Resistance Training For Children And Adolescents

It’s common knowledge that resistance training and weight lifting have numerous benefits in regards to health, in addition to improving the shape of the body in adults, yet this physical activity has several benefits for children and adolescents as well if done properly.

Resistance training for children

Resistance or strength training is a specific training to apply extra pressure on muscles in order to strengthen them and increase their mass, in addition to strengthening the whole body. Resistance training doesn’t only include weight lifting, but it has different types.

Resistance training and heavy lifting are extremely important and integral physical activities to build muscles and strengthen the body in addition to improving its shape, and we usually see youngsters and adults doing them, yet several studies have proven the benefits of strength training for children and adolescents, of course when they’re done correctly and under the supervision of specialists.

Benefits of resistance training for children and adolescents

Advantages of strength training for children and adolescents come from its impact that works synergistically with the natural growth process in children during pre-pubescence, which relies on the central nervous system maturation and neural proliferation in the body. This impact of resistance training occurs through increasing the pressure and load on the nervous system, and that increases its stimulation and therefore improves its function.

Effects on health

• Increasing the muscles’ strength and toleration.
• Strengthening the heart and respiratory system.
• Improving the body composition.
• Improving the bone mineral density.
• Strengthening joints and tendons.
• Improving the blood lipid profiles.
• Increasing insulin sensitivity, especially in children who have overweight or obesity.
• Improving psychosocial health.

Effects on performance skills

• Improving the body fitness and motor performance.
• Increasing speed and strength during performance.
• Developing physical literacy.
• Minimizing physical injuries, which is critical during sport competitions.

Risks of resistance training for children and adolescents

• Resistance training for children and adolescents doesn’t exist without risks when it isn’t done under the specialists’ supervision. The essential risk of strength training for children and adolescents comes from its impact on the epiphyseal plate (a layer of cartilage in long bones that exists during growth and vanishes after puberty); strength training could lead to the separation of the epiphyseal plate from its place, and that significantly affects the growth process in children and adolescents and might lead to abnormalities and length anomalies.
• In general, resistance training causes physical injuries for anybody when wrongly done, especially when done heavily and consistently and stressing the body too much, in addition to not getting enough rest.
• You must pay attention to the fact that there are certain cases that aren’t qualified for strength training, such as people who have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, people with a risk of worsening ventricular hypertrophy, people with pulmonary hypertension, and some cancer patients who were treated with therapies that increase the risk of cardiotoxicity and congestive heart failure.

In a nutshell, resistance training and weight lifting for children and adolescents are beneficial and necessary in case they’re done under correct supervision.