Why Weightlifting Keeps Youth Athletes Injury Free

Youth sports have changed significantly over the past 10 years. Most youth athletes are competing year-round now with multiple practices each week and games or tournaments on the weekend. In-between seasons there isn’t much time, maybe only two to three weeks of rest and recovery. So, it’s no wonder that repetitive injuries can collect on your youth athlete at times throughout the year.

What can be done about these injuries? Can we address them proactively? Or can we only react after the fact? One intervention that can make a big impact is weightlifting. We have already covered our position on the safety and benefits of weight training for youth athletes in this blog: CLICK HERE. Whether youth athletes are in or out of season, weight training can help stave off breakdown from repetitive motion micro-trauma or help build muscle for more resilient athletes, respectively. The purpose of this blog is to discuss the benefits of strength training for youth athletes and lay out protocols for in-season and out of season strength training.

In the good old day, back in my day, kids played multiple sports. This allowed the strain on their bodies from repetitive motions to heal during the off season. Nowadays, youth athletes are specializing earlier and playing one sport year round. When the same body parts and the same motions are used, the tissues break down. This is normal, pro athletes bodies’ are broken down during their seasons but they have healthcare and training professionals constantly managing their care and training loads. The bones, muscles, tendons, and associated passive structures (ligaments, joint capsules, joint surfaces, etc) are constantly being broken down and remodeling which is the basis for adaptation and becoming better (faster, stronger, more powerful), but they need time to heal properly. With in-season athletes, said tissues are often being broken down faster than they can be repaired, and this is where your athlete can begin to have joint pain (knee, elbow, and shoulder are common culprits). Below are reasons why strength training can help youth athletes both in and out of season:

Strength training will begin a hormonal cascade that will help rebuild the affected tissues.
- Given enough time and proper stimulus, this is what makes tissues stronger and/or more powerful
  - In-season, this adaptive response is tough to achieve because the athletes don’t have the time to lift as much as is needed to build muscle, recover, and be at 100% for the next game/training
  - But appropriate accessory strengthening can stave off non-traumatic aches and pain
- These changes can make them more resilient
Improve joint surface nutrition
- Joint surfaces need to be compressed (go through ranges of motion under load) to allow metabolic build up to be flushed out and fresh nutrients to move in
Improve their coordination
- Strengthening helps with everything from power generation, juking ability, to jumping/diving ability
Increase their bone density
- Our bodies have the amazing ability to become stronger and more resilient when stress is applied; and this applies to bone, as well as, muscle and tendon

Below is some guidance for in-season and out of season weight training:

In-season	Out of season
Time	30 minutes	1-2 hours
Days per week	Two days	3-4 days
Type of Movement	Full body movements: squats, deadlifts, bench, presses, pulls	Full body movements and isolated strengthening
Purpose	Maintain strength and power	Build muscle mass, strength, and power
Sets/reps	3×10	Full body: 4×6 Isolated: 3×15
Amount of Resistance	Light to moderate	Full body: moderate to heavy Isolated: light to moderate

In summary, strength training is great for youth athletes and, as has been laid out in this blog, is beneficial for a multitude of reasons, including helping rebuild tissue and improving fitness. Two general protocols for training were presented to accommodate both in-season and out of season athletes. If you’re not sure how to implement these protocols, a strength coach/trainer or physical therapist can help individualize a program for your athlete!

As always, we hope this helps! If you have any questions or if you would like to read about certain topics, feel free to send us an email at TeamSP@SportsPerformancePT.com.

-Dr. Nick – Physical Therapist