Strength Training and Children

October 1999 - Strength Training and Children

by Richard H. Middleton, Jr. & Leah S. Guerry

Looking around, it sometimes seems as if the strongest muscle in children's bodies is developed through constant use of the remote control or a video game controller. Most adults have heard the admonition about exercise, but the message now encompasses children.

In short, physical activity, because it promotes both physical and mental health, should and must become a part of a child's daily activities. To be physically active, one does not have to be a great athlete or join an organized sports team. It simply means getting up and moving. Physical activity can be as simple as throwing a frisbee, climbing the stairs or even doing household chores. But if you want your children to become and stay more active, encourage them to do something they enjoy.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the benefits of physical activity abound. Such activity can help children to prevent high blood pressure, strengthen bones, ward off heart disease, diabetes and other medical problems, stay energetic as an adult, achieve an appropriate weight, improve self-confidence and simply increase energy levels. Exercise can also help reduce stress. We may not realize it, but children constantly face stress in their daily lives. Exercise helps them relax by producing physical changes that assist their bodies in reacting to and handling stress.

Being physically fit includes aerobic fitness, flexibility and muscle strength and endurance. An aerobic activity is continuous. It makes you breathe harder and increases your heart rate. This type of exercise increases your fitness level and makes your heart and lungs work more efficiently. It should be done for 20 to 30 minutes without stopping.

Flexibility means the ability to move joints and stretch muscles through a full range of motion. Being flexible can reduce the likelihood of injuries during physical activity.

What about strength training? Despite pervasive misconceptions -- it is ineffective and dangerous before puberty, or that females will develop masculine bodies -- strength training is appropriate for children. The AAP, the American College of Sports Medicine, and the National Strength and Conditioning Association consider "appropriately designed and competently supervised" youth strength training to be an important component for maintaining overall health.

When strength training, the focus should be on the proper technique and the number of repetitions, rather than the amount of weight. In fact, a recent study in the journal Pediatrics found that, among ages 5-12, one set of high repetition-moderate load training may be more effective in improving both muscular strength and muscular endurance than one set of low repetition-heavy load training for children in an introductory program.

The AAP offers the following recommendations when pursuing strength training:

† Strength training programs for prepubescent, pubescent and post-pubescent athletes should be permitted only if conducted by well-trained adults. The adults should be qualified to plan programs appropriate to the athlete's stage of maturation, which should be assessed objectively by medical personnel.

† Unless good data becomes available that demonstrate safety, children and adolescents should avoid the practice of the competitive sports of weight lifting, power lifting, and body building, as well as the repetitive use of maximum amounts of weight in strength training programs, until they have reached puberty.

Remember, exercise can be overdone. The following are signs that may indicate that your child is exercising excessively and putting his or her health at risk:

a loss of weight to a level below what is normal for their age, height and build;
the exercise interferes with school and other activities;
your child's muscles become so sore that he or she risks further injury.

If any of these signs occur, a parent or pediatrician should intervene before serious health problems occur.

Richard H. Middleton, Jr., president of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, is a partner in the Savannah, GA, law firm of Middleton, Mathis, Adams & Tate, P.C.

Leah S. Guerry is the executive director of the Louisiana Trial Lawyers Association.

Reprinted with permission of Louisiana Trial Lawyers Association, P. O. Box 4289, Baton Rouge; (225) 383-5554 or (800) 354-6267.