10 kg bags. By the time they are 15­16 they are starting to move 20 to 30kgs in squats and maybe 20kgs in Clean and Jerk and Snatches. After 16 I work on programmes using pretty much the same exercises but they use weights ­ they do 3 x 5­8 reps with, so the weights vary with each athlete. I do a version of hopscotch in winter training that uses gym mats laid out in a hopscotch board and they have to throw bean bags to each mat and then hop to it pick it up and hop back. Right leg for even numbers left leg for odd numbers. I put them in teams of two and the team to get both people done first gets CHOCOLATE...the world’s great motivator. A game to ten will have hundreds of little hops. All on soft gym mats. In between turns they have to do a set of ten hang clean and jerks with a bar appropriate to their level of training. For the girls in my squad this ranges from 5 to 20kg, and their ages are 13­17. ­ Ed Fern, Taranaki, Athletics NZ event coach high jump Personally I don’t think that they should be doing much except compete at 10. Bays is the biggest club in NZ and we do have training groups for this age group of 10 to 12 but the work is all technique and with the bigger kids the coaches might throw in a bit of light medicine ball work. If there is a heavy emphasis on strength in the programme then the strength should come from medicine ball work and soft surface running (Beach or Bush tracks) and of course out of season I offer my “Hard Core” athletes (about 5% of the 30 strong group) when they turn 16. I make it very clear that a commitment to weight work must not replace normal training times and that once entered into it becomes part of the programme (year round) I have used weights personally as a competitor and as a coach for the last 40 years and these rules have never changed. We keep a roster on the athletes that take on a weight format and if their attendance starts to slip we withdraw them from the programme. ­ Russ Hoggard, Auckland, Development Manager and Head Event Coach, 400m and 400m Hurdles, NorthSport Academy. 16 is our recommended start age for resistance training involving weights although “technique­only” can be done earlier. My 18 and 19 year old athletes have mostly just stopped major growth spurts and careful conditioning and restricted strength training during the previous 2 years have help develop their bodies especially with core / postural and joint stability , so that now they can make safe and fast progress with strength and power. Body weight exercises are best for 10­15 year olds. Climbing and most outdoor activities are great, a wide variety of activities is advised and fun­play should be encouraged. Early strength training will NOT stunt growth but may damage soft connective tissue, joints and bones while they are still growing and strengthening. ­ Criss Strange, Waikato – Rio Coach, Athlete Services and Athlete Life Advisor NZ Academy of Sport North Island (Waikato­BOP) I have been brought up old school , that weights were not to be done until bone endings mature and harden etc….and have always advocated that. Thus 16 to 17yrs is a good safe time. Therefore I would not argue at all with your advice, because it is sensibly safe and would give good training anyway at that age. Last year, however, the NZ National Weightlifting coach (from Finland) attempted to convince athletics coaches up here that world opinion now is that weights can be used at any age, providing it is sensible. I would seek further medical opinion before I adopted this, because I am a conservative, but if he is correct (and why would he not be?) then there is an opening for a new philosophy for us. No harm in playing safe at this stage though. ­ Dave Norris, Auckland, Coach, Olympian, Commonwealth Games medallist, 35 National Championship titles, 16 national records. For a 10 year old ­ none at all apart from activities that they would do naturally without high impacts and not realising it was strength training. For example, skipping (with skipping rope) – kids do it, it’s not high impact, and it’s ideal strength and fitness training. And running ­ sprinting is a plyometric activity. But it all should be part of playing which is what the focus must be at that age. On a run include hills or steps or jumping over barriers. The body is a weight, running means weight training, running up hill adds to the resistance, i.e. weight. But formal plyometric or gym routines is not something I’d recommend. Greer Alsop, in an explosive event started weights at 16, plyometrics at 15, Todd Swanson, also a jumper weights at 17, plyometrics at 16, the distance runners do the occasional plyo session and only Glen Ballam and Christina Taylor (19) do weights. However there are some medicine ball routines that are fun and not too strenuous that could be included in training. ­ Lance Smith, Southland, Athletics NZ event coach, horizontal jumps As a 10 year old they athlete should be doing multi­events, and learning the basic run, jump throw techniques. Personally I would not even coach an athlete that young. The first thing that needs to be considered is the longer term athletic development. The second thing is what type of strength training are you talking about e.g. weights, hills, sand hills, mental, core etc Young athletes can be taught the techniques of weight training without weights e.g. squats using body weight, bench press using a broom stick, and this can be incorporated in circuit sessions. At secondary school level during our conditioning phase we do some circuits using body weight for squats, steps, dips etc focussing mainly on core strength, but it is only a very minute part of our training session as most of our strength work is done on the hills. I would not start any athlete in a gym until they have been through puberty and finished growing to try and avoid damage to the growth plates. ­ Maria Hassam, Canterbury, Athletics NZ event coach distance. From the vast mount of reading I have done I’ve concluded that most top research authorities in recent times are pro­strength training for children and there are plenty of myths out there in relation to it. The question of when and how it is appropriate to introduce it is one of the most topical issues around. There is also a question of what strength training is perceived to be. Essentially it is about using resistance in order to increase the ability to exert or resist force. This is not just about lifting weights. The winner of a recent NZSS Junior 100m Title has been strength training most of his life – he works hard on a big farm and is as strong as an ox. He was also performing a structured calisthenics programme for a year leading up to this race to a very high level. At 15 I have no hesitation in sending him to the gym to focus on technique and moderate lifting to start with. On the other side of the coin I would not do the same thing with other athletes who are late developers (what is their biological age?) and/or could barely do a push up or body squat. I believe every day activities (whether it be playing at school or home or part of farm life etc) are a good starting point. Encouraging kids to be active will see them charging up hills, jumping over obstacles and basically doing body weight resistance activities…all in the name of fun. This can lead into body weight exercises that I believe are crucial for athletes to be proficient at before they even go near weight lifting equipment. The IAAF Athlete Development document is an important resource. The window of developmental opportunity for boys is clearly different to girls. The boys strength “window” is 14­17 (leading into and including the optimal age for specialisation, 16­17) and girls is 12­15 (earlier than boys and prior to specialisation) It is also important to consider the benefits it offers in terms of bone density given that females are at an increased risk for osteoporosis. The strength windows do not mean strength should be disregarded around these ages, but it does mean there must be some clear consideration given to it during this time. Plyometrics is another topical issue, but my opinion is that like strength training it all boils down to common sense. I believe that simple low volume low intensity exercises that limit the gravitational force placed on the athlete upon landing is healthy and generally is a good starting point from the age of 10­12. For example jumping up onto a box as opposed to jumping off a box. If they are proficient at that I am happy for them to engage in low level multi jumps off one or two legs (preferably on grass or in sand). All athletes are very different though and each needs to be considered on an individual basis. It should be noted that common games like hopscotch, skipping etc are plyometrics and many natural movements for children in play cross between strength training and plyometrics on a regular basis. I’ve also seen no adverse effects from my 6 year old son (like many others around the world over the years) performing high level plyometrics by jumping off trampolines etc (although it does make me cringe at times!). ­ Lorne Singer, Southland, Athletics Southland Development Officer. As a general rule of thumb I do not take ‘training’ as such until a child is 12 years old. I believe the focus is to be on the general enjoyment of all disciplines and to enjoy being young. Some of the best training sessions when a lot of work is done, come from playing games. By the way, the older athletes are usually the first to be joining in! Activities that children do as in gymnastics and basketball are plyometric. They have a natural rhythm and flow. Carefully chosen obstacle courses are not intense but great training and lots of fun. Because children develop at very different rates, I do not believe in a set age for weights. Some adolescents take a long time to reach that point due to their body build especially those who run. If a child did do weights, the coach would need to be incredibly well qualified to know exactly what they are doing. The use of the body for ‘weight’ is ideal. And throwing a ball around is natural. The Physical Education curriculum will have many appropriate activities and exercises as does the Run Jump Throw handbook. ­ Anne Thomson, Coach, Palmerston North. Interesting topic….. I take the view that kids do strength work and plyos even from a young age (but it is completed informally… i.e. not structured as you have indicated). By this I mean hop scotch, run and jump to get on the jungle gym at school, jumping off the jungle gym at school etc etc and its fun. I think they even still do gymnastics, jump jam you name it and these are all strength / plyo type activities. I also have the view that from age 13 kids can learn technique for weight training as the better the technique, the less injuries they may obtain when weight is applied. The big debate is when can weight be applied and I don’t think there is a hard and fast answer here as everyone has a different view. I personally think that once they have the level of maturity and skills to do so and this will vary from athlete to athlete but is certainly not 10. Strength can also be considered as mental, core and endurance, again this would be kept simple and fun for a 10 year old. As we all say “kids are not mini adults” However in the situation you have raised below, the kid needs to have fun (and first and foremost learn the skills of the sport) and as you have suggested simple hill runs, maybe steps or even a game of hop scotch could be added in as long as it was FUN. Mark Harris, Masterton, Team Wairarapa Coach. Many answers but there is a consensus and a theme here – games, play, learning, fun (interesting how often hopscotch came up). Thanks to all the coaches who took the time to share their knowledge and experience. Note, strength doesn’t necessarily mean weights – weight training is a component of strength training, as is hopscotch, skipping, plyometrics, running in general, running stairs, skipping and all the activities mentioned.