Taking the Appropriate Steps for Athletic Development

Stephen Bryant
Aug 31, 2018 · 7 min read

Increased functional strength, coordination, decreased body fat, cardiovascular health, lower injury risks, strengthened mental health, elevated positive mood, and overall confidence are some of the many benefits to strength training. These not only have a positive impact for athletes, but for the general population as well.

Today, however, we are going to focus on the influence that strength training has on long term athletic development, specifically on the spectrum of pre-pubescent to adolescent athletes.

On top of the general positives that strength training can have on an individual, strength training also brings increases in strength (both absolute and relative), power, speed and endurance. All of which are important for an athlete to see the success they seek on the field/court/track. For an athlete it can be the extra boost needed to propel someone from average to great if the proper plan is installed.

Concerns With Training Young Athletes

Now that we have discussed the positives to strength training, let’s dive into the issues most commonly brought up when discussing strength training for these young athletes. Some of the most common worries people have are possible injuries to the growth plate, bone fractures, lower back injuries, anterior knee pain, muscle sprains and ligament strains.

While we would never say never, there is a lot of research to back up the fact that strength training does not create these issues like most people think. In fact, strength training has shown increased bone mineral density. Where issues arise are when IMPROPER strength training for these athletes is implemented and athletes are being poorly coached.

The fitness industry is full of people throwing together random training sessions and cookie cutter programs for their athletes which leads to these possible issues we have discussed. Proper understanding of athlete’s biological, chronological, and training ages need to be considered when designing a program for young athletes.

Strength training implementation also has to do with observing your athletes and carefully monitoring them to ensure that proper technique is being accomplished for every set and rep. Where coaches get in trouble is then they are too worried about how much weight their athletes can already lift at the age of 12, rather than ensuring that they are lifting the weight properly (proper joint alignment and control). Problems like this are the reasons that strength training for young athletes has gotten a bad rap, when all that needs to happen is appropriate program implementation for athletes to see the benefits.

This can all be accomplished by ensuring we train our athletes in their appropriate stage of development. We must make sure to take the appropriate steps to ensure that proper motor development, coordination, stability, mobility, and competence are developed first, before worrying about how much weight is on the bar.

Below are some tips to help keep athletes in their appropriate stages. Following these rules will allow your athletes to grow in the appropriate manner which will lead to enhanced abilities. Taking a young pre-pubescent athlete to a strong and powerful adolescent athlete is a slow-cooked process! We have to take our time!

Small Container / Small Rocks

In the first stage of development (pre-pubescent ages: 8–11) these young athletes have a small container to work with. Think of it like a test tube! Therefore, the only things we are able to put in the test tube are small. This is the training design when implementing the proper training tools for a pre-pubescent athlete.

This idea is known as the “Learn to Train” phase of Balyi’s Long Term Athletic Development Model. During this time our focus is on developing the foundation of our athletes — This simply means we want our athletes to build a sense of body awareness and control.

This can be done with the use of block zero concepts, body weight calisthenics, controlled tempos (eccentrics and isometrics), activities that challenge balance/proprioception. The goal here is to develop physical literacy for our young athletes in the same way that we learn the letters of the alphabet before we start writing words.

We also want to incorporate locomotor skill development into our program (running, skipping, galloping, shuffling, and crawling). This will allow them to continue to build on the natural contralateral sequence of the body which will transfer to power and explosiveness later on.

All these things are a great starting point to developing the foundation for a young athlete in preparation for the next stage of development. However, the most important part is to develop all these things in a fun way! Implementing certain games and tasks that force the athletes to get in specific situations and positions will not only help us attain these developmental goals but also allow the athletes to have fun while doing it!

Medium Container / Medium Rocks

The next stage of development for our athlete (pre-adolescent: ages 11–14) is where we start to build on top of the foundation we set in our previous stage. Having set the foundation, this allows us to continue to challenge the athletes since we have increased the size of our container. This means we are able to fit not only our small rocks, but slightly larger rocks inside.

This phase is known as the “Train to Train” phase (Balyi). During this time we want to continue to challenge the athlete’s coordination and control while adding additional stresses and the components of work capacity to the mix. We will continue to develop the fundamental movement patterns (hinge, squat, push, pull, and carry) through block zero concepts and tempo variations.

However, we will now start to add challenges such as implementing more dynamic movements, adding weight (such as a dumbbell), or increasing the time of a task. This will increase the amount of work the athletes will have to do which will lead to great gains in strength and control.

We will also start to incorporate a lot of technical work in the weight room. For example, continuing to work on adequate squat, hinge, push and pull techniques (front squat, deadlift, bench, and pull-ups) to continue to groove the patterns on top of the regressive patterns we have already started to develop (goblet squats, RDLs, pushups, and chin hangs).

During this time we will also start to put a greater emphasis on running mechanics, speed, and agility work. These qualities are better developed before an athletes growth spurt/peak height velocity (PHV). Ensuring that we build the proper technique during this time will allow them to take advantage of this window of opportunity.

This stage of athletic development is possible because of the previous stage which developed the foundation before hand. Without the previous stage, starting athletes here could lead to injury because of the steps missed. Remember, just because an athlete falls in the age category stated for this stage doesn’t mean that they are ready for it.

Large Container / Large Rocks

In the last stage (adolescence age 15+) is where things start to really take off for the athletes in the weight room and on the field.

This stage is known as the “Train to Compete” stage. This is where we incorporate our big rocks and really focus on structured training plans to ensure we are getting the most out of our athletes. Having slowly built our foundation in our previous stages of development we are now ready to start really moving some weight and competing.

In the weight room, emphasis on hypertrophy, strength, and power are incorporated through appropriately designed training plans in which one parameter adequately enhances another. Utilization of power cleans, squats, deadlifts, bench press and pull-ups for power, strength, and hypertrophy are possible because of our previous stages of development and our emphasis on slowly cooking our athletes.

On the field we are really putting an emphasis on speed and acceleration, on top of continuing to hone our techniques learned previously. This is usually done by incorporating specific drills that challenge the athletes to maintain their techniques (flying sprints and resisted runs).

As you can see every stage of athletic development is built off the other, however, even though a stage is passed it does not mean you have to dismiss everything you learned and utilized previously. We still incorporate black zero concepts, tempo variations, and regressions of certain exercises in our final stage. This allows us to stay balanced in our training.

Slowly progressing athletes will ensure that the appropriate stresses are implemented for their appropriate age of development. It is our job to prepare our athletes and preparation takes time. Simply throwing a young athlete into a training plan because of their age or size is a recipe for disaster. It is our job to set them up for success not failure!

Performance Course

Improve Athleticism. Develop Character. Build Leaders. NOW IS THE TIME!

Stephen Bryant

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Performance Course

Improve Athleticism. Develop Character. Build Leaders. NOW IS THE TIME!

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