Although much of what we understand about strength and conditioning (S&C) has been gained by exploring the responses of adults to various training programmes, research into the effects of S&C on younger populations has increased over the past decade. Despite the outdated contention that this type of training was inappropriate or unsafe for children and adolescents [2], evidence-based reports have found that carefully prescribed and supervised S&C programmes can be a safe, effective and worthwhile method of training for younger populations [12, 40, 65, 75 J. The qualified acceptance of paediatric S&C by medical, fitness and sport organisations has become widespread, and public health objectives now aim to increase the number of children and adolescents w ho regularly perform physical activities that improve muscular strength [6, 9, 32, 70, 87, 97, 119]. Since a growing number of children and adolescents are participating in S&C activities in schools, fitness centres and sport camps [69, 95, 101], it is important to dispel the misperceptions associated with paediatric S&C and establish safe and effective training guidelines that are appropriate for younger populations. In this chapter, the potential risks and benefits associated with paediatric S&C are reviewed, age-appropriate training recommendations are outlined, and effective strategies for designing and implementing S&C programmes for children and adolescents are discussed. For the purpose of this chapter, the term `children` refers to boys and girls who have not vet developed secondary sex characteristics (approximately up to age 11 in girls and 13 in boys). This period of development is often referred to as preadolescence. The term `adolescence` refers to the period of time between childhood and adulthood and includes girls aged 1 2 to 18 years and bovs aged 14 to 18 years. The terms `youth` and `paediatric` are broadly defined in this chapter to include the vears of childhood and adolescence. S&C (also called resistance training) is defined as a specialised method of training that involves the progressive use of a wide range of resistive loads, different movement velocities and a variety of training modalities including weight machines, free weights (barbells and dumbbells), medicine balls and body weight. This should be distinguished from the competitive sports of weightlifting and powerlifting.
© Copyright 2016 Strength and conditioning for sports performance. Veröffentlicht von Routledge. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.