Pioneer Valley Youth Sports and Fitness Institute

the source for sound athletic advice

Understanding Youth Fitness

Here we are, another summer is complete and a new school year has started. As I reflect on the whirlwind of a summer gone by I feel the general public’s view on youth fitness is critical. Not only because of the childhood obesity issue that surrounds us but because of the tremendous effects it has on youth development. My belief is that the body was made for movement. It is at a young age when our bodies and minds can handle discovering what our bodies can do. The body can move in all sorts of ways and directions, if we do not train the body to move in the various directions and how to resist certain forces when movement occurs, injuries can happen whether we’re an athlete or not. Fitness should be a life long habit; it should be made fun, and can be fun for a lifetime.

Youth fitness can start as early as age 6. This is not fitness as in weight lifting, logging miles on the treadmill, or seeing how high they can jump. This is about a guided discovery of movement. Providing kids with the opportunity to have a better understanding of movement pertaining to special relationships while having FUN, improve their movement skills, learn teamwork and cooperation in a simple game like setting, and learn visual cues.

As kids get older, 10-13 years old, technical concepts of movement become more of a back drop. Understanding how decelerate, accelerate, jump, move in multiple directions, and increase strength using body weight. Here we can focus on individual development goals within a group setting. Making fitness FUN is still crucial, we are trying to install healthy habits for a lifetime, if fitness is not fun now, how will they have the motivation after a long days work when their 35 years old?

It is at the high school age, 14-18 years old, we start to develop athletes with direction! Athletes work on basic movement skills that are associated with sport participation, games and sport-specific movement scenarios are incorporated while focusing on individual development goals within a group setting. There is more of a focus on technical concept application and strength work. Emphasizing the how and the why of the concepts allows the teen to grasp the importance of what there are doing. It is important however that we keep the fun going; I recall some of my most exciting workouts were when games like tag, capture the flag, and speedo where played. Yes, those were workouts.

Although the previous discussion depicts athletic development youth fitness does not have to be about developing athletes. Youth fitness is about developing the body in a physical sense. So whether the young teen is looking to make the varsity squad or not, fitness needs to be FUN, it needs to be put in terms so they understand the how and why concepts of movement in all sorts of ways and directions. Youth fitness is not for speed or looks; youth fitness is for a lifetime.

To discuss youth resistance training and health/fitness programs please contact Len Haggerty at len@strideshpi.net.  Len Haggerty, MA, CSCS is a Sports Performance Coach operating STRIDES Performance & Wellness, Inc. in Northampton MA. They provide an experience for youths, athletes, and adults of all ages and abilities to discover their potential.