Sports training and strength and conditioning are becoming more and more popular with the younger crowds.  Working in a private sports training facility, I’ve witnessed this trend firsthand.  We’ll have requests for kids as young as 8 and 9 year old to start training with us to make them better athletes.  I’m not sure what is the cause of that trend to push kids to start a structured training program younger and younger.  It might be a result of the early specialization that is plaguing too many sports nowadays; it might be a result of pushy parents that are trying to re-live their sports career through their innocent children, and think they can make them become a professional athlete by forcing them to do what they never had the will and the dedication to do themselves.

Remind me when FUN started not being the main reason for kids to play sports?  Yea, it’s spelled F-U-N.

As part of a company that is still developing and trying be as profitable as possible, it’s not easy to turn potential clients down because at that age you think they’d have better options than taking part in a structured training program.  They’re still clients you’re turning down, and money you’re not making.  And when you turn them down, the first thing they’ll do is sign up with your competitor a couple blocks down the road, who you actually know does a shitty job training young athletes.  So what do you do?  It’s a problem….how do they call that again….ethical problem?

So invariably we end up training kids younger than we would ideally want, but at least I have the conscience of knowing that we do something that’s actually going to benefit them.  But what’s best for them?  What do kids need training-wise when they’re under 13?

Even though we know from research that safe and supervised weight training is not dangerous for them, putting them on a structured lifting-only program might not be optimal.  Again, remember that kids at that age need to have fun.  Is putting them through endless sprint, agility and ladder drills until you’ve beaten them to the ground a better option?  I don’t think so.

What they can benefit from is to learn how to move the right way through as many different movement patterns as possible; sprints, jumps, squats, push ups, lunges, DB chest press, etc.  They also NEED to have fun.  Drop the heavy structure, teach them new skills, incorporate games, organize small competitions between kids, etc.  By the way, if you’re dealing with young boys, using small competition formats is a sure way to incorporate the fun in training.

Again, kids don’t need to be pushed like they’re pro athletes, being forced to play in every off-season league, and going to every camp imaginable.  The first thing you’ll know is that they’ll burn out before they graduate from high school, and they won’t want anything to do with whatever sport they’ve been pushed into.

Think about the mindset you were in when you were 11 or 12 years old; chances are that engaging in a strength and conditioning program was the last thing on your mind, and you’d much rather have wanted to go play outside with your friends.  Because, you know…..that’s what kid are supposed to do.

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As a strength and conditioning coach who works with a lot of teenagers, I am often asked by parents how much faster is their kid going to get by training with us.  This seems to be one of the major concerns of a lot of parents who bring us their kid to train.  It is mind boggling to me, mostly because the kids of the parents that come up to me to ask that kind of question are usually 13 or younger.  Am I the only one who thinks there’s something wrong with that?!?

But regardless, I usually give a multifaceted answer to those parents.  The points I’m trying to get across are:

- Despite what other sports training facilities might try to sell you, becoming lightening fast doesn’t happen in 6 weeks.

- At such a young age, there are a lot of things happening in a kid’s body.  Getting faster will have a lot to do with the physiological development that happens when you’re a teenager.  There are a lot of things happening in their body (hormones, growth spurt, etc) and these things will influence athletic development a lot.  Before puberty though, you can’t expect drastic changes in a kid’s speed or strength.  The changes you’ll see, even with good training, are going to be on a smaller scale until your kid hits puberty.

- Related to the last point, it’s important to realize that not all kids will hit puberty and develop at the same time.  Because of that, you can’t expect your 4’8″ 12 year old son to be as fast on the field or on the ice as the one year older kids who are 5’6″ and hit their puberty earlier.  Those are transition years; it’s hard, if not impossible, to compare kids to one another.

- Getting faster is about moving better (movement quality) and improving your strength to bodyweight ratio.  Doing endless numbers of sprints and running the kids to the ground will not help them get faster.  Improving the way you move is a process, just like improving strength.  Overtime it will lay the foundations for your kid to truly become one the fastest and most dominant player on the field or on the ice.  Just don’t expect that to happen overnight.  It might take a couple of years…yes, I said a couple of YEARS.

- Consistency and hard work are going to be key to achieving athletic success.  Just because you subscribed your kid to a sports training facility, doesn’t mean that results will magically happen.  Your kid needs to be working hard and be dedicated to getting faster and achieving athletic success; and not just in the gym, in the practice of their sport(s) as well.

- Related to the last point, kids are kids.  Internal motivation at a young age is not always very strong; a lot of it is going to be coming from the parents.  Kids need to be supported and encouraged in what they do.  That’s how they will develop that internal motivation to achieve their athletic goals, or whatever else it may be.  Kids don’t need to be told “you’re not fast enough”, “you’re so slow compared to your teammates”, “are you even trying?”, etc.  Positive reinforcement and encouragements will make your kid want to keep getting better, even in a period of transition when they happen to be smaller and slower than some other kids they play with.  That’s when they need the support because they can become discouraged very quickly.

Speed, like athletic development in general, is a process.  It’s important to see it as a long term project that you need to be working hard for throughout the years.  Work hard, be consistent, don’t give up when you’re faced with obstacles, and most importantly BE PATIENT.  This is a message that kids, AND especially parents must understand.  Getting faster, or quicker, or stronger, or a better (insert sport) player takes time.  Going to a sports training facility to achieve your athletic goals is a smart move because we are there to help, but it is NOT like going to the doctor for a sinus infection; there is no quick fix or magic pill.  Parents need to understand that.

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Being a strength and conditioning coach is not much different than being a sports coach, a school teacher or even a music teacher.  We all teach something.  The skills or the material we teach is different, but in the end, it’s pretty much all the same.  Kids will learn something from us that will make them better at something.

So in a way, we need to have a pretty good mastery of the material or the skills we teach.  We also need to be able to communicate well in order to help the kids get better.  Being a good player will not guarantee that you will be a good coach, or that you will be good at helping the kids become better at playing their sport.

But other than teaching kids to get better playing guitar, playing hockey, learning history, or improving the way they move and helping them get stronger, what are we there for?  Being a teacher or a coach in whatever field is also about making an impact in kids lives.

No matter how old the kids you’re coaching or teaching are, kindergarten or college, you can make an impact.  You can make an impact by making them better at what they do, but it goes far beyond that.  Some kids need guidance, encouragement, rewards, better self-esteem, and sometimes just someone to talk to.  The impact you can make in a kid’s life is huge.  So many of the kids we train at Endeavor leave after training for a couple months with us with more confidence than they ever had, and sometimes it’s all it takes for them to become a better soccer player, baseball player, hockey player, etc.

Too often we underestimate the influence we can have on a young person’s life.  Many habits, lifestyle changes and values can be taught through strength and conditioning, like any sport, discipline or school subject.  Kids are very influenceable and very moldable and there lives are just waiting to be shaped by their parents, family, friends, coaches, teachers and whoever comes in their life.

One of the stories about a coach’s influence in an athlete’s life that I really like is the one of Cus D’Amato and the impact he had on boxing legend Mike Tyson.  D’Amato, who was a nearly retired boxing manager took Tyson under his wing and made him one of the greatest boxers of all time.

Tyson with his late manager and mentor Cus D’Amato

With the help of D’Amato, Tyson found discipline, work ethic, respect and got his life together; D’Amato was the father figure he never had in his life.  Tyson always attributed his success and rise to stardom to D’Amato who helped him have structure in his life.  What is amazing about this story is that Tyson before D’Amato was a bum, who grew up in high-crime neighborhoods all is life, who has been arrested over 30 times by the time he was 13 and lost his mom at 16.  Despite everything in his life that was pointing to him becoming a criminal, Tyson had the chance to cross path with D’Amato, who put him on right track and gave his life structure.

And if you’re not convinced of the positive impact of D’Amato in Tyson’s life, just take a look at how his career turned after D’Amato died in 1985, and after he fired Kevin Rooney in 1988 (who was his trainer under D’Amato); Tyson’s career started to decline, he started having problems inside and outside the ring and he never was the same boxer again.

Of course it is a peculiar situation, and you can’t expect all the kids you coach or teach to be little Mike Tysons who need someone to put them on the right path.  But there is always a way you can impact a kid’s life in a way you can’t imagine.

How are you going to make an impact with your athletes today?

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Being a strength and conditioning coach is a cool job, I’m not going to lie; it’s a great environment to work in, you’re surrounded by people who share the same passion, it’s easy to stay fit and it’s rewarding to know that you can have such a big impact on an young person’s development as an athlete, but also as a person.  Some, more than others and I guess it all depends on the age group of your clientele.

During the hockey season, most of the athletes I work with are high school and middle school kids.  When you work with kids that age I think it’s especially important to realize the impact you can have on how they develop.  Sure you’re gonna help them move better and improve their athletic ability, and it’s gonna lay a solid foundation for their future athletic success, but a huge part of doing this job is about more than just the training we provide them.  It’s way too easy to forget the impact we can have on other aspect of their lives.

A comment that keeps coming back from parents of the kids we train is how much their confidence on the field or on the ice has improved since they started training at Endeavor.  I am a believer that confidence on the field translates to confidence in other aspects of life, and that can be very helpful to most of them.  A lot of kids don’t know what they’re capable of, and as strength coaches it’s our job to make them realize their potential and help them fully take advantage of it.  This doesn’t seem like much for us, but it can be a game changer in an athlete’s career.

I also believe we have a huge impact on an athlete’s lifestyle habits.  A lot of young athletes don’t realize the importance work ethic, nutrition, sleep and recovery can have on their performance.  And it’s our job to teach them that!  With our lifestyle in 2011, with both parents working, always being in a rush and not having time to prepare meals, it’s tough if not impossible for a kid to develop good eating habits.  Admittedly, it’s an up-hill battle for us because the kids don’t always have control on what their parents are buying at the grocery store.  But teaching the kids what’s good for them and how much it can impact their performance might translate into them telling their parents “my coach said I should eat more vegetable”, and that can go a long way into having a whole family making positive changes in their eating habits.

“My strength coach said my bench press would go up 40 pounds if I ate my vegetables”

And when kids don’t eat breakfast altogether because they get up 5 minutes before leaving for school, it’s pretty easy for us to tell them to get up 10-15 minutes earlier to throw 2  eggs between two slices of toast or make a smoothie.  Are they automatically going to do it?  Maybe not, but it’s part of our job to find a way to tell them so in the end they make a change.  And eating breakfast or not is totally under their control; it’s something they can change by themselves (I don’t know of any parents who will forbid their kids to eat breakfast) even when their parents don’t do it.

It’s a little bit of the same story when it comes to sleep patterns; parents won’t forbid their kids to go to bed earlier.  And you would be surprised at how many kids don’t sleep enough!  I never really realized it myself until I started asking kids what time they were going to bed and what time they got up; amazing how many kids don’t even get 8 hours of sleep per night!  It’s not like they’re adults who can get away with 7 hours of sleep; they’re kids growing, developing and trying to become high level athletes, they need 8 to 9 solid hours per night and even more!  If we can make kids understand the importance of sleep and the impact it’s gonna have on their performance, we have succeeded in making a positive change in their lives.

No wonder why so many of them sleep in class

Some athletes will have work ethic problems and just be flat out lazy.  And most of the time they don’t even understand that it’s affecting their development as an athlete.  But once again, it’s part of our job to try and change those habits.  Sometimes you might need to dig deep to understand what the underlying cause of the problem is, and why an athlete is not responsive or won’t comply to what you’re telling him.

The bottom line is  that it’s definitely not easy to change habits, and it’s not all athletes that are going to be willing to start eating breakfast just because we told them to.  Many times, simply telling them what to do or what they should change is not gonna be enough.  In a way it’s just like psychology.  Sometimes even though you know that something is good for you, or that you should do it doesn’t mean that you’re actually gonna take the necessary steps to make the change.  It’s just like anything else in life: start exercising, lose weight, stop smoking, stop eating going to McDonald’s for lunch, etc.  You know that it’s the right thing to do, but you rarely do it.  Kids are no different (but with different concerns).  It’s about finding ways to deliver a message in way that will make the person make a change, and THAT is the real challenge .  It’s not easy that’s for sure, and we’re not always going to be successful, but it’s our job to try to do it.

It’s when you have a positive effect on a kid’s life that you realize how big of a difference you can make.  Being a strength and conditioning coach means much more than improving strength and conditioning; it’s about teaching and changing lives.

Kids are starting to strength train younger and younger these days.  Is it a bad thing?  Not necessarily.  Then, is it a good thing?  I’m not sure either.  Here’s the thing: despite many old beliefs that have been proven wrong through research, IT IS safe for kids to strength train as young as 6 years old.  The fact that it affects growth is a myth, that is if training is done in a safe way and in a supervised environment.

Although it is technically “safe” to do it, does it mean all kids should start lifting weights at 6 years old?  I don’t think so.  What it comes down to when considering if your kids should start to train or not, is really their mental maturity.  Strength training requires a great level of focus and seriousness.  If your kid can’t focus focus for 30 seconds straight, how do expect him to be able to perform an exercise the right when he is required to think about keeping his weight on his heels, sitting back, keeping his chest up and keeping his eyes straight ahead, all at the same time?

Strength training at a young age is not so much about getting the kids stronger, as it is to teach them correct movement patterns and to move the right way.  Gains in strength will be minimal before puberty anyway.  The goal is to have them master those movement patterns, so they can minimize injuries and get stronger at a much faster rate when they’ll hit their puberty.  If your kid is weak and slow at 9 years old, chances are he’s going to be weak and slow for a coupe of years.  But with proper training that reinforces quality movement, they have a chance of becoming much better athletes when they start to grow.

Might not be as easy as it looks  for a kid to master this movement?

Does that mean every kid should start lifting before 10?  God no!  Like I said, it all depends if the kid is mature enough to enter a weight room, be serious, be focused for an hour and understands that it’s a process that is going to make him better in the long run.  And if your kid is not mature enough for it, guess what?  IT’S NO BIG DEAL!!  Kids are kids and they should have fun!  Kids should play different sports and games and acquire as many new athletic abilities as possible through that.

I am a strength coach and I’m training kids as young as 12 years old.  I can’t send them home if they want to be there, because if it’s not me training them, it’s going to be someone else.  And with the quality of training offered in most sports training places, I’d much rather see them at Endeavor, learning to move well and becoming better athletes than being run through cone drills, and agility ladders until total exhaustion by some dude who doesn’t know what he’s doing.  And if they’re not going to train and they don’t want to, it’s fine; let kids be kids, and let’s let them play!