Q: How can my teenager get in shape for the upcoming sports season?

Ask Our Expert about Strength Training for Young Athletes

• How can my teenager get in shape for the upcoming sports season?
• Can my teenager develop his own program?
• What kinds of exercises would my teenager's program have?
• What about strength training?

Q: How can my teenager get in shape for the upcoming sports season?

A: Because every individual is unique and every sport has different requirements, your teenager should get help from someone with experience training young athletes. A certified strength and conditioning specialist will develop a personal program for your teenager that details where she is and where she wants to go. Look for a trainer who has a college degree in exercise physiology, is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and understands the special needs of young athletes.

Q: Can my teenager develop his own program?

A: Strength training is a science. If your teenager isn't careful, he can injure himself. A CSCS will plan exercises to get optimal performance over a specific time period (for example, in six months). Your teenager's program will include constant changes in the amount of weight, repetitions and total volume he lifts on a regular basis in order to prevent overtraining and overuse injuries. This keeps his muscles, joints, ligaments and tendons from getting stale by doing the same things over and over. Your teenager will keep a chart to track his personal progress toward his goals and overall growth and development.

Q: What kinds of exercises would my teenager's program have?

A: Any exercise or training program, regardless of sport, has an overall conditioning component that includes movement preparation, dynamic warm-up and post-workout stretching. Your pre- and post-workout routine may include light running or jogging and some light lifting. Here are samples of exercises from the various stages:

Movement preparation exercises may include:

• Hand walk, to stretch hamstrings, calves and lower back muscles and stabilize shoulders.
• Knee hug lunge, to stretch hamstring and glute muscles in the front leg and hip flexor in the back leg.
• Forward lunge/forearm to instep, to stretch groin, glute and hamstring of the front leg and groin and hip flexor in the back leg.
• Lateral lunge, to stretch the inner thigh.
• Back lunge and twist, to stretch hip flexors, quadriceps, gluteals and core muscles.

A dynamic warm-up routine may include:

• High knees to enhance muscles needed for a faster, longer stride and flexibility in the hamstring. All fast athletes have a good, high knee action. The higher the knee-lift when running, the longer the stride.
• Heel-ups to enhance hamstring strength and quadricep flexibility. When the heels come up toward the hips in running, the thighs swing through faster, increasing stride frequency and speed.
• Power-skip, to enhance stride length and frequency.
• High knees with heel-ups to enhance sprinting rhythm and action.
• High knees with foreleg extension to enhance ability to reach with foreleg during sprinting.
• Lateral high knees to enhance muscles needed for a faster lateral motion.
• Backpedal turn-and-run to enhance quickness and flexibility in the hip flexors and the ability to change direction, react and accelerate after a turn.

Post-workout stretches may include:

• Neck (look left and right)
• Straight arms behind back
• Behind-neck stretch (chicken wing)
• Cross arm in front of chest
• Spinal twist (pretzel)
• Supine knee flex (hands behind knee)
• Side quadriceps stretch

Q: What about strength training?

A: A total body approach tailored to your teenager's individual sport should include strength training. A football player's program, for example, will have pushing exercises and explosive strength training, whereas a baseball player may work on strengthening the rotator cuff. Your teenager's SCSC will develop a program with a variety of exercises to train each muscle group and improve your teenager's overall power, agility and speed, giving her maximum performance and reducing her chance for injury.

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