An article by Mcnarry et al., (2014) published by the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES) stated that views on conditioning youth athletes is decidedly controversial, however if it is implemented correctly by trained individuals it is both a safe and effective way of training.  It has been seen that resistance training in youth sport will have desirable effects on bone health and may lead to a reduction in sports related injuries (Faignebaum and Myer, 2010). Faigenbaum and Myer (2010) stated that training will show observable health benefits to the athletes as long as the programme is well designed by a qualified professional who understands how physiological and psychosocial matters of the youth athletes can differ.  Something that should be remembered when conducting programmes for youth athletes is to keep the exercises fun and change them as and when to keep them challenging yet attainable (Faignebaum and Myer, 2010).

Strength Training

Faigenbaum et al., (2009) looked in to the position of resistance training for youth, as during the 70’s and 80’s it was frowned upon as it was seen to cause injury. However it was revealed that it only caused injury due to incorrect technique and lack of qualified adult supervision (Faigenbaum et al., 2009). There has now been universal acceptance of resistance training in youth population, especially youth athletes as it may even reduce injury risk as long as the programme is suitable to the athlete and it is performed under the correct supervision.

Another important component for conditioning with youth sport is core strength and stability as not only does it reduce injury risk but it has been seen to have a positive effect on performance. A study done by Grancher et al., (2014) saw that both stable and unstable core strength training had positive effects on physical fitness however unstable core strength training has other additional positive effects that stable core strength training does not repeat. Prieske et al., (2016) saw that after both stable and unstable core strength training programmes athletes had an increase in sprint and kicking performance when the programme was completed alongside regular training.

Training Recommendations

Level	Sets	Reps	% 1 RM
Beginner	1-2	8-10	50-70
Intermediate	2-4	3-6	60-80
Advanced	2-5	2-8	70-100

 

Youth elite athletes’ should be completing the advanced recommendations two to three times a week on non-consecutive days in order to produce maximal muscular strength gains, as well as avoiding injury and over training( Lloyd et al., 2014).

Aerobic Training

High levels of aerobic fitness can promote the optimisation of developing an individual’s capacity to endure and recover from intense training loads and improve ability in tactical challenges when fatigued (Harrison et al., 2015). In order to increase aerobic adaptation it has been seen that the training stimulus needs to be at or near to peak oxygen uptake (Harrison et al., 2015).

It has been seen that small sided games are just as beneficial in increasing and maintaining aerobic fitness as high intensity interval training (HIIT) (Williams, 2016) importantly at youth level small sided games are also more enjoyable for the athlete (Arcos et al., 2015). Small sided games were also reviewed as a way of increasing agility which is another vital component for athletes. Chauachi et al., (2014) suggested that purpose built small sided games can improve agility as much as pre-planned change of direction sprints, but it is more likely small sided games will eventually help establish better results in a game based situation as it requires more technical skill. This is reiterated by Randers et al., (2014) who suggest there are minor changes in heart rate depending on game format and level of play, but the reduction in players and smaller pitches increases the technical involvement.  However Harrison et al., 2015, suggest that a mix of both HIIT training and small sided games are the most beneficial to the athlete as those who underwent the mixed training improved more than those who just did small sided games.

 

Training Recommendations

The development of aerobic training is dependent on the maturity of the athlete and which sport they undergo; this should be assessed by the coach in order to produce a suitable training programme. As seen above the training should be of high intensity, and somewhere close to 85% maximal heart rate. Not only does this type of training prove to be advantages for aerobic fitness but it is also time efficient (Williams and Bond., 2012)

Speed and Power Training

In many sports sprinting at a high velocity with great power and musculoskeletal control is a good attribute for an athlete to have. A study by Sander et al. 2013 suggested that the youth soccer players that underwent a 2-year strength training programme had increased front and back squat performance and more importantly showed a significant improvement in 30m sprint times compared to that of the athletes who just completed normal training.  Similarly Comfort et al., (2014) saw the athletes with higher levels of lower body strength were able to demonstrate greater sprint and jump performances.

In order to develop speed and power it is likely that plyometric training will be done. Like strength training this requires correct setup and supervision. It is also advised by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) that there should be athletes should advance steadily from education to progression and then finally to function. This will ensure that the correct technique is used by the athlete to minimise injury risk (Faigenbaum, 2006).

 

Training Recommendations

Similar to those of strength training, start off with one to two sets with six to 10 reps, do the exercises twice a week on non-consecutive days (Faigenbaum, 2006). If multiple sets are completed a rest period should be included as plyometric exercises are required to be performed quickly and explosively. It has also been noted that plyometric exercises are not a standalone programme so they should be integrated along with other drills and games which also work on areas of fitness that need to be improved (Faigenbaum, 2006).

Concurrent Training

Concurrent training a mixture of resistance training and aerobic training, has been seen to modify slight but clinically significant changes in physical performance attributes which are associated with match play (Enright et al., 2015). However it has been suggested by Fyfe et al., (2014) that concurrent training may reduce muscle mass, power and strength gains, compared to that of just resistance training alone.

References

• Arcos, A.L., Vazquez, J.S., Martin, J., Lerga, J., Sanchez, F., Villagra, F., and Zulueta, J.J.(2015) Effects of small-sided games vs. interval training in aerobic fitness and physical enjoyment in young elite soccer players. PLOS One. Vol. 10 No. 9
• Chaouachi, A., Chtara, M., Hammami, R., Chtara, H., Turki, O. and  Castagna, C.(2014) Multidirectional sprints and small sided games training effect on agility and change of direction abilities in youth soccer. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. Vol. 28 No.11:3121-3127
• Comfort, P., Stewart, A., Bloom, L. and Clarkson, B. (2014) Relationships between strength, sprint, and jump performance in well trained youth soccer players.  Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.  Vol. 28 No.1
• Faigenbaum, A.D. (2006) Plyometrics for Kids: Facts and Fallacies. NSCA’s Performance Training Journal. Vol. 5 No. 2:13-16
• Faigenbaum, A.D., Kraemer, W.J., Blimkie, C.J., Jeffreys, I., Micheli, L.J., Nitka, M. and Rowland, T.W. (2009) Youth resistance Training: updated position statement paper from the national strength and conditioning association. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. Vol.23
• Faigenbaum, A.D. and Myer, G.D. (2010) Paediatric resistance training: benefits, concerns, and program design considerations. Current Sports Medicine Reports. Vol. 9 No.3:161-168
• Fyfe, J.J., Bishop, D.J. and Stepto, N.K. (2014) Interference between concurrent resistance and endurance exercise: Molecular bases and the role of individual training variables. Journal of Sports Medicine.Vol: 44
• Granacher, U., Schellbach, J., Klein, K., Prieske, O., Baeyens, J.P. and Meuhlbauer. (2014) Effects of core strength training using stable vs unstable surfaces on physical fitness in adolescents: a randomised controlled trial.  Bio Med Central, Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation.
• Harrison, C.B., Kinugasa, T., Gill, N. and Kilding, A.E. (2015) Aerobic fitness for young athletes: combining game based and high intensity interval training. International Journal of Sports Medicine. Vol.36 No.11:929-934
• Lloyd, R.S., Faigenbaum, A.D., Stone, M.H., Oliver, J.L., Jeffreys, I., Moody, J.A., Brewer, C., Pierce, K.C., McCambridge, T.M., Howard, R., Herrington, L., Hainline, B., Micheli, L.J., Jagues, R., Kraemer, W.J., McBride, M.G., Best, T.M., Chu, D.A., Alvar, B.A. and Myer, G.D. (2014) Position statement on youth resistance training: the 2013 international consensus. British Journal of Sports Medicine. Vol. 48 No.7:498-505
• McNarry, M., Barker, A., Lloyd, R.S., Buccheit, M., Williams, C. and Oliver, J. (2014) The BASES expert statement on trainability during childhood and adolescence. The Sport and Exercise Scientist. No. 41
• Prieske, O., Meulbauer, T., Borde, R., Gube, M., Bruhn,S., Behm, D.G. and Granacher, U. (2016) Neuromuscular and athletic perfamce following core strength training in elite youth soccer:  role of instability.  Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports. Vol.26 No. 1
• Randers, M.B., Andersen, T., Rasmussen, L.S., Larsen, M.N. and Krustrup, P. (2014) Effect of Game format on heart rate, activity profile, and player involvement in elite and recreational youth players.  Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports.  Vol. 24
• Sander, A., Keiner, M., Wirth, K. and Schmidtbleicher, D. (2013) Influence of a 2-year strength training programme on power performance in elite youth soccer players.  European Journal of Sport Science.  Vol. 13 No.5
• Williams, C.A.(2016) Elite youth Sport. Paediatric Exercise Science. Vol. 28 No.1:16-18