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Safe Fitness Training for Kids
No comments · Posted by Jason Zagami in Cross Training, New Articles
Education & Experience
Fitness programs for kids aren’t necessarily complicated, but they do require an additional level of education and experience. A child’s body is not fully developed, so it’s important that you take extra care when loading their muscle, bones, and tendons. Because of this we choose fun games that improve conditioning and team building, instead of focusing solely on strength.
The Right Tools
The best training for your kids is a balanced program of Cardio-Conditioning and Light Weight Lifting. Luckily today many schools and private fitness facilities have equipment designed to work for kids and adults. One of the best tools for training kids is the Concept2 Rower. The only exposed moving parts are the handle and the seat. Unlike the treadmill, the rower moves under the users own power making it virtually impossible for them to get injured by the machine.
Good Coaching vs Bad Coaching
Weight lifting for kids isn’t bad when done properly and performed well within their limitations. Problems arise when coaches create a competitive environment in the weight room, turning their training into a power lifting competition. When kids start Benching, Leg Pressing, or Squatting significantly more than their body weight, this can cause hardening of the growth plates, or tear their young muscles and tendons. Don’t let the media and a few bad coaches scare you away from keeping your kids healthy.
Teaching Them is Protecting Them
The goal is to teach them how to properly care for their bodies. We teach gym etiquette, nutrition, how to exercise safely, and explain the dangers of steroids and supplements. It’s a lot less likely that your child will be negatively influenced by peers if they’re properly educated.
bones · coaches · Coaching · concetp2 · Fitness · growth plate · high school · kids · middle school · muscles · sports · tendons
Each athlete and event require different Pacing strategies. This post is merely a beginners guide to point you in the right direction.
Game Plan
Races longer than 75 seconds require a pacing strategy to be competitive. The longer the race, the more critical it becomes to learn your body’s capability. Going all out and holding on is not an option.
Metrics
For optimal pacing you need to know three things: Time, Distance, and Pace in real time. Become familiar with how hard you’re exerting yourself at a given pace and distance. A GPS enabled watch will give you your pace and distance in real time.
*Endurance athletes use a heart rate monitor when training for events lasting 100 minutes or more.
Finding your pace
Keep things simple whenever possible. In training for anything under an hour, do a dry run to find your average pace. If you’re training for a 10K, run the actual route if possible. The next time you run it, maintain your previous average pace.
As time goes on you will be able to increase overall speed, and learn how soon to sprint to the finish. Pacing is all about experimentation. Experience will give you the confidence to know where and when to go faster or slower. Novice athletes tend to go too fast early on, putting themselves deep in Oxygen debt, and ultimately hurting their overall time.
Heart Rate Training
You only have enough stored Glucose to blast you through the first two hours of a race. Longer races require metabolizing a greater percentage of fat for energy. The process of converting fat to energy is slower than converting glucose, so going further distances requires exercising at a lower heart rate.
By training at 65% to 70% of Max Heart Rate for longer periods of time your body will adapt and become more efficient at metabolizing fat for energy. A lactate threshold test at a local university will give you a more accurate heart rate goal for your event.
For more on Heart Rate Training Click Here
Negative Splits
Every world record set in the past 40 years (1600 Meters and longer) has been run at negative splits. Negative splits mean start out slow and accelerate through the race. Your first mile is the slowest, and your last mile is the fastest. Elite runners find that for every second you run too fast in your first mile you sacrifice 3 seconds at the end.
Coaching
Working with an experienced coach will save you time and prevent injuries. Qualified coaches have years of experience with hundreds of athletes. For a few hundred dollars you’ll save yourself months of trial and error, giving you that competitive edge over your competition.