About strength training and especially strength training for children - when to start, what to take into account etc. There is a lot of controversy as to when a young pre-puberty child (below 12 years for girls and below 14 years for boys) should start strength training. In sport circles there exists a rule called "the seven year rule". This rule states that organized and monitored strength training should start seven years before the entrance of the athlete onto the National Team. For speed skating we could say that strength training should start at 13 to 14 years of age for both boys and girls. Although athletes as young as 16 or 17 join the National Team, we have taken into consideration the average age (20-21) at which they start to skate internationally on a regular basis. Tests done on pre-puberty athletes have shown that they are trainable at all ages and show a good gain in strength with no hypertrophy (muscle mass increase) after a weight-training program. This is mainly due to the fact that these pre-puberty athletes have a greater facility in recruiting muscular fibres since they cannot gain hypertrophy (muscle mass). At puberty these same athletes will start gaining muscle mass because they will have 6 to 10 times the amount of hormones. These young athletes will develop good conditioning and will enhance motor skill learning. Strength training does not slow growth and is very good for strengthening joints such as knees and elbows because these articulations thicken with the training. Strength training should progress from general to specific exercises over a period of years. The younger the athlete the more attention must be given to postural exercises. Advices for the concrete strength training for young skaters are given.
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