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Training / Training Talk Articles

Training Talk...............................

Kids and Running
By Susan S. Paul, MS
TSF Track Shack Fitness Club Director

The Track Shack Fitness Club offers a variety of training programs for adults seeking a healthier, more active, lifestyle. Often, interested participants ask if their child can join the program with them. Track Shack’s training programs are designed for persons 18 years of age and older, and here’s why. Simply put, training programs for adults are very different from training programs for youth, for good reason.

Children are not miniature adults. Children should be treated as children first, and potential athletes second. Research studies on children are limited for obvious reasons, so there are no definitive guidelines for children on training. However, researchers do have some information and insights for parents and coaches.

Physiologically there are significant differences between adults and children. Thus, different training regimens are necessary. Fournier and researchers (1982) found evidence indicating that adolescents have lower levels of muscle mitochondrial enzymes needed for making adaptations to training. This discovery leads researchers to believe that youth are not able to make soft tissue adaptations to training to the same degree as adults. The skeletal systems of children are also very different. Until bones reach maturity, around the age of 18, overtraining could damage growth plates, which are located on the ends of the long bones. For these reasons, most marathons have an age requirement of 18 years. Arthur Lydiard, one of the great running coaches of all time, felt it was detrimental for children under the age of 18 to train intensively.

Most of today’s outstanding elite endurance runners did not train heavily as children. According to one study, none of the top elite endurance runners interviewed specialized in their sport before 16 years of age. Genetic ability, not training or coaching, still appears to be the predominant factor in running ability.

A survey of coaches revealed that the vast majority of them felt strongly that it was most important for elementary school age children to PLAY rather than TRAIN. They recommended exposure to a wide variety of sports for physical development rather than specializing in one sport. Most coaches agreed that specialization should not be encouraged until high school.

General Guidelines for Children and Sports Participation:
· Under age Six- Encourage children to play and be physically active while playing

· Six to Ten years- Emphasize fun and learning basic motor skills

· Eleven to Fifteen years- Teach proper techniques of basic sport skills. Children of this age can manage about one-third the training load of an adult.

· Sixteen to Eighteen years- Children of this age are ready to do about one-half to two-thirds the training load of an adult. They should not train hard for more than six or seven weeks and they cannot maintain a competitive peak for more than one month.

Children also view sports participation very differently than adults. When asked what was most important to them, children ranked ENJOYMENT as their Number One priority when participating in sports. Achievement and Sportsmanship ranked two and three, respectively. Winning ranked far down on the list of what was important to children. Perhaps we have something to learn from them!

Physical Activity is important! While the needs of children may be very different than those of adults, that is not to say that physical activity is not important for them. Getting them involved in physical activity and away from electronics for a portion of the day is vitally important. Look for programs and Coaches that combine physical movement and learning sports skills with fun and social interaction. Coaches familiar with the needs and physical abilities of youth are excellent at balancing physical activity with fun.

Physical Activity in Adolescence is associated with the following health benefits:
· Lower blood pressure and blood lipid profiles
· Lower subcutaneous body fat
· More favorable HDL levels and total cholesterol ratio
· Lower serum insulin
· Lower triglyceride concentrations
· Reduced incidence of smoking
· Lower consumption of saturated fats
· Higher intake of polyunsaturated fats
· Fewer coronary risk factors

Be a Role Model
The most important thing, and perhaps the hardest thing, that adults can do for the children in their lives is to be a Positive Role Model. Encourage them, support them, but don’t expect your children to train in the same manner as you. If you want your children to be healthy, YOU need to be healthy. If you want your children to exercise, YOU need to exercise. If you want your children to run, YOU need to run.

Check out our Kids' Run Calendar >>

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