Youth Training: Setting Up Your Kids for a Healthy Lifespan

Strength and conditioning for adolescents should be encouraged in addition to extracurricular sports because most adolescents will grow up without the knowledge to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Early physical training with qualified professionals will not stun growth, will prevent injuries, enhance performance, and will provide a great foundation of fitness knowledge that can be developed  throughout the lifespan.

The Problem

Today, Many children play sports such as basketball, baseball, soccer, and other team sports, which is excellent because they are getting plenty time of adequate exercise. However, once they reach early adulthood, many will stop playing those sports. Multiple studies show a steep decline in regular sports participation at the age of 18 (after high school). It is great that teens are getting adequate exercise, but are they really learning how to design a cardio, weight, and nutrition program for the years ahead? The answer is no. The solution is supposed to be physical education (P.E.) classes, but among many other problems, P.E. classes only teach team sports.Many do you spend enough time talking about exercise science and program design.

The Solution

The solution is to encourage adolescents to participate in strength and conditioning programs. Here are the different settings that the youth can have exposure to good fitness education:

Qualified Personal Trainers are a good resource because they are able to spend one-on-one time teachings clients form and programming. The goal of personal training should be getting a client to their goal, and making the client confident with new knowledge to continue a healthy lifestyle independently.

An alternative is for schools to hire a full-time Strength and Conditioning Coach. These coaches, do not coach sports, but design exercise programs for each individual sport. Most coaches have a highly planned out program that includes periodization and nutrition education. By the time a athlete finishes even just one season with a Strength and Conditioning Coach, they will leave with great knowledge for independent training.

Lastly, personal trainers and coaches are not cheap, so more fitness professionals need to collaborate with schools, gyms, and community centers to host educational workshops. The workshops are important in targeting the low-income areas, perhaps the area most affected by obesity. These areas are limited in not only low disposable income for health services, but also resources such as fitness facilities and after-school sports. I have been fortunate enough to speak to local high schools, and my employer at Bay Club Courtside does a great job of encouraging trainers to host workshops for members. In just an hour, many in attendance leave ready to design their own workouts from a  focused presentation. 

Looking Ahead

Health prevention has become a big topic due to savings in healthcare insurance and maintaining a quality life in general. With this push in prevention, hopefully many begin their fitness journeys, but also realize that is should start from a young age. If we instill the knowledge in the youth, the next generation can maintain a healthier lifestyle, decrease the staggering statistic of obesity in America, and also make exercise a part of the daily routine like showering and brushing one's teeth for good health and hygiene.