By Dott.Luca Franzon
A good fitness instructor must be able to address the needs of various types of clients. Among these are the pre-adolescents and adolescents. The young athletes who could attend the weight rooms of the fitness centers have special needs, as they are not yet trained on a psycho-physical level. Although fitness and strengthening with overloads is not always well seen by physicians and physical education teachers, if well planned and implemented it will be the foundation on which to build future athletes of various disciplines. For this to happen, the young athlete must undergo training to improve both the physical and the psychological profile, in respect of a body that is growing and that often presents internal and external conflicts. The workouts that must be proposed to the junior fitness will have to be varied and go to stimulate as much as possible all the conditional and coordinative skills. The importance of a multilateral training is fundamental to avoid early specializations that are often seen to be implemented in team sports. This process would have particularly negative consequences, because it would limit the potential of the child and could favor the appearance of paramorphisms or the onset of traumatic events. Asymmetric sports create muscular imbalances, repetitive gestures limit the formation of motor patterns and the possible overdevelopment of some parts of the body at the expense of others can create important imbalances.
Various and multilateral stimulation, in addition to favoring the harmonious growth of all body systems, will also prevent the child from getting bored and losing the desire to play sports.
DEVICE INVOLVED | BETTER MADE |
APPARATUS SKELETAL MUSCLE | Correct posture Better joint mobility Tonicity of the muscular masses |
SYSTEM METABOLIC ENDOCRINE | Favorable pondo-statural ratio Increased active lean mass and reduced fat mass Proper regulation of the diencephalic control of appetite Correct glyco-lipid structure |
CARDIOCIRCULATORY SYSTEM AND RESPIRATORY | bradycardia Valid systolic range Improvement of peripheral spraying (capillarization) Facilitated venous return Favorable blood pressure bradypnea Increased lung volumes Rapid reduction in heart rate and respiratory rate after exertion Increased aerobic power |
BEHAVIOR AND PERSONALITY | Good emotional control Good adaptability Valid self-esteem Good socialization skills |
(Table taken from: "Evolutionary age and motor activity" by G. Caldarone and M. Giampietro - Mediserve 1997) | |
The word fitness embodies a whole series of psycho-physical qualities which, associated, make the individual well physically and mentally. Among the various components of the state of fitness, we find the strength, which will be analyzed by this article for junior users. As far as strength is concerned, it is clear that depending on the age of the subject the methods will change, given that the musculoskeletal, nervous and endocrine systems are, in the young athlete, constantly evolving.
Jablonowskij states that strength :
He is insignificant up to 11 years
From 12 to 15 years it increases considerably
From 15 to 18 it has an intense development
It therefore follows that the evolutionary period is particularly suitable for the development of strength through training. we will have to be careful about the posture of the subject during the execution of athletic gestures also because we will often be faced with subjects that present various paramorphisms and dimorphisms. Given the possible evolution of strength development, we are going to classify workouts in 4 steps as closely as possible to the needs of the moment:
1st PERIOD between 9 and 11 years: the force will be stimulated in the form of play and without special district specializations.
2nd PERIOD between 12 and 14 years: you start working in a more specific and district way, using exercises that involve the use of medicine balls, a companion, your own body weight.
3rd PERIOD between 14 and 16 years: this is the phase in which weights can be used.
4th PERIOD between 16 and 18 years: up to 18 years we will proceed with the training of the third period ever more specific, up to the age of 18 where the intensity can always be greater and more specific.
Leaving the first two phases to those involved in training gymnastics, we move on to phase three or when a subject can start attending a fitness room. Clearly the training for the juniors will have to have a warm-up phase, a central phase and a cool-down phase. The first and the last do not give problems, the central one, on the other hand, requires particular attention because it is the cornerstone of training. The first problem that can be found is whether to use free weights or isotonic machines. The question we try to solve presents the advantages and disadvantages of machines and free weights summarized in the following table.
CARS | FREE WEIGHTS |
ADVANTAGES See also: machines or free weights? | |
|
|
DISADVANTAGES | |
|
|
According to the table I would say that if you are able to follow the subject well, free weights are the best choice for a young person, otherwise, better, at least initially the use of machines. Once you have decided whether to use the machines or the weights, you need to choose how to use them, in a circuit or with serious repetitions and recovery times. The number of repetitions, which must initially be high (14/16) to give life and consolidate new motor patterns, may subsequently decrease with a consequent increase in load. Clearly the number of series and repetitions will also vary depending on the type of force sought, from that resistant to the maximum.
The methods that use series and repetitions are more demanding from a physical and psychological point of view; as such they are therefore suitable for more advanced and mature subjects.
Characteristic of the circuit is the multilateral nature of the stimuli, ie the possibility of stimulating all the muscle groups with machines, weights, free-body exercises and with possible aerobic stations among those of toning. The circuits can therefore give, at the same time, stimuli for the development of strength, for cardiorespiratory training and for weight loss (a need recently very important in young subjects who are often overweight). The circuit is more fun, therefore more accepted by a young person who does not have immediate specialization as a requirement.
As the truth is in the middle, the Junior client should be trained both with circuits and with series exercises and classical repetitions. The criterion of choice must however take into account the degree of physical preparation of the subject, the presence or absence of postural and muscular problems, maturity and the type of character he proves to have. The important thing is to realize that young children can and must attend fitness centers, healthy places from all points of view, provided that the instructors are aware that a boy is not a miniature adult but a growing body.
I conclude by stating with absolute certainty that a squat performed with adequate load and technique is healthier than kicking a ball (perhaps of an unsuitable size and weight) for three hours a week, with the aim of creating small 5-year samples.
