How do children do strength training?

It is also necessary for children to exercise and keep fit, but does everyone know how children should do strength training? There are still many things to pay attention to for children, such as not stretching too much, because children are still in the development stage. If the muscles are stretched too much, it is easy to cause children to develop poorly and not grow tall. However, proper exercise for children can not only have a good body shape but also improve physical fitness and resistance.

At present, fierce sports competition requires us to train athletes from an early age, especially in gymnastics, diving and other events. Of course, judo is less advanced, but in Japan it is also taught from a young age. Strength is the foundation of all sports. However, there is still controversy in the theoretical community regarding the issue of strength training for children and adolescents. This paper discusses the methods and effects of strength training for children and adolescents, as well as the relationship between strength training and the growth and development of children and adolescents.

1. The effect of strength training for children

Whether strength training can enhance children's strength has been a long-standing controversial issue. Opponents believe that even if children who engage in strength training experience some increase in strength, it is also the result of hormone effects. However, there are many reports of strength gains after training in prepubertal boys and girls. In the three studies mentioned above, the subjects trained three times a week for a total of 8 to 24 weeks. The exercises included exercises to overcome their own body weight and weight-bearing exercises. The average age of the subjects was 11 to 12 years old, so at this age, their strength can be increased through training.

Physiological studies have shown that the strength of human muscles is determined by several factors: muscle cross-sectional area, coordination between muscle groups, the number of working muscle fibers, etc. The nervous system of children and adolescents develops rapidly. Appropriate strength training can undoubtedly improve the coordination between their muscles and mobilize more muscle fibers to participate in the work. At the same time, the muscle cross-sectional area of ​​children and adolescents who participate in the training also increases significantly compared with before the training.

2. Children's strength training and injuries

Whether it is children or adults, injuries are an issue that cannot be ignored in strength training. However, for children who are in the process of growth and development, some injuries will directly affect their development and even end their sports career prematurely. Therefore, we should have a good understanding of the strength, biology and mechanisms of injuries in children and adolescents so as to effectively control their strength training and avoid the occurrence of trauma. In addition to injuries similar to those in adults, injuries in children are particularly prone to occur in cartilage or growth cartilage, because the part of cartilage where children's bones develop is also a weak point when subjected to external forces. Growth cartilage generally exists in three parts, namely: epiphyseal disc, articular surface, tendon

The attachment to the bone and the length of the cartilage are the result of the development of the epiphyseal discs located at both ends of the bones. Generally speaking, strength training can cause acute and chronic cartilage injuries in children. Acute injuries are pain caused by trauma, while chronic injuries are pain caused by repeated minor traumas. During training, it is particularly important to note that during the rapid growth period of most children and adolescents, the lumbar spine grows very fast and also has a larger physiological curvature. Therefore, too much weight-bearing squat exercises can cause compression of the lumbar intervertebral disc, resulting in a series of chronic injury symptoms.

3. Strength training methods for children

A basic principle of strength training for children and adolescents is to use smaller load intensity and more repetitions. In addition, the practice forms should be diversified and each training session should not be too long. Generally, it should not exceed 60 minutes, and there should be no more than three classes per week. When performing movements that are prone to injury (such as clean and jerk, squats, high cleans, depth jumps, etc.), high intensity should be avoided. American physiologists believe that children under the age of 16 should not try maximum-intensity exercises.

An important feature of modern sports training is the high degree of specialization of physical fitness training. When teenagers do strength training, they must strictly regulate their exercise movements according to the training objectives. This is even more important than strength training itself.

The general methods of strength training for children and adolescents include exercises to overcome their own body weight and exercises with weights. One is exercises to overcome their own body weight, and the other is exercises with weights. Exercises with their own body weight include push-ups, where the name is stated and the number of sets and repetitions are stated. Generally, circular or intermittent exercises are used. Exercises with weights include half squats, where the number of repetitions and sets are stated. As mentioned before, children and adolescents are prone to spinal injuries, and the use of static weight-bearing methods to improve their waist and abdominal strength can avoid such injuries. Therefore, when doing strength training, you must pay attention to avoiding injuries as much as possible. This will help increase your strength and benefit the development of various sports.

Do you all remember these points? We should let children do strength training scientifically and not stretch their muscles excessively, otherwise it is likely to affect their development and strain their muscles. If you think it is useful, please save it.