I Am Strong

I can. I will. I am strong. I am confident

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Get Started: Building a Foundation

"The vision of a champion is bent over, drenched in sweat, at the point of exhaustion, when nobody else is looking."

Strength and Agility for Youth: Before you start

As the athlete begins their path to building strength, It is very important to receive instruction from someone who knows and understands proper technique for each lift or exercise.

The coach or trainer should always supervise and immediately correct improper technique. Some see training as a progressive endeavor. Allowing the athlete to progress in strength and ability helps prevent injuries and burnout. It requires patience. The same principle applies to children and strength training.
Parents, coaches, and trainers should set a goal for each athlete based on that young person’s experience and maturity. Knowing this, coaches have a tremendous responsibility to create positive training programs based on the individual’s progression.

As an athlete gets started, they should begin with bodyweight training – using the body as a form of resistance. This includes Push-ups, pull- ups, bodyweight lunges and squats, step-ups or suspension training can all be used effectively.

The more skills and movements the young athlete can master, the stronger the development of the total athlete. While young athletes may not develop increased muscle mass, they will develop the appearance of strength, along with better agility and improved motor control. Learning to use their bodies more effectively in a coordinated manner will result in a better overall ability to perform. The more skills and movements the young athlete can master, the stronger the development of the total athlete. Choosing to engage in a wide variety of sports will allow for you the athlete to master many athletic movements and skills needed.

Strength and Agility for Youth: What Muscles Do I Focus On?

As young athletes think about their strength and agility workouts, they should address every major muscle group in the body: chest, upper back, shoulders, biceps, triceps, neck, abdominals, lower back, hips & glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings and calves. Certain sports will focus more on a particular body part or require specialized work on smaller muscle groups (i.e. baseball pitchers will train the rotator cuff extensively), but all major muscle groups should be worked throughout the week.

To be effective and to see progress, there must be a progressive overload of the muscle(s). In other words, athletes should systematically attempt to perform more work on a given exercise. As an athlete who can perform 10 sit ups today, should attempt to perform 11 repetitions at some point. When 11 can be performed, 12 should be attempted and so on.

Progress can be made and tracked through any of the following: increasing the number of repetitions, increasing the number of sets, increasing the number of training days per week, decreasing the amount of rest time between sets, or a combination of any of these.

Strength and Agility for Youth: How Many Sets and Reps?

We often times get questions as to how many sets should an athlete do? It will vary across individuals, but the general guidance is in most cases, 1-3 sets should be completed for each drill, and the full workout should consist of anywhere between 12-20 sets.

While many individuals change the number of repetitions that are in each set, our general rule of thumb is to do 5-20 repetitions on each set. This is a large range, but offers instruction as an athlete gets started; once you have an understanding of the workout, you should choose 5-10 reps, 8-12, 10-15 or in some cases 15-20. If you are being challenged as an athlete to perform, strength gains will be had.

Medium rep ranges (6-10, 8-12, 10-15) offer the opportunity to increase strength, and allow for greater safety. These rep ranges are recommended for most sets on most exercises.

How long should your workout last? It will vary across individuals, however, we recommend that each training workout last between 20 minutes to 1 hour.

There should not be any workouts lasting longer than 60 minutes for athletes in high school or below.
Rest should be limited to one or two minutes in-between sets.
Start with large muscle groups that include your chest, back, quadriceps and then move to shoulders, arms, hamstrings, and abdominal muscles.

Changing your workout can keep athletes engaged, and is encouraged to change something slightly every week or two. Change one or two exercises, add in a new drill, or challenge yourself to a few additional repetitions.

Whether you as the athlete are in season or out of season will create differences in what you do for training.

The off season allows an individual to make the most gains, and volume will generally be increased during the off-season as their are fewer physical demands on the body.
It goes without saying, it is imperative that strength training continue through your season. While volume may be reduced, increased focus on intensity can be increased. Athletes should train no more than three days during season.