Youth Plyometrics

Exercises or drills that involve a jumping movement are called plyometrics. Examples for the lower body are jumping rope, hopping, lunges, skipping, bounding, jump squats, and sprinting. When plyometrics apply to upper body exercises, they usually incorporate a medicine ball being thrown. This type of training is typically used to increase speed, power, and overall athleticism. It can also be used to aid in injury prevention. The most important part of any lower body plyometric program is to learn how to land properly before jumps are performed.

Because the bone structure of children and adolescents are relatively immature and still developing, any plyometrics exercises which are intense and demanding should be avoided. Young athletes and their parents should seek qualified coaches and/or trainers. Good rules of thumb are:

•Get good shoes.
•Start off slowly. (Skipping, hopping, and bounding are good start exercises.)
•Proper Warm-Up is essential.
•Proper technique is crucial.
•Avoid hard surface. (Grass or artificial turf is best.)
•Allow for recovery time between exercises.
•Rest between training sessions.

Plyometrics can be a safe and effective addition when training children and adolescents. When combined with a well-rounded fitness program, plyometric training will help build the foundation for greater athletic ability as the child progresses.

In Health,
Len

In Season Training for Young Athletes

In this fast paced world of ours, immediate gratification seems to be the norm. It is almost expected that things can be accomplished quickly with little time or effort. Nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to training adolescent athletes. Athletic development is a long term process. Athletic excellence will not be achieved within a 6 week training program.

Consider this. A child needs 12 years of academic “training” to allow him or her to be ready to pursue a college degree. This foundation of learning starts in the elementary school years, builds through middle school, and continues into the high school level. Imagine an 18 year old entering and succeeding in college without going through the process of a 12 year learning program. It would be, in most instances, impossible.

Adolescent fitness training is very similar. Athletes need time to build a foundation that will give them the best possible chance of reaching their highest level of athletic ability. The question is, of course, how is this achieved?

Designing a curriculum that addresses all aspects of an adolescent’s athletic development is crucial. Mimicking sport-specific movement patterns isn’t the priority, but enhancing the overall athleticism of the athlete is. Look for programs that provide the following:
•Focuses on injury prevention
•Increases speed, agility, quickness, and strength
•Provides long term progression models so the athlete can continue to progress
•Provides a positive experience

In Health,
Len

Lower Back Pain in Adolescent Swimmers

Considered a beneficial activity in alleviating pain that may be acquired from injury, swimming is often used by athletes during rehabilitation. However, there are specific swimming strokes that can actual cause back problems and lower back injuries.

Adolescent swimming athletes who experience low back pain should not ignore the pain, but be fully evaluated. Skeletally immature athletes are competing at increasingly more demanding sport levels and an associated increase in the number of injuries and structural issues are becoming more prevalent. In addition, special training devices for swimming such as kicking boards, fins, pull-buoys, hand paddles and zoomers are currently being used to give the athlete a more aggressive workout. Because these devices are exposing the back to increased and repeated extension forces, they can actually be causing problems. It is important that the instructor or coach has knowledge of the sport-specific biomechanics and understands the risk factors.

To avoid these incidences, recognizing the following factors while performing particular strokes may help:

•Freestyle - Rotating the head too far up can result in neck/back injuries. Normally, swimmers roll their heads upwards to the right to breathe out of the water on the upstroke of the right arm. It is advisable to rotate the head upwards only within the axis of the body, and to keep the head down the rest of the time when not going up for air.
•Backstroke - If not conditioned properly, the anterior neck muscles become subject to stress. Perform gradually to avoid excessive muscle strain.
•Breaststroke – It is advised to keep the head and neck still, use only a minimal head raise when taking in air.
•Flip-turning - May have an adverse effect on the neck and back muscles. Be sure to not overextend the head from the body and keep it tucked in.

Stop swimming if experiencing constant back pain. Consult a doctor for an appropriate diagnosis. Continuing to swim despite the pain is detrimental to healing and can lead to further issues.

Competitive swimming requires muscle stretching and back and abdominal muscle strengthening exercises to prevent overuse injuries of the lumbar spine. As in all sports, the swimmer's physical fitness has a great role in the overall performance of the athlete.

In Health,
Len

Rest and Recovery in Young Athletes

Training young athletes is not the same as training adults. Because adolescents are still growing and developing, they need more rest time to recover between their training sessions. Sadly, the importance of rest and recovery is commonly undervalued or misunderstood by young athletes and sometimes by their coaches, trainers, and parents. A high school athlete’s week typically consists of practice (4 times a week), competition (at least once a week), and strength training (3 times per week). These constant demands make it imperative that the athlete finds ways to reach their bodies need for rest and recovery.

Below are some ideas to get the rest and recovery time needed to perform optimally:

•Teenagers as a rule are sleep deprived! Get 8 ½ - 9 hours of sleep every night.
•Remove all (or strictly limit) caffeine
•Studies have shown that cell phone usage (this includes “texting”) interferes with adolescent sleep time. Shut phones off at night and don’t keep it in bedrooms at night.
•Once a week plan to rest completely.
•Only participate in one sport each season.
•If an athlete experiences any pain during practice or competition, training should stop and the situation needs to be evaluated.
•Athletes have a tendency to train less intensely during their hardest training days and more intensely on their less intense days. This is a recipe for poor performance on game day. Make sure your athletes train as hard as they can on the harder training days. On their less intense training days, allow their bodies to recover.

Sometimes young athletes can’t make the correlation that rest and recovery is the most important component of their ability to perform during competition. Coaches, parents, and trainers need to understand this concept as well to let their athletes know that well being and safety is the top priority.

In Health,
Len