| Few areas of fitness are as
surrounded by myth as strength training. One
common misconception that lifting weights makes women
look like men kept many females out of the weight room,
for years. Kids also were warned to refrain
from strength training because of the false notion that
it was unsafe and ineffective before adult hormones
kicked in.
During the past decade, however, these myths
have been debunked by a growing body of scientific evidence
documenting the importance of strength training for
virtually everyone, from elementary schoolers to nursing
home residents.
Today working out with weights is one of the most
popular fitness activities among men and women particular
those older than 40 who want to combat the age-related
decline in muscle mass and bone density.
More children are muscling into strength training
too, many at the growing numbers of gyms offering youth
programs. “There’s a strong demand from
parents who want working out to be a family activity.”
says Maeve McCaffrey, spokeswoman for the International
Health, Racquet and Sports Club Assn. “Many school
don’t provide physical education anymore, and
parents are trying to see a good example of a healthy
lifestyle and help their kids get fit.”
“While some children pump iron at their parents
gyms, others join one of the emerging “Kiddies
clubs” which cater to the school age set. Children’s
Health & Executive Club in Chicago features child
size aerobic and strength equipment for its 325 school
age members and is planning franchise in other locations.
Several manufactures are meeting the demand with free
weights and exercise machines scaled for youthful bodies.
But kids- and adults- don’t have to use special
equipment to strengthen their muscles. “You can
strength train using only your own body weight such
as by doing push-ups or climbing a rope or going up
stairs” say Lee Brown, director of the Human Performance
Research Lab at Florida Atlantic University in Boca
Raton.
When you move your body against resistance –
a dumbbell, your own weight or a machine – you’re
strength training says Brown, who will present an overview
of research at the National Strength and Conditioning
Assn.’s Youth Strength Summit in July.
Despite the misconceptions, Browns says “strength
training has nothing to do with bodybuilding, which
is a competitive sport for adults.” Strength
training is a systematic program of exercises designed
to increase muscle strength endurance and power which
in turn can improve fitness appearance and athlete performance
and reduce the risk of injury.
“Half of all youth sports injuries could be prevented
if children were better prepared for the game,”
says Avery Faigenbaum, an assistant professor of exercise
physiology at the University of Massachusetts in Boston.
Just as athletes get in shape during the off-season,
Faigenbaum says, “Children should participate
in a preseason conditioning program for six to eight
weeks prior to sports participation.”
This program should include aerobics, flexibility and
strength training. “This program should include
aerobics, flexibility and strength training.”
“Every major medical society including the American
College of Sports Medicine and American Academy of Pediatrics,
now promotes youth strength training,” notes Faigenbaum
lead author of the college’s statement on youth
strength training. “But it’s essential
that these programs are designed for children and supervised
by a qualified adult.”
Faigenbaum says research on 7 to 12- year olds indicates
that pre-adolescents can increase their strength by
about 40% by doing an eight to 12-week program of strength
training consisting of two or three weekly sessions.
Such activity may be particular beneficial for girls,
who in later life are at greater risk for osteoporosis.
“Bones are most responsive to the stimulus
of resistance training during childhood and adolescence,”
Faigenbaum says, “This is an ideal time to increase
bone-mineral density and build up the so-called bone
bans.”
Girls need not believe the myth that they’ll
develop bulky muscles by strength training will make
girls muscles stronger, females of any age (and pre-adolescence
boys don’t have enough of the male hormone testosterone
needed to increase the size of the muscle.
Despite strength training’s many health benefits
“there is potential for serious injury if safety
standards…are not followed,” notes the American
College of Sports Medicine statement, which recommends
that children:
Get instruction and supervision from a qualified adult,
who has experience with children.
- Always warm up and cool down.
- Get a medical examination first if they
have known or suspected health problems.
- Do one to three sets of six to ten repetitions,
two to three times a week on nonconsecutive days.
- Avoid maximal lifting (hefting the heaviest
weight possible in a single repetition).
- Emphasize proper technique and safety,
not weight.
- Have fun.
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Carol Krucoff writes a column on the health and
fitness issues for the Washington Post.
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