Posts filed under 'Teens Fitness'
Teaching the Basics of Movement – The Key to Youth Fitness
Brian Grasso is the CEO of the International Youth Conditioning Association and is considered one of the premier authorities on youth athletic development in the world. Access Brian’s free database of articles and exercises at www.DevelopingAthletics.com.
In the initial phases of training with a young athlete (technically referred to as General Preparatory or GPP), the undeniable key and focus (outside of fun!) should be aptitude development. This aptitude should transcend to both movement-based skills in their basic elements (balance, jumping, throwing, linear and lateral motion progressions etc) as well as strength-based exercises. I have always firmly believed that basic squatting techniques, for example (along with squatting variations and unilateral efforts), should be introduced into the training sessions of young athletes.
That being said, how does one begin the process of teaching movement habits?
When working with truly young athletes (6 – 7 years old), you need to adopt a progression template within which to work. No template can ever be applied to 100% of your athletes 100% of the time – that is the beauty of coaching; understanding what to apply, when and for how long (i.e. knowing when to progress or regress on an individual basis). Trust me when I say that no system is foolproof and that any strength coach or trainer that claims to ‘have all the answers’ is completely full of crap. For that exact reason, one of my industry hero’s is Mike Boyle.
He is a) straight to the point with no fluff and b) bold in his assertion that he is still developing and evolving as a coach himself.
After 10 years of working with young athletes, I have reached one undeniable conclusion – the more I learn, the more I realize I don’t know and the more I want to change my methodologies.
Having said that, these are the first three progressions I use in teaching a movement habit -
Skill: Lateral Deceleration
Firstly, break key points down into skill sets that are easy to remember so that kids can recite them both to you and to themselves (this makes teaching and cuing much simpler). I have four points I want my athletes to learn/know/commit to memory with respect to lateral deceleration:
- Bend your knees and drop your hips
- Be on a flat foot or slightly on the ball of the foot
- The toe/foot of the decelerating leg should be square to the angle of the body (i.e. not out)
- The foot placement should be outside the box (the ‘box’ is a reference to an invisible line drawn from the shoulder to the floor. Any placement outside of that line is good; within or too close to the line will result in a poor deceleration and potential injury).
Have the kids understand each of these items individually and then in conjunction with each other.
Progressions
These represent the first three of my progressive steps:
1. Repeat Statically – have the athletes assume an athletic position or stance. From here, they will ‘hit’ the decelerating position upon command. Be patient with this step and make sure all your athletes are comfortable and competent with the motion. Add fun to this by calling out different legs unpredictably.
2. Repeat Dynamically - when you feel your athletes are ready, have them perform one or two moderately paced side shuffles prior to ‘hitting’ the decelerating position. The side shuffles should be slow and easy. At this point, you will begin to ascertain if further teaching is necessary (it likely will be). With the additional movement prior to the deceleration, a common mistake you will see is athletes not planting their foot outside of the box far enough. This results in a poor alignment and a less than satisfactory deceleration (even at these slow speeds). My colleague, Lee Taft, calls this a shoulder sway (because the shoulders lean towards the decelerating leg rather than sitting back in a ‘braking’ type position). I love this term and reflects what the actual concern looks like.
3. Repeat Randomly – Now that the athletes are comfortable with the motion, create games and situations within which they react to a particular signal and move (unpredictably) different directions. On your ‘point’ for example, the athlete will take one or two moderately paced side shuffles and then ‘hit’ a deceleration. Have them hold the position so that both you and them can ascertain what is right and wrong with their posture.
Learn more about Brian’s complete system of developing young athletes – www.CompleteAthleteDevelopment.com
Add comment December 12, 2008
Endurance Training for Young Athletes
Brian Grasso is the CEO of the International Youth Conditioning Association and is considered one of the premier authorities on youth athletic development in the world. Access Brian’s free database of articles and exercises at www.DevelopingAthletics.com.
Endurance training and young athletes is an often-misunderstood topic. On one hand, there are strength coaches who tend to disregard developmentally sound elements of endurance training in lieu of producing stronger and faster athletes via strength and power type exercises exclusively. On the other hand, there are over-zealous coaches and trainers who equate endurance to long distance/duration activities, often with little regard for the athlete’s stage of development, ability or current level of conditioning.
Endurance can be defined quite simply as one’s ability to withstand fatigue or the ability to control the functional aptitude of movement while experiencing external stress. The latter definition lends itself well to the concept of athletic development and training young athletes. As I have stated many times in both print and lecture, when working with youngsters, the key ingredient to producing a successful training program is the ability to recognize that quality of execution is profoundly more important than quantity. Having said that, I still see coaches, trainers and parents opting for more difficult training sessions that include high volume or high intensity activities rather than concerning themselves with how correctly the exercise is being performed. Poor execution results in habitual patterns that are difficult to break and could result in injury. With respect to endurance training, proper mechanics are often compromised for higher volumes or intensities and this is very much a mistake.
One thing to consider is that the term ‘endurance’ has application to varying lengths and types of effort:
- Long slow distances – efforts of limited intensity but high distance or time
- Speed – efforts typically lasting 15 – 45 seconds with high levels of intensity but obviously limited time or distance
- Muscular – the ability to sustain a muscular contraction for a prolonged period of time
There are several factors to consider with respect to the development of endurance in a young athlete:
1. Mechanical/Coordination/Movement – Efficiency of movement is a paramount factor with respect to the endurance capabilities of a young athlete. Poor mechanics (which are only reinforced with repetitive training) lead to higher degrees of fatigue. To truly increase the ability of a young athlete (in all facets), coaches and trainers must exercise patience and teach proper movement habits rather than prescribe endless numbers of sets. A critical point here is that by perfecting technique, you can effectively improve endurance without increasing training volume.
2. Body Type – The more overweight a young athlete is, the less endurance they will likely have. Excess bodyweight (particularly in the form of body fat) will serve to decrease endurance due to an increased energy cost. Additionally, being overweight often leads to poor mechanical efficiency (as per point one). According to Joseph Drabik, “each 5% of excess weight penalizes a child approximately 89 meters in a 12-minute run test”. Conversely, “in a 10-mile run, each kilogram reduction of body mass improves performance by 30 seconds”. Drabik did not indicate how bodyweight was determined to be excessive.
3. Psychological – Many young athletes do not possess significant amounts of mental toughness (but they’re kids so why would they?). To combat this, many over anxious trainers and coaches opt to make drills and exercises purposefully difficult in order to produce some sort of perceived mental strength. Given that both the physical structure as well as mental potency of a youngster is tenuous, this often leads to little more than burnout or injury. A more prudent approach to this issue is to systematically present challenges to young athletes that respect their individuality as well as their current stage of development and offers positive feedback at the conclusion. By offering challenging yet achievable forms of exercise, you will progressively improve their endurance and develop their confidence to attempt new and more challenging things.
It is important to understand that endurance training with young athletes is critical for long-term development and not immediate results. Developing good endurance allows the young athlete to tolerate an increased amount of exercise stimulus in the future and this alone is the key point. Don’t become pre-occupied with immediate effects – like any other aspect of athletic development, endurance training is part of a continual, multi-tiered effort.
Developmentally speaking, from the ages of 3 – 7, general endurance increases due to the typical activity level of kids in this age range (which has become a crucial issue of our time – kids don’t ‘play’ as much as they used to, and this fact has a potentially damaging effect on their future athletic abilities and conditioning). For young males, endurance increases are best seen between the ages of 8 – 11 and then again between 15 – 16. For young females, increases are shown best between the ages of 8 – 10. After the age of 13, endurance capabilities of young women stagnate and actually regress. These numbers illustrate that the young female sensitive period for endurance development is shorter than it is with young males. Because of this, young females should begin their endurance training at a younger age than should young males.
There are several key points to remember when designing endurance-based training programs for young athletes. The most crucial aspect is to always start with a broad aerobic base. This will serve to raise the anaerobic threshold of the young athlete (delay needing to use anaerobic sources of energy during activity) and allow the athlete to tolerate increased loads in the future. Begin this aerobic-base phase with low to moderate volumes. Children, although physiologically more fit than the average adult, still must begin their training programs gradually, working up to longer durations and higher intensities. As typical with the entire athletic development science, it is advisable that you alter the stimulus of endurance training you do with young athletes. Think in terms of seasonal activities – In the summer, enjoy swimming; in the autumn, change to hiking or cycling; in the winter, offer stimulus such as snow-shoeing or cross country skiing. Notice how the suggestions are movement-based activities and NOT going to the gym to run on a treadmill! In our fixation for ‘the perfect body’, it seems we have forgotten how important movement and coordination-based activities are for young athletes. Don’t train kids on single function pieces of fitness equipment. Understand that there is a definitive crossover with all exercise stimulus and young athletes. Yes… snowshoeing is a perfect endurance building exercise for young athletes, but it also involves coordination and skill – IDEAL for the young, developing athlete.
Another key factor is training load increases. Coaches, parents and trainers must remember that increases in volume or duration must precede increases in intensity. In short, make things longer before you make them harder. Lastly, wonderful progress can be made by altering the surface on which the young athlete is performing their endurance training. For instance, if you are incorporating long walks or jogs into your training program, switch the training surface periodically to add variety and improve progress; sand, shallow water, forest trails, pebbles. Quick point of reference – by jogging or walking on sand, forest trails or shallow water, you will also add to lower compartment strength and stability. Ankle proprioceptors, picking up varying degrees of balance-point change, will become stronger and more efficient. KEEP KIDS OFF THOSE MACHINES AND GET THEM MOVING!
Learn more about Brian’s complete system of developing young athletes – www.CompleteAthleteDevelopment.com
Add comment December 2, 2008
A Practical Way to Prevent Overtraining
Brian Grasso is the CEO of the International Youth Conditioning Association and is considered one of the premier authorities on youth athletic development in the world. Access Brian’s free database of articles and exercises at www.DevelopingAthletics.com.
In far too many situations throughout North America, strength coaches and personal trainers make common errors in their programming for young athletes, many of which can lead to overtraining syndromes -
Critical Analysis of Biomotor Ability
In working with young athletes, there is very little reason to ever ‘test’ their ability at certain lifts or speed variances. Your programming guidelines must be based around instilling proper execution of technique in your young athletes from a lift and movement economy standpoint. Having said that, gleaning 1, 3, 5 or 8 RM values on any particular exercise should be deemed a distant secondary consideration to teaching the proper values of form and function.
By using a ‘Teaching Model’ of exercise development rather than a ‘Training Model’ you are taking the pressure off of kids to reach for biomotor improvements at the expense of developing sound technique.
Changing Exercises to Often
Although when training adult clientele, there are neural advantages to altering your exercise selection often, with young athletes the reality is that the initial stages of training should comprise little more than dedicated time to teach and become proficient in the basics of lift and movement economy.
Far too often, trainers work to make young athlete routines challenging and neurally stimulating by incorporating complex programming and exercise selection into the mix early in the athletes’ training life. Resist the urge to make a neurological impact and instead, focus your efforts on developing sound competency in just a few basic lifts – the foundation you build during this time is paramount to eventually increasing both the volume and intricacy of your programming.
Consider the Athlete’s Entire Life
When creating a training program for a young athlete, you must take into consideration their entire life – that is, don’t just make training sessions hard for the sake of making them hard. You do a disservice to the athlete and your business by following this practice.
For instance, if the young athlete is in-season for a particular sport, there practice and game schedule must be considered into the reality of your overall programming. Soccer practices, for instance four days per week coupled with one to two games per week, will leave any young athlete bordering on the verge of overtraining syndrome as it is. Your job during times like this is to augment them with restorative training that does not serve to push them lower beneath what would be considered normal and healthy biological levels.
Additionally, you must work to understand your young athletes’ eating and sleeping habits as well. Inappropriate nutrition and poor sleeping patterns (which many teenagers face today) are precursors to overtraining syndrome in that they are two of the more important restorative elements trainees can use to combat such concerns.
As a professional trainer working with young athletes, you are responsible and must assume accountability for their overall health and wellbeing. When training young athletes and in an effort to ensure quality, efficacy-based training practices, resist the temptation to do the ‘norm’ by making exercise sessions hard and physically challenging. Instead, follow the three key points above to ensure optimal training conditions and guard against the very real concerns of overtraining.
Learn more about Brian’s complete system of developing young athletes – www.CompleteAthleteDevelopment.com
Add comment November 28, 2008
Flexibility – Are We Hurting Kids?
Brian Grasso is the CEO of the International Youth Conditioning Association and is considered one of the premier authorities on youth athletic development in the world. Access Brian’s free database of articles and exercises at www.DevelopingAthletics.com.
Flexibility remains a mysterious avenue within the sport industry, cluttered with myths, half-truths and opinion. Questions purvey in many trainers’, coaches’, and parents’ minds as to the type of flexibility training one should perform, when they should perform it, and for how long. Of critical importance to this conundrum is the young athlete and how flexibility training should be applied to this demographic. This article will not answer every question you may have, but it will shed some light on a few key points.
The scope of confusion regarding flexibility can be seen when considering the assessment tools most commonly used to test one’s suppleness. The standard ‘sit & reach’ test is most often incorporated into pre-training assessments as the ‘flexibility test’. In fairness, many coaches and trainers I have worked with cite the fact that the sit & reach is an indirect assessment of flexibility at best, and does not give a truly accurate picture as to the ‘global’ suppleness an athlete may posses considering that flexibility is joint specific. Also, it does not allow us to assess any dynamic qualities, which is important because static flexibility is quite different than dynamic flexibility, and dynamic flexibility is critically more important in sport.
The degree of flexibility a joint exhibits is not entirely determined by the tightness or pliancy of the muscles that act on that joint. While elasticity of the muscle is a key component to flexibility, so is the elasticity of the corresponding ligaments and even the emotional state of the individual. Additionally, the physical length of a muscle can play a very large role in determining the flexibility or ROM of a joint. Muscle length is largely determined by genetics, but can also be positively influenced through strength training. This certainly contradicts a common myth that strength or resistance training INHIBITS flexibility. Furthermore, as the elasticity of a muscle reduces with age (which we generally accept as true), strength training can also positively influence this concern. Yes… Strength training has a positive impact on flexibility and suppleness! In fact, when working with younger athletes, basic static stretching habits can increase the length of a ligament and lead to joint instability. This can lead to poor posture and increased dependence on muscles for joint stability. Strength and flexibility (through full ROM) must work hand-in-hand to ensure optimal development and decreased injury occurrence.
In terms of young athletes, flexibility develops in correspondence with growth. In terms of training, type, frequency and duration also change with age -
Ages 6 – 10:
Hip and shoulder mobility declines, resulting in the need for dynamic ROM exercises within these two joints (multidirectional raises and rotations). Maximum flexibility of the spine is reached by the age of 8 or 9 – increases beyond normal ROM can be made, but is unnecessary and considered potentially harmful.
Within this age group, STATIC STRETCHING SHOULD BE AVOIDED. Excitement within the nervous system is much more pronounced than inhibition, which means that kids this age cannot truly execute a held stretch. They cannot gain the appropriate feedback from their body needed to ensure the safety and optimal effectiveness of the stretch.
Additionally, Isometric stretches (as found in Yoga) should also be avoided completely in this age category. These kinds of stretches may increase the resting tone of a muscle, which can negatively affect movement skill and coordination. Remember – Fitness fads come and go, but the critical science of athletic development and human physiology is what it is. Yoga has its place to be sure (although I know many skeptics who disagree with that), but coordination and movement MUST dominate this age bracket.
Ages 10 – 13:
Children incur gains of body mass at a quicker rate than gains in height at this age, which leads to an increase in strength. Flexibility training should intensify in this age category. Increases in strength and changes in body mass can combine and lead to poor biomechanical habits – most critically in not using full ROM during movement. Ensure that kids incorporate full ROM and dynamic exercises into their training.
Ages 13 – 15:
Height can increase as much as one inch per month during the growth spurt. Muscles and supporting connective tissue do not grow as quickly as bone, which can result in general pain throughout the body. Flexibility training can and should target the areas most prone to pain – this would include quadriceps, hamstrings and muscles of the lumbar spine specifically. Poor posture, reduced movement skill and injury are all potential concerns of rapid growth, but can be limited with appropriate flexibility habits.
Ages 15+:
Now is the time to start adding sport-specific means of flexibility training into an athlete’s routine.
Flexibility, especially with young athletes, is not at all just a matter of ‘stretching out’ before or after practice. Hope this article shed some light on a few things for you!
Learn more about Brian’s complete system of developing young athletes – www.CompleteAthleteDevelopment.com
1 comment November 10, 2008
Global Development vs. Sport Specific Training: It’s All in the Science
Brian Grasso is the CEO of the International Youth Conditioning Association and is considered one of the premier authorities on youth athletic development in the world. Access Brian’s free database of articles and exercises at www.DevelopingAthletics.com.
The goals of any trainer or coach working with a young athlete (pre-pubescent) should include increasing proficiency of motor ability, developing functional versatility (from a strength, movement and biomechanical standpoint) and lastly, inhibiting the potential negative effects of specialized training. Upon reflection, these points, both individually and collectively, lend to the credence that when working with young, pre-pubescent aged athletes, the mandate should be one of global, all-encompassing development rather than specialized ventures into sport specific training.
With pre-pubescent children, muscle innervation is completed by roughly the age of 6 years. Muscle innervation refers to the final expansion of motor nerve endings within a muscle fiber’s interior. The impact of this action on motor coordination is quite profound. At the conclusion of the muscle innervation process (again, roughly by the age of 6, although individual variances occur), children are now able to learn and begin the process of establishing functional proficiency in gross motor skills and movement patterns. It is critical to understand, however, that the innervation process happens more quickly and earlier (chronologically) in larger muscles. Again, innervation being linked to coordination and motor control, it stands to reason that children gain proficiency in gross motor skills more quickly than finer skills. This remains another argument for why early specialization is counterproductive – every sport requires various degrees of fine motor skills, which can simply not become functional abilities in younger athletes. Global aspects of gross motor skill development are most understandably the crucial component of training pre-pubescent children.
No one can learn how to create 6 or 12 month plans in a day. It takes time and diligent effort to acquire this skill, but your ability to get better over time will have a direct and positive impact on both your young athletes’ success rate as well as your businesses ability to attract new clients. Set an objective for yourself to create a system or plan that allows you to develop long-term and wide-focused agendas for your young athletes. Take several days or weeks if need be to create a system that is streamlined and easy to implement – although your are looking for a comprehensive system, the more basic you make it, the more easy it will be to adhere to.
Start simply. Take a piece of paper and write out where you want your young athletes to be in 4 weeks. Create headings and then just fill in each category. For instance, what skill sets are you working on now? To what degree of competency do you want an athlete or team to be able to demonstrate that skill set in 1 month’s time? This can also be applied to elite adolescent athletes. Are you working on squat or power clean totals right now? If so, where do you want these numbers to be in 4 weeks?
Once you have organized your thoughts on where you would like to be in 4 weeks, you have to consider how you are going to get there. On the same or a different piece of paper, right out how many training sessions or practices you have with this athlete or team between now and 4 weeks from now. Date each training session or practice on your piece of paper. Now, using your skills as a Trainer or Coach, literally, just fill in the blanks. Compare where you want to be in 4 weeks with the number of training sessions or practices you have between now and then. In order to accomplish your 4-week goal, what action steps along a critical path must be taken? This is the essence of how to develop a long-term approach to working with young athletes. You will simply just write out your next several training sessions or practices in order to meet the objectives you have laid out for 4 weeks from now.
This system can easily be applied to 6 months or even a year. Just follow the same type of procedure as mentioned above – set out an objective for the time frame and decide where this athlete or team needs to be within that time frame. Let’s say you have a 13-year-old athlete for 6 months and you want to determine an objective and critical path. Take out a piece of paper and write out where you want this athlete to be in 6 months. Be descriptive with this – what skill sets do you want him to have mastered? What kind of movement-based techniques will he show great competency in. Once you have decided that, break those large objectives down into more manageable ones and make them your first 4-week objective. To get to your end destination, where to you have to be at the end of this month? From there break it down even farther by deciding on how many training sessions or practices you will have over the course of the next 4 weeks and design them in accordance with your 4 week objective. Next month, do the same thing.
An amazing thing happens when you create objectives and critical plans like this. You will start seeing results in your athletes and teams beyond what you ever-dreamed possible. Failing to plan is one of the biggest concerns facing this industry. It seems everything is taken on a session-by-session basis with no vision or thought to the long-term. It could argued that individual Trainers and Coaches didn’t know how to plan for the future… well; now you do!
Practice the skill of objective writing and critical path creation. It will take time to design a system that flows well for you, but it is more than worth it to your young athletes and teams.
Learn more about Brian’s complete system of developing young athletes – www.CompleteAthleteDevelopment.com
Add comment October 26, 2008
Why Exercise May Help Battle Teen Depression
Are you worried about your teen? Has their behavior changed recently and you think they might be depressed? If your teen is depressed, you’ve probably looked into antidepressants and found yourself even more concerned, and you should be. Drugs designed to fight depression in adults can actually increase the incidence of suicide and other destructive behavior in teens. There are other options. While seriously depressed teens should visit a therapist, some symptoms can also be alleviated through regular exercise. Exercise works directly, and indirectly, to help relieve many of your teens depression symptoms.
While there are other benefits, exercise itself can directly improve the mood of your teen. Exercising produces chemicals in your system that work to improve your mood. While the effect is short term, regular exercise can help improve your teen’s mood even when they’re not exercising. As an added bonus, many children and teens in this country are overweight and obese. Regular exercise will help fight these diseases and leave your child healthier as well. And when you’re healthy, you feel better and are less worn down.
A major factor in teen depression is low self esteem. By helping your child improve their physical appearance, you can help improve the way they feel about themselves. Regular exercise will help your child look and feel better. Even if physical results are minimal, exercise can help make your child feel better about the way they look.
As I already said, low self esteem is a big factor in teen depression, but it’s not entirely determined by how they look. A lot of teens opinions about themselves come from how they think others feel about them. There are plenty of exercise opportunities for teens that involve socializing, such as team sports. These will allow your child to meet new people and make new friends. Even if they’re not good enough to make their schools team, there are plenty of other opportunities through the YMCA and other sport clubs.
One big factor in determining whether or not a teen will become depressed is whether or not they have a depressed parent. A teen with a depressed parent may be up to 6 times more likely to become depressed than other teens. This may be caused by genetics, or simply by becoming depressed through exposure. Whatever the reason, there’s great news. All the depression fighting benefits of exercise for teens also apply to adults. So if you’re feeling a little down, why not take your teen to the gym or out for a run around the block. You’ll not only be exercising, you’ll also have some quality time to spend with your child.
So talk to your teen, and then get them up and moving. With regular exercise, your son or daughter will feel better in no time.
Add comment October 21, 2008
Benefits of Strength Training for Children
When most people think of strength training, they imagine big buff body builders. Contrary to popular belief, when done properly, strength training can be safe and very beneficial to your child.
Helps with sports performance
Many pre teens want to start a strength training program to improve their sports capabilities. When done properly, strength training can help your child become a better athlete. Just remember that it should be used to help sport performance, not be a sport itself. Pre teens and teens bodies are not ready for extreme muscle building.
Can prevent injuries
The stronger your child is, the less likely they are to hurt themselves when participating in other physical activities. You may think that they can hurt themselves through strength training, but injuries are usually minor when proper technique is used.
Improves child’s stamina
This is helpful when it comes to sports, but can be a plus in all aspects of life. Improved stamina can help your child get through long, physically and mentally demanding days with less pain and stress.
Improves overall health
Strength training can strengthen bones, lower cholesterol, improve heart and lung function and help your child maintain a healthy body composition.
Teaches healthy exercise practices
With the high percentage of obese children today, most parents should be concerned about teaching their child healthy exercise practices, and strength training is one way to do it. They’ll learn to be able to stick with a healthy exercise program and not overdo it. For this reason, you should also incorporate regular aerobic activity into your child’s schedule.
Builds self esteem
A lot of how your child feels about themselves comes from the way they look. If they start looking and feeling better, they’ll feel better about themselves. They will also build their self esteem knowing that they can set goals and achieve them in a healthy manner.
While many people promote strength training for children, there are some safety concerns. If you’re going to let your child do strength training, make sure it is done properly.
Don’t start too young
In order to master strength training, a child must be able to do the movements with proper form. Young children are still learning to control their motor functions and shouldn’t e distracted by building muscle.
Visit your child’s pediatrician
Your doctor can not only tell you if your child is physically capable of starting strength training, they can also refer you to a trainer who specializes in youth fitness to help choose an appropriate exercise program for your child.
Start slow
Make sure your child has mastered the basic movements before allowing weights or other forms of resistance to be added. Many injuries in strength training are caused by incorrect form. In order to keep your child healthy, be sure they can perform the activity correctly without resistance before letting them use weights. Remember to ad weights slowly. This is meant to help your child, not get them stronger as fast as possible. A child should be able to do 15 reps of an exercise properly before moving on to more resistance.
If you follow these safety guidelines, you will start to see all the benefits to your child’s life in no time.
If you have any questions regarding your child’s health and fitness, or would like help getting your child started on a fitness program … contact me. As a gymnastics coach I have over 10 years experience working with children of all ages.
2 comments October 19, 2008
Obsessive Exercising in Teens
Most parents are aware of the signs and symptoms of eating disorders. Many even watch their child’s eating habits closely to make sure they aren’t developing a problem; however, they often overlook a problem that is just as serious and fairly common in teens: obsessive exercise. This is a condition where your teen feels they need to exercise hours a day to stay healthy and fit. Over exercising can cause problems ranging from short term fatigue, exhaustion, delay of puberty, to permanent physical injury. This is why it’s important to recognize the symptoms and how to prevent and treat this disorder.
Compulsive exercise is caused by many of the same issues that can trigger an eating disorder. Generally, the teen feels unhappy with their body image and exercises to fix it. They may also have been exposed to an overweight friend or relative and exercise to avoid becoming fat themselves. Compulsive exercisers have to be in control of all parts of their life. They feel that not exercising would leave them without control, which for them, is not an option.
The best way to avoid your child developing an obsessive exercise disorder is to teach them healthy exercise habits as early as possible. If you develop an exercise plan with your child when they’re young, making sure to set limits and boundaries, your child will be more likely to maintain healthy habits as they mature. An important part of teaching your child proper exercise habits, is to practice them yourself. Make sure to get enough exercise, but don’t overdo it.
You can also help prevent this condition from developing by helping your child develop a healthy body image. You can start this from a very young age by emphasizing that not ust skinny people are beautiful. You should also be sure to point out the positives of your child’s image. If your child is overweight, you don’t need to point it out to them; they already know. A better response would be to help your child maintain a healthy diet and exercise plan aimed at good health.
Along with preventing compulsive exercising, it’s also important to be able to recognize the symptoms and treat the disorder properly. The following are some of the most common danger signs to look for:
• Excessive physical exercise beyond normal limits.
• Obsessed with being thin.
• False body image (feels they are fat when they are dangerously thin).
• May have an eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimia.
• Exercising when injured or exhausted, even if they are ordered not to.
If you think, or suspect, your teen has a problem with over-exercising, it is best to confront them in a calm manner. Explain to them what you see is wrong with their behavior and explain you want to help. If you are not comfortable talking to your child about it, talk to their coach or consult a therapist. It is important that your teen learns that what they are doing is unhealthy without feeling like they’re being persecuted.
Curing this disorder is a long and difficult process; that is why it’s important to take steps to keep your teen from compulsively exercising and learn to recognize the warning signs early.
Add comment October 16, 2008
