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Thread: Youth Football - Strength and Conditioning

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    Default Youth Football - Strength and Conditioning

    I know there are a few coaches on here (including myself 11 yr olds). I was trying to get some input and I've been getting some from various coaches around here. I have one son going to the 7th grade this year.

    When I was in junior high I don't ever remember lifting weights and I have always been told it's better to start the freshman year of high school which I did. Push ups, 8-counts, pull-ups is what I have my sons do. Anyway talking to some coaches around here they have their 7th/8th graders lifting weights twice a week (nothing heavy) and various conditioning exercises, even the local fitness place here has a program. Do you other coaches here do the same and if so what are your conditioning programs for the summertime??? Thanks for any input!!!

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    Blitz, I would probably keep it light. I'm no expert at this, as I don't deal with young kids, but everything I've heard is that having young kids lift, especially heavily, can be counterproductive. The health club I belong to doesn't allow anyone under 13 to lift or use the machines. Just my opinion. I'm lucky in that I can have my team do heavy lifting since they're all HS kids.

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    I have the same mind set as you tripleoption, but talking to coaches around here and the fitness program around here, I guess they beg to differ. I'm going to call my sons physician who gave him his physical and get his advice tomorrow as well. But my sons JH coach wants him to start light lifting and I'm looking for all the advice I can find. I looked up USA youth football and they suggest no (but they were suggesting 8-10 yr olds) and then I found this site http://iyca.org/wordpress/should-kid...y-lift-weights , which suggest I'm wrong. Anyway, I wanted opinions of other coaches or maybe former players because like I said I didn't start lifting weights until I was a freshman in HS. Thanks for the feedback!

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    Yeah, there are probably a lot of different opinions on this subject. It probably will also depend on the physical maturity of the kids also. Some younger kids will be able to handle lifting better than others. You're right to research the topic and get other opinions. In the end do what you feel is right.

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    Dont mess with the weights yet. The priority should be stamina. After that, do blocking drills, tackling drills, any kind of drills that require strength.

    However...i would only do this once a week or for about 15-20 minutes of each practice. Drills are great for specific reasons, but most kids and adults for that matter never really learn anything from them.

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    I don't know a link but this book says that it is okay with supervision of correct form and only using very light weights.

    Strength Training for Young Athletes

    by William J. Kraemer, PhD
    and
    Steven J. Fleck, PhD

    Multi-joint exercises are good (bench press), single joint (bicep curls) not so good. They should not use weights that they can't do at least sets of six with. No 1RM muscle failure stuff!

    My son is going into eighth grade and has been doing slight load increases for three years. We started with really, really light weights (like 10 lbs.) until I was sure he had good form. He now does three sets of six with 60 lbs.

    We do a lot more with speed, agility, stamina and skills drills, but I think a limited strength training program with very low loads, lots of rest between sessions, and perfect form is appropriate.

    I don't think anyone questions own body resistance exercises and I have my son do a lot of core strengthening. Another good book though one that needs to be adapted to suit younger players is:

    52 Week Football Training

    by Ben Cook
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    Quote Originally Posted by CoachChaz View Post
    Dont mess with the weights yet. The priority should be stamina. After that, do blocking drills, tackling drills, any kind of drills that require strength.

    However...i would only do this once a week or for about 15-20 minutes of each practice. Drills are great for specific reasons, but most kids and adults for that matter never really learn anything from them.
    This.

    Lifting before high school (in most cases), can stunt growth and mess up the muscle/bone development.

    Just have them hit a sled to build up leg power and explosion.

    Other than that... Just have them run and do fundamental drills until they puke.

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    I strongly recommend against it, there is to much chance of injury or issue with his development.

    Stick with push ups, pulls ups (excellent for uper body strength), swimming and hills (stamina and lower body strength) before you introduce him to lifting. That plus a good healthy diet will be put your son in place to be success in his athletic pursuits.
    Last edited by elsid13; 07-03-2009 at 04:31 PM.
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    Quote Originally Posted by elsid13 View Post
    I strongly recommend against it, there is to much chance of injury or issue with his development.

    Stick with push ups, pulls ups (excellent for up body strength), swimming and hills (stamina and lower body strength) before you introduce him to lifting. That plus a good healthy diet will be put your son in place to be success in his athletic pursuits.


    lots of protein..

    My daughter went through about 4-5 gallons of milk a week as well as a balance diet.. while in sports and dancing.. from 7th grade on.. started lifting only in HS.. and she turned out pretty good..

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jrwiz View Post
    lots of protein..

    My daughter went through about 4-5 gallons of milk a week as well as a balance diet.. while in sports and dancing.. from 7th grade on.. started lifting only in HS.. and she turned out pretty good..
    yep a good healthy balanced diet is very important for growing kids
    "We saw it…. the hussars let loose their horses. God, what power! They ran through the smoke and the sound was like that of a thousand blacksmiths beating with a thousand hammers

    They rush on to the Swedes! They crash into the Swedish riters…. Overwhelm them! They crash into the second regiment - Overwhelmed! Resistance collapses, dissolves, they move forward as easily as if they were parading on a grand boulevard

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    What is an average 40 time for a 7th grader at the skilled positions (WO, DB, RB)? And what are some training exercises/agilities to improve speed for the young guys?

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    Around 6 (5.7 - 6.2) is pretty fast for a 7th-8th grader, anything under that is really burning.

    52 Week Football Training

    by Ben Cook

    Has a couple of chapters on speed, agility & conditioning.

    Also checkout

    http://www.zoneready.net/LinearSpeed.asp

    by former Bronco and AFA Falcon, Chris Gizzi
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    My son is the fastest player on his Pop Warner Jr. Midget team and ran a 5.2 at his football camp last week. But he's an older/lighter 8th grader. There are three other boys who are 7th graders who are about the same speed. They'll probably be faster than him once they all mature. I think the extra year matters a lot at this level.
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    I would stick with plyometrics, agility and stretching drills. I coach 9 year olds and besides running them a lot and stretching alot, the only strength things they do is some bear crawling and an occasional push up ( when they screw up).

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