Strength training in the pubescence | Strength training in childhood

Strength training in the pubescence

With the entrance into puberty the childhood ends and the adolescence begins. Puberty is divided into a first phase (pubescence) and a late phase (adolescence). In the first phase of puberty, there is a pronounced growth in length, which often leads to a disharmony of body proportions.

The leverage of the joints and the performance of the musculature are in an unfavorable relationship, and problems in the area of the spine are not uncommon at this age. Particularly in boys, there is a sudden increase in the sex hormone testosterone. This makes strength training at this age particularly beneficial.

However, it should be noted that the passive musculoskeletal system (bones) has not yet fully developed. Strength training should primarily be brought into line with endurance and coordination development and should be used primarily as bounce training, throwing strength training and sprint strength training. This growth in length often leads to a degeneration of motor skills, and training of coordination skills should therefore not be neglected.

Strength training in adolescence

In the adolescence the adolescence ends and it takes place particularly with the boys a width growth. The disharmonic physical imbalance that developed during pubescence is redressed during this phase of development.Adolescence is the best age for strength development throughout the life course, and should therefore be used especially at this age. Due to the stabilized joints and bones, the exercises can be taken over from the adult area as far as possible. However, the amount of training should always be increased before intensity.

Strength training and swimming

When swimming, intensive training often takes place during the week, even in childhood. Current findings show that especially for swimmers a supplementary intensive weight training is especially important also in childhood. Due to the lack of influence of gravity in the water, the athlete hardly experiences any compression forces when swimming, which are enormously important stimuli for the muscle to build up.

This can lead in the long term to the adaptation of swimmers and thus to the breakdown of bone tissue. Adult high performance swimmers often have a below average bone density. This process can be prevented by appropriate strength training with weights already in childhood, as the weights act on the bone with corresponding stimuli and counteract demineralization.