Training Young Athletes 12 – 15 Year Olds
By Susan Ellis
This is the second
in a series on Youth Training.
Last month you were
introduced to the basic
training model and
some recommendations for
training for really
young kids under 12. If you
have read it yet I
would suggest you go back and
read the May 08 tip. It is important to read the
articles suggested
in the article to fully
understand the
training model.
The overall
development model is important to
understanding what
children need at the different
stages of
development for long term success,
and to avoid burning
out your child before they
ever reach their
full potential. It is equally
important to note
the not all kids develop at the
same rate and the
age categories suggested
may vary to each
child.
In the first two
stages of development you
learned that overall
sport development through
fun, games, and
other sports helped to develop
the ABC’s of
athleticism (Agility, Balance, The chin up champion of Australia
Coordination,
Speed).
In this third stage
of development (12 – 15) kids need to continue the
foundational work
laid in the first two stages, but now they can start to work more
on skating specific
aspects of training such as endurance training (aerobic
capacity), strength
training, as well as continuing speed training.
Sports such as
soccer, lacrosse and field hockey are still very good for
endurance training,
as well as having the speed, agility, and coordination
components. Inlining
is great for endurance and is very sport specific. Cycling
and rowing, while
not quite as specific as inlining promote endurance and
strength. Cross country running, while
lacking in specificity, develops overall
cardiovascular
endurance. Hockey is also still a great cross training sport. Even
though the skates
are not the same, the technique is very similiar, and it also
teaches good
balance, coordination, visual and spacial awareness, and has a
speed and endurance
component. The team sports mentioned here also help to
work the aerobic
power system, which becomes more important to train as the
athlete nears their
peak height and their growth spurts have slowed down. Of
course, what you get
out of it depends on what position you play, how good or
bad your team is,
and how much effort you put in to it. I had an athlete who told
me how much soccer
he played and I was really impressed that a kid could do
that much and still
skate and go to school and have any energy….. until I found
out he played goal.
Not so say that goalies don’t work hard too, but that’s not
really what I had in
mind.
Depending on how
much time is devoted to other endurance sports, athletes
should spend some
time developing aerobic capacity on their own. If the other
sport only covers 2 –
3 days a week, then an extra day or two of endurance work
is needed. Or if the
sport does not contribute enough to the aerobic system in
each practice or
game, the athlete needs to spend some extra time on it on their
own.
Specific strength
training should begin during this stage. In this case, by specific,
I don’t mean
specific to skating, but overall body strength
training. (Read May 04
tip on Strength
Training for Adolescence). Developing overall body strength lays
the foundation for
more specific skating strength training to be done in the later
stages of training.
Gone are the days when skaters only trained the lower body
and walked around
looking like tooth picks set on tree stumps. Today's skater
needs upper body
strength and core strength to be successful.
In the early stages
of strength training free body weight exercises are fine. There
are several free
body strength programs (and training
programs) listed on this
If you have access
to a good gym with a good instructor trained in adolescent
strength training
you can start to learn how to do strength training with light
weights. It is as
important to learn proper technique in strength training, as it is in
skating or any other
sport, to have maximum results form your work and to avoid
injury. Crossfit for
Kids has some great articles on training and strength workouts
on their site at: http://www.crossfitkids.com
As these are the
rapid growth years extra attention should be given to flexibility
training. Bones are
growing at a faster rate than tendons, ligaments and muscles
sometimes creating
tightness, imbalances, and instability and awkwardness.
Always start and
finish each session with flexibility training and throw in an extra
30’ session at least
once or more per week.
Below is a sample
program for a 12 – 15 year old. Keep in mind it is only a
sample and each
child in this age group is different. You can have a 12 year old
4’ 5 boy with in a
very early stage of puberty and a 12 year old 5’8” boy who is
well in to puberty.
The two are very different in their stage of development!
“Early maturing boys could have as much as a 4 year physiological
advantage over late maturers”
LTAD SSC
Monday: run 45 – 60’
P=max – 50-60, plus 15’ flexibility
Build this up to a
maximum of 60’ over the summer
Tuesday: 20’ warm
up, including jogging, calisthenics, jumps
strength training,
either free body or with light weights
10’ warm down jog
plus stretch
Wednesday: Warm up:
10” jogging, 5’ stretching, 3 x 10” second sprints
Aerobic Power
running intervals: 2 x 3 x 2’ r 2’ R 6’ @ 80% intensity
10’ warm down jog,
plus stretch
Build this up to 2 x
5 x 2’ or 2 x 4 x 3’ over the summer and build
intensity to 85%.
In June start doing
¼ of the time in skating imitations and build this up
to ½ the time over
the summer. So ½ the program is running and ½ is
imitations.
Thursday: Bike 60’ -
Keep cadence up at least to 90 rpm, plus 15’ flexibility
Build this up to 90’
over the summer.
Friday: 20’ warm up,
including jogging, calisthenics,
jumps
Strength training,
either free body or with light weights
10’ warm down jog
plus stretch
Saturday: Warm up:
10” jogging, 5’ stretching, 5 x 8 second sprints
Aerobic Power
running or cycling intervals: 3 x 8’ r 5’
(walk or cycle easy
for rest) –intensity is the highest you can sustain over
the course of the 3
intervals without losing speed.
10’ warm down jog,
plus stretch
Build this up to 3 x
10’ or 5 x 8’ over the summer.
Extra flexibility
session of 30”
Sunday: rest day
(very important!)
Training program
codes:
60’ is 60 minutes ( ‘
)
60” is 60 seconds ( “
)
P=max – 50-60 is
your maximum heart rate minus 50 to 60 beats, ie: max HR =
210 so working pulse
in this training is 160 to 150 beats per minute.
2 x 3 x 2’ r 2’ R 6’
@ 80% intensity is:
2 sets of 3
repetitions, each repetition is 2 minutes long with a 2 minute rest in
between each and a
set rest of 6 minutes after the first 3 reps. The intensity
should be around 80%
perceived effort.
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